A-bar Chords

As you learned from the E-bar Chords , bar Chords are chords with a common shape that can be played anywhere on the neck. There are 2 main bar chord shapes, one taken from the E Major Chord and one taken from the A Major Chord. Below is an example of an A-bar chord:

***A-bar Chords:***
Chord	String	Note	Interval	Chord	String	Note	Interval
A Major:	E	Not Played	-	Bb Major or A# Major (A-bar):	E	Not Played	-
	A	A	Root		A	Bb (A#)	Root
	D	E	5th		D	F (E#)	5th
	G	A	Root		G	Bb (A#)	Root
	B	C#	3rd		B	D (C##)	3rd
	E	E	5th		E	F (E#)	5th

Off the subject:

You may be wondering why I have Bb and A# in the same column. They are the same chord, but what you call the chord (A# or Bb), determines the name of the 3rd and 5th. A chords should be spelled ACE and B chords should be spelled BDF. That is why I have E# instead of an F and a C## instead of a D for the A# chord. To learn more about chord structure, go to my Chord Structure Part 1 web page.

Back to the subject:

If you look at these chords tabbed out, they look like this:


 A Major         A# Major or Bb Major (A-bar)

E--0--                    E--1-- (i)
B--2-- (r)                B--3-- (r)
G--2-- (m)                G--3-- (r)
D--2-- (i)                D--3-- (r)
A--0--                    A--1-- (i)
E--X--                    E--X-- (not played)

As you can see, the Bb (A#) Major is up one fret on every string. Notice the fingering on the Bb chord. (The letters in parenthesis represent which fingers hold the string down. i = index, m = middle, r = ring, p = pinky) This bar chord shape took me a while to get. Basically you have 2 bars. One with your index finger and one with your ring finger. In order to get the index finger to hold down the A and the E string, you must "bar" your index over all 5 strings, pushing them to the fretboard so as not to let the strings buzz. When you are first starting out with A-bar chords, practice the index bar first and play every string making sure they do not buzz. After you get that bar working, add your ring finger bar to make the chord. The tricky thing about this 2nd ring finger bar is that you must bend your ring finger backwards to let the high-E ring. (ouch) I have tabbed out a few more A-bar chords below to give you a better idea of how this works.


B Major (E-bar)     C Major (E-bar)     D Major (E-bar)      A Major (E-bar)

   E--2-- (i)          E--3-- (i)          E--5-- (i)          E--12-- (i)
   B--4-- (r)          B--5-- (r)          B--7-- (r)          B--14-- (r)
   G--4-- (r)          G--5-- (r)          G--7-- (r)          G--14-- (r)
   D--4-- (r)          D--5-- (r)          D--7-- (r)          D--14-- (r)
   A--2-- (i)          A--3-- (i)          A--5-- (i)          A--12-- (i)
   E--X--              E--X--              E--X--              E--X---

Since all of the chords use the same fingerings, # (sharp) and b (flat) chords are a cinch and sliding between chords becomes a possibility. Another great thing about bar chords is that you can easily tell what chord it is by looking at the position your bar is at. (3rd fret = C, 5th fret = D, etc.) Also notice that you can take these chords to the 12th fret and beyond.

Note: Many people do not like this double bar A-shape. I have seen many go to the power chord or the shape shown below:


 B Major         C Major (A-bar)

E--X--             E--X-- (not played)
B--4-- (r)         B--5-- (r)
G--4-- (r)         G--5-- (r)
D--4-- (r)         D--5-- (r)
A--2-- (i)         A--3-- (i)
E--X--             E--X-- (not played)

Note: You can deaden the high-E by lightly touching it with your ring finger. This will keep a bad note from accidently sounding.

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