So I just submitted this to EzineArticles also…hope you guys like it!

As usual, just pointing out that if it’s your first time here you can find great tips on getting the hang of barre chords if you go through the categories in the sidebar!

Barre chords are – by popular opinion – the single most frustrating part of learning to play the guitar. Why, then, do serious guitarists go through the pains, and frustrations, of mastering these tricky chord forms? Simply put, they are indispensable to anyone seeking to use their guitar to its full potential – and this article will try to explain why (and hopefully convince some stubborn beginners to take them seriously).

Firstly, they are called “movable” for a reason. This is because they allow you to play any chord of a particular type (e.g. Major, Minor, 7th, etc.) by learning the basic shape and moving it up and down the neck to create new chords. For example, if you played F Major (on the first fret), employing a barre, and moved the same fingering up by two frets, you would be playing G Major. This eliminates the difficulty in memorizing all the various chords – unavoidable if you only play using open chords.

Perhaps more noticeably, many chords can only be played as barre chords. These include common chords such as B, B Minor, and F# Minor. Most popular songs incorporate these, and other, barre chords and can serve as motivation for beginning players to take them seriously – rather than accepting mediocrity and resigning themselves to only using open chords.

Finally, being able to use movable chords effectively qualifies you as a “real” guitarist. A more experienced guitarist – or even another musician in a band – will be able to watch you play for five minutes and note your experience – based solely from how well you use barre chords. As a bonus, sliding your left hand up and down the neck – with what seems to be reckless abandon – as you play your way through a popular song that makes full use of barre chords will make you look cool – pure and simple!

You can email me questions/comments at admin@ihatebarrechords.com