Anyone else have problems w/the key of "C?"

[TexMexMike]

I just can't do an F7.......My poor pinky just will not get in that 4th fret w/o assistance!

[WireNWood]

I'm pictuting mysef playing an F7 barre chord... and I can't make 'pinky' and '4th fret' fit together there.

Did you mean 5th fret? 'cause you're doin' a boogie-woogie thing on the bottom 2 strings?

more info?

[TexMexMike]

U got me Wire.....Just can't work over to the 5th fret.....

[WireNWood]

Yea, it can be quite a stretch .. made more difficult by the chunkier cables and higher action on an acoustic.

I usually hafta pretty much abandon the rest of the chord & not try to barre. Allowing the index finger to curl instead of having to barre brings my palm closer to the bottom of the neck and gives me a little more freedom in my pinky. I also tilt my hand so that the heel comes closer to the neck. This makes my index finger kinda angled up so it points toward the 6th tuner, and moves the pinky up toward #5 better.



Another option: here's an alternate fingering - at first it seems like cheating, or like it will sound wimpy, but especially in a band situation where the bass is playing along, nobody will notice.

So, on the "C" chord you've using strings 4&5. Ya got yur 'dex finger 3rd fret & ring finger 5th, the pinky pops up and down at the 7th. G chord, same frets, but you're using strings 5&6.

When it comes time for "F", we know what to do.... except it's a lil' tougher. So, let's not use the same formation we used for the other 2 chords.

For the "F" chord, instead of using the low "F" note on the guitar, use the next octave up & it gets easy. Leave your index finger right on the low "C" note where it was for the C chord, and lay the finger down to barre strings 4&5. You're still thumping on an F note and a C note, just like you would if you were doin' the stretchy one we started talking about. The only difference is the "F" note isn't the low note any more. Now you're playing C and F on strings 4&5, and you can whack away at that "D" note more easily - this time with your ring finger. Play the same boogie pattern with the alternating notes on the 5th string.

If you just sit down by yourself and try it, it sounds funny at first. We're so used to hearing the tonic note droning away as the lowest voice. It sounds ...different... to have the lowest note be the one changing, and the "F" note be above that. However, with the band playing and the singer singing it works fine. You still have the ChuckBerry/Rock/Boogie feel, and it's easier on the ol' claw.

Once you stop insisting upon the tonic note being in the lowest voice, you'll start recognizing it when you hear it - in places you've heard thousands of time but never noticed. Springsteen, Melloncamp, Keith Richards and Ritchie Blackmore come to mind just for this one simple type of figure.

[romdos]

You can also play the F7 barre w/o the pinky... play an F barre, and simply lift the pinky... that would be the 4th string (D) 3rd fret, and you have an alternate form of F7

[TexMexMike]

Wow...What a board...Great advice!!! Thanks guys! :thumbsup:

[Doctor Reggae]

This'll help me too. I've got fairly small hands, and doing funky barre chords still throws me for a loop sometimes.