Learn two shapes and you own every major and minor chord on the guitar. That is not a slogan, it is arithmetic: a barre chord has no open string in it, so the whole hand position can slide along the neck, and one shape becomes twelve chords. This page gives you the two shapes, written string by string and finger by finger, a chart of the fret for every chord by letter, and the part most lessons skip: how to play barre chords without the hand ache that makes people give up on them. The short version is that a barre is not a test of strength, and if it feels like one, something in your hand position is doing the work the wrong way round.
What a barre chord is
One finger, laid flat across several strings at the same fret, acting as a movable nut. The other fingers then build a familiar shape above it. That is the whole idea, and the consequence is the interesting part.
An open chord is stuck where it is. E major uses three open strings, so it can only ever be E major: move your hand up two frets and the open strings stay where they were and the chord falls apart. Put the first finger flat across the strings instead of letting them ring open, and nothing is anchored to the nut any more. The whole arrangement moves as one piece, and the fret you put it on decides the name.
Two shapes cover almost everything, and they are not new shapes. They are the open chords you already know with the first finger reassigned.
- The E shape, taken from open E major, with its root note on the sixth string. It gives you six string chords with a deep bass.
- The A shape, taken from open A major, with its root on the fifth string. It gives you five string chords that sit higher and lighter.
Each one has a minor version, made by moving exactly one note. Four shapes in total, and between them every major and minor chord there is.
How to read the positions on this page
Each chord is written as six characters, read from the thickest string to the thinnest, which is the order you see them when the guitar is on your lap. A number is the fret to press. An x is a string you do not play. Numbers above nine take two digits, so a position high on the neck reads a little wider. Fingers are numbered the usual way: first is the index, second the middle, third the ring, fourth the little finger.
One more thing before the shapes: make sure the guitar is in tune. A barre is the chord most likely to make you doubt your own hand, and an out of tune string will do that for free. The online guitar tuner takes a minute. And if the open chords are not yet comfortable, the basic guitar chords are the right place to spend a few more weeks.
The E shape (root on the sixth string)
Take an open E major, 0 2 2 1 0 0. It normally uses the first, second and third fingers. Play the same shape with the second, third and fourth fingers instead, so that each finger does the job of the one before it and the first finger is left with nothing to do. Now lay that free first finger flat across all six strings, behind the others. The shape has not changed, and it is no longer anchored to the nut. At the first fret it is F.
E shape, major
At the first fret: 1 3 3 2 1 1, which is F major.
- First finger flat across all six strings at the barre fret, close to the fret wire.
- Third finger, two frets higher, on the fifth string (A).
- Fourth finger, two frets higher, on the fourth string (D).
- Second finger, one fret higher, on the third string (G).
Strum: all six strings. The root is the note under your first finger on the sixth string, and that note is the name of the chord.
E shape, minor
At the first fret: 1 3 3 1 1 1, which is F minor.
- First finger flat across all six strings at the barre fret.
- Third finger, two frets higher, on the fifth string (A).
- Fourth finger, two frets higher, on the fourth string (D).
- Nothing on the third string: the barre covers it, and that is the only difference.
Strum: all six strings. Minor is easier than major here, because one finger has nothing to do.
The first fret version, F, is the one that stops beginners, and it has a page of its own with every partial fingering that gets you there: the F chord on guitar.
The A shape (root on the fifth string)
Same idea, one string across. Open A major is x 0 2 2 2 0, three fingers side by side in one fret with the fifth string ringing open. Barre that open string with the first finger and the shape becomes movable. At the second fret it is B, which is the other chord that ambushes beginners.
A shape, major
At the second fret: x 2 4 4 4 2, which is B major.
- First finger flat from the fifth string down to the first, at the barre fret.
- Third finger flat across the fourth, third and second strings, two frets higher. A second barre, three strings wide.
- Do not play the sixth string.
Strum: five strings, from the fifth down. The root is under your first finger on the fifth string.
Two barres in one chord is what makes this shape harder than the E shape, and there is a way around it: let the third finger cover only the fourth and third strings, use the fourth finger for the second string, and skip the first string entirely. That gives x 2 4 4 4 x, four strings, no second barre.
A shape, minor
At the second fret: x 2 4 4 3 2, which is B minor.
- First finger flat from the fifth string down to the first.
- Third finger, two frets higher, on the fourth string (D).
- Fourth finger, two frets higher, on the third string (G).
- Second finger, one fret higher, on the second string (B).
- Do not play the sixth string.
Strum: five strings, from the fifth down. Here the minor is the harder of the two, because all four fingers have separate work.
Easier versions while the shape settles
B minor is the usual sticking point, and there are two honest ways to keep playing the song while your hand catches up. Both are in use on records, so neither is a cheat, but they are different chords and you have to listen.
| Version | Written | What it actually is |
|---|---|---|
| B minor, full | x 2 4 4 3 2 | The target. B, F sharp, B, D, F sharp. |
| B minor seventh | x 2 4 2 3 2 | A real B minor seventh: B, F sharp, A, D, F sharp. One finger less work, and a color that fits most songs that ask for B minor. |
| B minor, four strings | x x 4 4 3 2 | The A shape without the barre: F sharp, B, D, F sharp. A real B minor, with no fifth and sixth string. Mute them with the thumb or simply do not strum them. |
The same thinning out works on any A shape. If the first string is giving you trouble, leave it out and play four strings: the chord is complete without it, and nobody in the room will notice.
Barre chord chart: every chord by fret
This is the payoff. Two shapes, twelve frets, and every major and minor chord on the instrument. Find the chord you want in the first column and the chart tells you which fret to put the barre on, and what the whole position looks like, for each of the two shapes.
Every chord appears twice, once in each shape, and both are correct. The E shape is deeper and louder, because it uses all six strings. The A shape sits higher and lighter and leaves the bass out. Which one you choose depends on the sound you want and on which one is closer to the chord you just played, and that second reason is usually the one that decides it in a real song.
Major barre chords
| Chord | E shape fret | E shape position | A shape fret | A shape position |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 5 | 5 7 7 6 5 5 | 12 | x 12 14 14 14 12 |
| A# / Bb | 6 | 6 8 8 7 6 6 | 1 | x 1 3 3 3 1 |
| B | 7 | 7 9 9 8 7 7 | 2 | x 2 4 4 4 2 |
| C | 8 | 8 10 10 9 8 8 | 3 | x 3 5 5 5 3 |
| C# / Db | 9 | 9 11 11 10 9 9 | 4 | x 4 6 6 6 4 |
| D | 10 | 10 12 12 11 10 10 | 5 | x 5 7 7 7 5 |
| D# / Eb | 11 | 11 13 13 12 11 11 | 6 | x 6 8 8 8 6 |
| E | 12 | 12 14 14 13 12 12 | 7 | x 7 9 9 9 7 |
| F | 1 | 1 3 3 2 1 1 | 8 | x 8 10 10 10 8 |
| F# / Gb | 2 | 2 4 4 3 2 2 | 9 | x 9 11 11 11 9 |
| G | 3 | 3 5 5 4 3 3 | 10 | x 10 12 12 12 10 |
| G# / Ab | 4 | 4 6 6 5 4 4 | 11 | x 11 13 13 13 11 |
Minor barre chords
| Chord | E shape fret | E shape position | A shape fret | A shape position |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Am | 5 | 5 7 7 5 5 5 | 12 | x 12 14 14 13 12 |
| A#m / Bbm | 6 | 6 8 8 6 6 6 | 1 | x 1 3 3 2 1 |
| Bm | 7 | 7 9 9 7 7 7 | 2 | x 2 4 4 3 2 |
| Cm | 8 | 8 10 10 8 8 8 | 3 | x 3 5 5 4 3 |
| C#m / Dbm | 9 | 9 11 11 9 9 9 | 4 | x 4 6 6 5 4 |
| Dm | 10 | 10 12 12 10 10 10 | 5 | x 5 7 7 6 5 |
| D#m / Ebm | 11 | 11 13 13 11 11 11 | 6 | x 6 8 8 7 6 |
| Em | 12 | 12 14 14 12 12 12 | 7 | x 7 9 9 8 7 |
| Fm | 1 | 1 3 3 1 1 1 | 8 | x 8 10 10 9 8 |
| F#m / Gbm | 2 | 2 4 4 2 2 2 | 9 | x 9 11 11 10 9 |
| Gm | 3 | 3 5 5 3 3 3 | 10 | x 10 12 12 11 10 |
| G#m / Abm | 4 | 4 6 6 4 4 4 | 11 | x 11 13 13 12 11 |
The chart is calculated rather than copied, and the method is worth knowing because it replaces the chart entirely. The fret is simply the distance in half steps from the open string to the note you want. The sixth string is an E, so for an F you move one fret, for a G three frets, for an A five. The fifth string is an A, so for a B you move two, for a C three. Learn where the notes live on those two strings and you no longer need a chart at all: the guitar fretboard notes tool shows them.
If you would rather have something on paper next to the guitar, the guitar chord chart prints the common positions, and the shapes with no open strings at all are covered by the power chords guide, which uses the same two root strings and only three notes.
How to make a barre ring: pressure, thumb, angle
Almost every dead barre is a placement problem wearing the costume of a strength problem. Work through these in order, and stop as soon as the chord sounds, because the later items usually become unnecessary.
Diagnosis: find your symptom first
Before you change anything, name what is actually going wrong. The order of this table is the order to check in: the thumb and the angle of the first finger come before pressure, because fixing them usually makes pressure a non-question.
| Symptom | Likely cause | What to change |
|---|---|---|
| One or two strings do not sound | The angle of the first finger | Roll the first finger onto its bonier outside edge, close to the fret wire |
| The barre needs far too much force | The pinch between thumb and second finger is in the wrong place | Put the thumb flat behind the neck, opposite the second finger |
| Your hand heats up within a few bars | Constant pressure, never released | Find the least pressure that works, then let go as soon as you stop playing |
| Your wrist pulls | A bad thumb and wrist angle against the pull of the strings | Reorganize the wrist before adding any more pressure |
| F still refuses to come | The first fret asks too much of a hand that is still learning | Work the same shape at the fifth or the seventh fret |
| B minor is impossible inside a song | The full barre, attempted too early | Start with Bm7 or a thinned out version, and come back to it |
The thumb, first
Flat on the back of the neck, pointing roughly up, somewhere opposite your second finger. Not hooked over the top edge. A barre works as a pinch between the thumb behind and the first finger in front, and a thumb curled around the top of the neck has nothing to pinch against. This one change fixes more silent barres than everything else on this list put together, and it costs nothing.
The angle of the first finger
Do not press with the soft pad in the middle of the finger. Roll the finger a little toward the thumb side so the harder outside edge meets the strings. And keep its whole length close to the fret wire rather than in the middle of the space, because a string pressed near the wire needs far less force to speak cleanly.
There are two soft folds along your first finger, where the joints bend, and a string landing on one of them will not sound no matter how hard you press. This is why the dead string is so often the second or the third. The fix is not pressure: slide the finger a few millimeters up or down along its own length so the fold falls between two strings instead of on one.
The arm, not the grip
Bring your elbow in toward your body and let the weight of the arm pull gently back toward you. The pressure then comes from a large muscle group that does not tire, and the barre becomes something you can hold for whole minutes. Squeezing between thumb and finger uses small muscles in the hand and forearm, which is why that approach produces an ache within a few bars and a chord that still buzzes.
The least pressure that works
Press until every string rings, then back off slowly until one of them dies, then come back a hair. That is the pressure the chord actually needs, and it is usually a fraction of what you were applying. Then release it completely the moment you stop playing, instead of holding the shape between chords: a hand kept under full pressure for three minutes will ache whatever your technique is like.
Start at the fifth fret, not the first
The first fret is the stiffest place on the neck, because the string has the least room to move so close to the nut. The identical shape at the fifth fret takes noticeably less force. Build it there, where it sounds an A major, then at the seventh, then walk it down. If your guitar fights you far more at the first two frets than in the middle of the neck, the nut may be cut a little high, and that is a setup question rather than a practice question.
Check the chord one string at a time instead of strumming it. Sixth string alone, then fifth, and so on up. Five seconds, and you know exactly which string is failing and therefore which of the fixes above is yours.
The order to learn them (L3 on our scale)
Guitar Social Club grades everything it publishes on an eight level scale, from L1 for the complete beginner to L8. The first barre chords sit at L3, intermediate, and that placement is the useful part of this section: barres are not an advanced technique, and they are not a beginner one either. They come after the open chords are clean and after the changes between them are smooth, because a hand that has already spent time holding chords has built the stamina a barre needs. Arrive at L3 in order and the barre takes weeks. Arrive at it early and it takes months, and most of them are discouraging.
Within L3, this is the order that works, and each step is only worth taking when the one before it sounds clean.
- The E shape at the fifth fret, minor first. The minor version leaves the second finger free, so there is less to coordinate. All six strings ringing, nothing buzzing.
- The E shape at the fifth fret, major. Add the second finger on the third string. Same hand, one more job.
- Walk it down the neck. Fifth fret, then third, then second, then first. The first fret, which is F, comes last on purpose.
- The A shape, partial. Four strings, no second barre, the first string left out. This is the version that gets you through songs.
- The A shape, full. Add the first string under the barre, and the minor version with its four independent fingers.
- Put them in a song, slowly. A sequence that mixes open chords and one barre, played under tempo, with the strumming hand never stopping. This is the step people skip, and it is the one that turns a shape into playing.
Eight to twelve minutes a day is the right dose, and it beats an hour on Sunday by a wide margin, because what you are building is physical memory and stamina. Both are laid down by repetition rather than by duration. Stop before the hand is tired rather than after.
Five songs to put a barre in
Step six needs a real song, and the right one has the barre arriving in musical context without arriving fast. These five are the ones worth starting from, with the reason each one earns its place. No tab and no lyrics here: the chart above already gives you every position.
| Song | Why this one |
|---|---|
| What's Up?, 4 Non Blondes | The best place to work B minor inside a pop rock grid, and the song that put the first barre under a great many guitarists. |
| Wicked Game, Chris Isaak | One barre, a very slow tempo, and all the time in the world to prepare it. |
| Creep | Useful for hearing what a movable shape actually does. |
| Hit the Road Jack | Good for the minor and dominant colors. |
| Yellow Submarine | To adapt to your own key and your own level. |
If none of those is the song you actually want to play, choose from our list of easy guitar songs for beginners, which is sorted by what each one really asks of you rather than by chord count.
Frequently asked questions
What is a barre chord?
How do you play barre chords without pain?
Which barre chord should I learn first?
Why do my barre chords buzz?
Do I need barre chords to play songs?
Who made this
Guitar Social Club is the work of Yohann Abbou, a guitar teacher in Paris. He teaches adults, which shapes everything here: people with jobs, limited practice time and a clear idea of the songs they want to play. The approach on this page is the one he uses in lessons, which is why the thumb comes before the pressure and why the first barre you build is at the fifth fret rather than at the first. The rest of our free guitar tools work the same way. More about who writes these pages and how they are checked is on our about page.