B Chord
The B chord is one that almost all guitarists have trouble learning, and some carry through the bad feelings toward the b chord to the point where they avoid songs that use the b chord, or they try to find alternatives that sound "almost right".
It may sound a bit melodramatic, but it's true, just ask any guitarist "What was the hardest chord you had to learn?" 90% of them will say the B chord (the other 10% will say "F Chord" but we'll save that for another lesson ;-)
What's so hard about the B Chord?
It's usually the first barre chord that students learn, because all the other major chords can be played in their open position quite easily (except for perhaps the F Chord). Barre chords in themselves are often hard for guitarists to learn because they require you to use one finger to push down on 5 or more strings.
To make matters worse the B Chord (in it's first 5th string position) is close to the head of the guitar which makes it harder to press down on the strings to make the notes sound cleanly. However on the 6th string the B Chord is played on the 7th fret which makes it much easier to play.
What's the easiest way to learn the B Chord?
The most frustrating answer to this question is always: "Practice, and it will come", unfortunately that's the most correct answer because without practice you'll never get it quite right.
There are some other techniques and cheats to learning the b chord that I'll share with you below, but they're only ideas and I would recommend you practice the B chord in its 5th string and 6th string position until you can nail it.
So how long can you expect to practice for, before you see results?
Personally it took me about two months to start to be able to play the b chord confidently in songs. Within about a week I could play it by itself if I had time to adjust my fingers and sound out each note individually.
Some lucky people get it within a few days and don't think much of it, but most of us have to spend a good few weeks working away at it before we finally 'get it'.
Just as a side note: You should never be practicing just one skill on the guitar at a time, you should be working towards a range of goals at any one time and this is for a number of reasons I wont get into here, you can read some of my other articles for more information.
What are some specific techniques or "cheats" I can use to learn the b chord faster?
By playing the B chord as a two-note power chord you can essentially build the same skills on the way to learning the b chord and have some short term success.
To do this (on the 5th string) press your index finger down on the 5th string (A) on the second fret, this sounds the B note. Then take your ring finger (3rd finger) and press it down on the 4th string (D) on the fourth fret, this sounds the F# note.
In Tab Notation it would look like this:
-
-
-
4
2
-
To move the next step closer to the B chord, add in the next B note (3rd string, 4th fret), and then to finish it off and to make it sound right: add the D# note (2nd string, 4th fret). You can also add another F# note on the 1st string, second fret.
It will end up looking like this:
2
4
4
4
2
-
Good luck and have fun with it!
Ant Brown,
For more information on the author and a free instant guitarist starter pack visit Learn how to play guitar.
Source: http://ezinearticles.com/
Added: May 22, 2008
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