Fingerpicking Barre Chords on Acoustic

[marrkus]

How do you guys go about fingerpicking barre chords on acoustic guitar?

For example... if I asked you to fingerpick a chord progression like B - Gm
- C#m - D#m on your acoustic, how would you approach it?

I can do this decently on electric but on the acoustic I have a hard time fingerpicking progressions using barre chords.

Do you usually fingerpick full barre chords of come up with different voicings along the neck that don't require a barre? If I form a full barre but only play the bottom 4 strings, I can switch chords faster and get a more fluid sound. When I try to add in the E and A strings, it slows me down. I seem to be getting better at doing this, but was hoping someone had tips or could tell me if I'm approaching it wrong.

I don't have these problems with just strumming barre chords chords since it doesn't require as much percision.

[Poparad]

I don't have these problems with just strumming barre chords chords since it doesn't require as much percision.

On the contrary; sloppy fretting is sloppy fretting, whether it's strummed or finger picked. You may not notice it as much with all the strumming going on, but when teaching students of mine, I can tell right away when they don't have all of the notes of a barre chord fretted properly when strumming. It's like having someone's mailing address but missing the State info. You can still get a pretty good idea of where they live, but the picture isn't complete.

Just practice barre chords on acoustic more and work on getting more effecient as quickly changing between voicings.

[marrkus]

Hi, That's not really what I meant.

When I barre a chord, all the notes ring out fine and it sounds crisp. What I mean is strumming a barre chord is easier than arpeggiating it because I am not targeting a specific string one at a time, as with fingerpicking. I'm strumming a group of strings. It takes less accuracy to strum a group of chords than to run a precise fingerpicking pattern through a progression of chords as the same tempo.

Even when fingerpicking, the notes ring clearly, it's just hard to coordinate the chord changes between my right and left hand when fingerpicking - it takes me longer to get into position when doing this.

[joeyd929]

Hi, That's not really what I meant.

When I barre a chord, all the notes ring out fine and it sounds crisp. What I mean is strumming a barre chord is easier than arpeggiating it because I am not targeting a specific string one at a time, as with fingerpicking. I'm strumming a group of strings. It takes less accuracy to strum a group of chords than to run a precise fingerpicking pattern through a progression of chords as the same tempo.

Even when fingerpicking, the notes ring clearly, it's just hard to coordinate the chord changes between my right and left hand when fingerpicking - it takes me longer to get into position when doing this.

It is more difficult, just keep at it and pratice the changes slowly and evenly. I think I know what you mean, though. Like when you grab the chord, you may be used to applying pressure to a lower string first while you need to finger pick a note on a higher string.

Try to analyze how you change chords and see if you can grab the chord from a different angle. Some players put the "barre" finger on the strings first, but if you need a note fretted above the barre first, try applying those fingers first and then apply the barre a split second later.. worth a shot..

[marrkus]

Joey -- yes, that's exactly what I mean. When I barre a chord, the bottom 4 strings are in position a little quicker than the top. I usually need an extra beat to make sure i have the entire chord barred cleanly before I start fingerpicking it.

I'll keep working at it though. I've seen improvement but it's been a slow process. I think it sounds pretty sophisticated to fingerpick even very simple progressions like this with a few hammer ons, slides, fills, etc. I'm just not doing it fluently enough to be impressed with myself.

Thanks for the help guys.