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Barre Chords - Bm
Filed Under (Barre Chords, General Guitar Tip) by Frank on 26-01-2008
Tagged Under : Bm, Chords
subscribeYep, Still around. Got back from Atlanta just fine. I’ve just been busy with things.
Anyway, I have a post. I’ve been trying to study Pink Floyd’s Comfortably Numb. The song is in the key of Bm (from what I understand, I’m still not sure what that actually means) and because it is in Bm, the first chord is the Bm chord (Again, this is just what I’ve been told).
If you are unfamiliar with the chord, it is one of though dreaded barred chords. And it has literally been hurting my hand every time I try to play (usually it takes 15 to 20 minutes before notice). Below is a Chord Chart I threw together in case you are unfamiliar with the chord.
I still have a lot of trouble forming the chord quickly. (This is basically the first time I had a reason to play it so much. Needless to say, I should have practiced it more than I did…. But that is another post). In addition to having trouble forming the chord, it doesn’t always come out cleanly. I’d like to improve both aspects of this and I’ve been attempting to do that by following the advice I’ve been given on my previous post: “Call for Public Opinion - Mistakes”
I am trying to take it slow and I’m trying to get used to it. I’ve come to the conclusion that part of the problem that I’m having with the chord is not one that I can correct right away. I believe that the strength of my hand simply needs to be built up. Over time, after playing this chord (and other barred chords) it will become easier and will overall take less effort. I just need to be patient.
If any experienced players have advice for novice players on chords like this, please share. As I’m sure you remember from your early years, barred chords are a real pain for beginners.
Update: [5/1/2008]: Acoustic Guitar Magazine published a great article on playing difficult chords — it specificity includes the Bm chord! Check it out!
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I just found this… I thought it was very good. Very well done.
If you prefer, here is a link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBnS4uhaXAI
Just keep on practicing it. That barre chord shape is pretty essential for guitar playing, whether it is Bm or any other place on the neck.
Do you know how to play an Am chord (x02210)? You typically play it with the index, middle and ring finger. Try playing it with your middle, ring and pinky fingers (same fingers you would use to play the barre chord in Bm). Try that, and then slide into the Bm, and use your free index finger for the barre. This should give you some decent strength. Let me know if it makes sense.
Just remember that barre chords take more strength to play, and it will take a while to get your hand used to playing them well. Just practice them slowly, and don’t hold them for too long as to avoid strain. Baby steps!
IG
Hey IG,
Yeah, your Am tip does make sense. In fact, shortly after posting the above post, I realized that I perhaps should spend a little time practicing the Am form using my middle, ring and pinky finger… Just to get a little more comfortable with using them – you know, get used to it…
I’ve now been trying to play the Bm chord for a few days now. Slowly and patiently I’ve been practicing it. And indeed, I do think the chord has been easier to play lately. It seems to take less and less effort to get to the form and to hold the form on the neck.
Thank you for the tips and input!
Regards,
Frank
Wel, it happens in the beginning. Fingers hurt, indeed. And you should also see when you start practicing soloing a lot, how many times you will skin your finger tips while practicing. Tip
Don’t go shower after practicing soloing a lot, the water will hurt your fingers even more 
Fingers hurt, hand hurt – Such is guitar (hopefully, for now). But, I must admit that as time has gone on, and as I’ve practiced more and more the discomfort bothers me less and less. Since I created that post, it is now more comfortable to play the Bm chord.
The one challenge I’m still facing is how to quickly change to the chord. Though I’ve been able to form the chord faster than before it still isn’t fast enough… I suppose that constant repeated practice is the remedy…
Yes, you’ll manage to form it easily after a while. Regarding fingers that hurts, well, if I find myself not practicing for a while, acoustic guitar playing is a bit difficult for me too, since the strings are not that easy on my fingers after a while. The solution is to always practice!
I agree with all the comments so far, but I thought I’d add something that I wish I’d realised/focussed on when I started playing. Hopefully the way I explain it a) makes sense and b) won’t make things even more difficult in the short term
The two first forms of barre chords that people tend to learn are E-forms and A-forms. As IG pointed out, what you’re basically doing is playing an “Am” chord then moving it up 2 frets (2 semi-tones) to make it a Bm chord. Your index finger basically replaces where the guitar nut would have been on the open chord.
One of the important things to realise when you’re learning to play chords for the first time is “why” they are a given chord. Mostly you tend to learn that a certain shape is an “A” or an “Am” but you aren’t taught why. It’s really worthwhile reading up on basic chord theory. It’ll confuse the hell out of you but being aware that there’s a reason that things are the way they are is the main thing.
What I wanted to focus on is THE BIG X on your Bm diagram. You’re probably aware that the X means either don’t play the string OR in this case mute it by touching it with your index finger (or your thumb, big toe, whatever).
When you strum a chord, the lowest tone you should hear is the root of the chord, ie the thing that makes it an A or a B etc. Let’s not go into chord inversions… where you throw away the rules :-)…
When you play an E chord, you strum the low E as an open string. Likewise, with the A you miss the low E string and you start on the A string. You can probably see that when you form a barre chord, the tip of your index finger should find the root note, which for your Bm would be a B and hence on the second fret on the A string. After that, the other fingers should eventually fall into place to form the ‘major’ bit or the ‘minor’ bit… or 7ths etc. Once you get into the habit of targetting the root note with the pointy bit of your index finger, everything else starts to follow.
I learned the wrong way round, to basically barre across the entire neck then trying to strum by missing the low E. Luckily, if you hit the E by accident the tone is still within the chord, but it means that the root is no longer the lowest tone.
These days I compensate by wrapping my thumb over the top and muting the string with it. I think it’s better to learn to mute the low E by fretting the A and touching the E with the tip of the finger. Either way works, but ‘targetting the root note’ seems smarter to me.
Two more things: on some barre chords where you don’t need to use the middle finger, use it to reinforce the index finger by pushing the two down together, one on top of the other. Secondly, try rotating the index finger into different positions. You may find that curving it slightly and barring with the side more is more comfortable and gives you a cleaner tone.
When you’re practicing you should be super aware of making it sound right, otherwise you’re teaching your fingers to misbehave, which isn’t a good thing!
“Comfortably Numb” in Bm?
If a song is in a minor key, it generally means that it’s the same as if it was in the major key of the third of that. Quick translation: If it’s in Bmin, Bmin is B D F, so it would be like D major.
So, your chords are (with happy variation) D Em F#M G A Bm and C#dim. Before sevenths and substitutions. And there is. In the chorus, there’s all those Cs instead of C#dims. It gives it a more major feel. The diminished chords are getting rare as hens’ teeth these days.
There are two cheats here. The first is, you don’t have to play the third. You only have to play the fifth and the root. That’s the “power chord”. The second is, if you know the D scale, you know the Bm scale, which gets you 3/4 of the way to whatever David Gilmour is playing there.
Good luck with that. It’s a fun song.
Frank don’t let it get you down. I am a beginner myself. I messed with the guitar on my own for 6 months and then 3 months ago I finally went for lessons. I have learned a tremendous amount from my teacher in that time frame. I started learning bar chords when I started my lessons and it was tough, still is. After lots of practice my hand doesn’t get sore for a long time. I am still kinda slow from switching but vastly improved from day 1. For the last 4 weeks I have been trying to learn the Adam Sandler song “Grow old with you” to play for my wife on valentines day. It has improved every week, not to the change speed that I would want but not so bad to make a fool of myself. lol. I hit it most times but sometimes its not as clear as I would like but it works. I’m from an A to the Bm. Just keep practicing and your hand will get stronger. I started squeezing a tennis ball with my fretting hand which is usually your weakest hand and it has helped. Good Luck to you!
i dont understand where to put my fingers on the chord Bm.. that chart doesn’t really tell me anything.. or atleast i dont understand. Im not sure if im even at the right place. if i seen a real person playing that chord i would understand. Im visual.
im trying to teach myself guitar and its very hard!
Staci, I posted pictures in a new post. You can view it here: http://www.understandingguitar.org/2008/07/10/bm-requested-pictures/
I truly hope these help. Bm can be a very hard chord to play. At first, it can be awkward but keep at it, you’ll get it — it gets easier (I say that from experience). If you have any more specific questions, please post them here or on the page listed above.
Good Luck!