Guitar & Fretboard
Barre Chords Explained: The E Shape and the A Shape
A barre chord is an open chord moved up the neck. The E shape and the A shape are the two to learn first, and each one is built from its open chord by a simple rule of offsets.
Barre chord
A guitar chord in which one finger presses several strings at one fret, so the whole shape can move up the neck.
Also called: barre chords, bar chord, barre
A barre chord uses one finger, usually the index, to press several strings across a single fret, while the other fingers form a shape. Because the barre stands in for the open nut, the whole shape can slide up the neck. An E-shape barre chord at the first fret is an F major chord: the barre lies across all six strings at fret 1, and the fingers form the E shape above it. The same shape at the fifth fret gives A major, and at the seventh fret gives B major. The name of each chord comes from the root on the low E string, so moving the shape changes the chord without changing its form. Barre chords demand strength and careful finger placement to ring cleanly.
Related terms
- CapoA clamp that presses all the strings at one fret, raising the pitch of a guitar or similar string instrument.
- Power chordA two- or three-note chord of a root and a fifth with no third, so it is neither major nor minor.
- FretboardThe playing surface of a fretted instrument, where each fret raises the open string by one semitone.