Forum - Banjo Ben Clark

Why do we rarely play out of the Barre shape?

#1

Hi Guys,

So my question is why do we rarely play out of the barre (or Munde’s 3-shape)?

Almost all the backup lessons, interval lessons, etc. switch between the 2-shape (aka C shape / X shape) and the 1-shape (aka F-shape / Y shape), but we rarely switch into the 3-shape. And this seems to be consistent across many banjo teachers/lessons.

Is there reason that we tend to avoid the 3-shape? Is it note proximity? Because barre chords are hard? Because it is a boring first inversion? I can’t figure it out.

(fwiw – Munde’s method of naming chord shapes is really brilliant! Since it names the string with the root!)

Thanks very much!
~g

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#2

Hi @GHK Greg I use the bar chord all the time, and for the record so did Earl Scruggs. It’s a myth when banjo players say they don’t use the bar chord. After 16 years of studying famous banjo players including @BanjoBen I can assure you they all use the bar chord.

It’s just that we rarely use one finger to fret the chord and we don’t fret all the strings at the same time. Instead we use a partial chord. If you work through Ben’s Beginner Learning Path you’ll soon discover how often we use bar chords.

The three main reasons we don’t use a one finger bar chord are. 1. It’s awkward to use when playing at speed. 2. It’s hard to get good tone. 3. All the notes you need on a bar chord can be found on the bottom three strings so there is no need to fret the 4th string.

Go check out the advanced lesson Peaches and Cream and watch how many times Ben play’s a partial bar chord.

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#3

I agree that Munde’s naming makes the most sense, and I’m going to refer to it primarily from now on.

I also agree with Archie in that we use the barre a lot in a partial sense.

I see that you’re mainly talking about backup/vamping, in which case the answer would be that it’s difficult to make the chord quickly and clearly.

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#4

Hey Ben – I wanted to quickly follow-up on the benefits of the Munde chord naming system.

  1. It is very easy to know the next same chord in the same-chord sequence. 1 shape (F shape) goes to 2 (D-shape) goes to 3 (barre). This is very easy and allows you to quickly figure out transitions between forms (like using the 6th intervals).

  2. It also lets you quickly figure out the closest IV and V chord . For instance the 2-shape root chord has the 3-shape IV chord just above it, and the 1 shape V chord just below it.

  3. Finally because the shape names the root of the chord, you can quickly and easily identify the 3rd and 5th. So making a minor (b3), dominant 7th, or really any chord variation is relatively quick to find on the fly.

:slight_smile:

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#5

Yes, all great stuff. Thanks!