Quantum Strummer
Senior Member
When I play some barre chords I like to play the "7th" version; i.e., the barre "E" is a two-finger E7, the barre "Am" is a 2-finger A7, freeing my ring finger up for adding other notes. So when I play a Bm I barre the 2nd fret and play the Bm7 chord and so on. Seems like this "7th" approach works for 98% of all the songs I play; when I do Blues in the "7th" pattern, I can use my ring finger to hammer on and off supplemental notes.
Speaking of Blues, probably my most "go-to" progression is in the key of "A" and I only use two finger positions to play the rhythm. Barre E7 on the 5th fret gives you "A", open C7 on the 3rd fret gives you the D7, slide that up to the 5th fret and you have your E7. Complete Blues in "A" with only two fingering positions.
This is the kinda thing I do a lot too. I especially like having my pinkie free to add variations to chords and chord-based progressions. I veer more jazz-ish than blues, though. Major & minor 7ths, and then into the weird stuff.
Playing barre chords using only the top four strings is something I picked up from The Edge, who does this a lot on the first three U2 albums. Frees up that pinkie.
-Dave-
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