Barre chords for Jazz?

[2bornot2bop]

so between 7:39 - 7:55 the player is using a barre chord with a 6th string root.

how does one navigate the 5th string with 6th string root jazz chords? it sounds like the player is making a stroke of the 6th string and then making a second (seperate) stroke at the 4th and continuous strings.

is there a way to create 6th or 5th string root barre chords with ONLY using a single continuous stroke without playing the 5th at the adjacent string, and still mute the 5th and 4th strings as in the case of 6th and 5th string rooted chords?

I've not seen a single book emphasizing barre chords for jazz.

assist much appreciated!

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

You can comp with your right hand fingers and just grab the notes.

With a pick I deaden the fifth string with part of the finger that is fingering the bass note.

[2bornot2bop]

You can comp with your right hand fingers and just grab the notes.

With a pick I deaden the fifth string with part of the finger that is fingering the bass note.

okay, but if you're barring with your index finger you can't deaden the 5th string with it, and if you're playing upper structure chords your other 3 fingers will be occupied.

so I'll rephrase the question:

is it possible somehow to barre chords with the index and create upper structure voicings creating a 6th or 5th string root with the index without occupying another finger to deaden the 5th or 4th string? remember I'm one of the few piano players in the house still new to guitar.

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

You can come up with examples where you run out of fingers. You can also reach around and use your thumb to fret on the E or A string and deaden the next string with it, too, although fretting the A string and deadening the D string requires you to really hook over your thumb unless you have a huge thumb.

Do you have a particular chord in mind?

[ColinO]

okay, but if you're barring with your index finger you can't deaden the 5th string with it, and if you're playing upper structure chords your other 3 fingers will be occupied.

so I'll rephrase the question:

is it possible somehow to barre chords with the index and create upper structure voicings creating a 6th or 5th string root with the index without occupying another finger to deaden the 5th or 4th string? remember I'm one of the few piano players in the house still new to guitar.

Maybe I'm missing something. If you are playing notes on the upper three strings with fingers other than your index and you're deadening the 4th and 5th strings, what would you need an index finger barre for?

[rpguitar]

If I really think about it, any time I play a chord that includes strings 6 & 4 but not 5... or 5 & 3 but not 4...

...I don't actually barre it. I use the index finger for the lowest string, the middle finger for the next lowest, and mute the string in between with the flesh of my index (usually). I only barre when it's a straight shot across the board and I want all strings to ring out. Basically I only barre on the usual rock chord forms (E and A shapes).

[ColinO]

It would be pretty hard to barre 6 and 4 with your index finger while at the same time muting the 5th string with the same finger you are barring with.

[ASATcat]

Sounds like you're talking about drop 3 chord voicings.

Closed voiced Cmaj7
G - voice 1
E - voice 2
C - voice 3 - this will be dropped an octave
B - voice 4

Drop 3 voicing
G
E
B
C

Drop 3 tabbed
-
-8
-9
-9
-
-8

[ASATcat]

Hey Colin, that barre chord is no problem if you're playing fingerstyle

[JonR]

okay, but if you're barring with your index finger you can't deaden the 5th string with it, and if you're playing upper structure chords your other 3 fingers will be occupied.

In the chord in that video, he is just not picking that 5th string when he uses the index barre. He suggests the index barre as an afterthought, because he clearly prefers using his thumb, which means it's easy to mute the 5th.
The index barre is only suitable (for that voicing, which requires same fret on strings 6-4 but not 5) if playing fingerstyle, or carefully avoiding that string with a pick.

But there is an alternative, using index on 6 but not a barre, by using a ring barre instead:

-4- ring (or pinky)
-4- ring
-4- ring
-3- middle
-x- mute with side of index
-3- index

You could also (just about) get a G7b9 in a similar way (barring with middle):

-4- pinky
-3- middle
-4- ring
-3- middle
-x- mute with side of index
-3- index

However, the thumb version is a lot easier in each case.

so I'll rephrase the question:

is it possible somehow to barre chords with the index and create upper structure voicings creating a 6th or 5th string root with the index without occupying another finger to deaden the 5th or 4th string?

I can't think offhand of any chords where that would be necessary. I mean, I don't remember encountering such a problem. Do you have some examples?
(Guitar is obviously a lot more limited in chord voicing possibilities than piano, and guitarists often need to find workarounds, or just omit notes.)

[ColinO]

Hey Colin, that barre chord is no problem if you're playing fingerstyle

Which barre chord do you mean? I get that if you are playing fingerstyle you don't have to worry about deadening the strings you are not using but it sounds like the OP is talking about somehow deadening strings in between other ones that are being barred. That sounds like it would be prohibitively difficult to do on the fly. Maybe I just don't understand what he is asking.

[JohnRoss]

Barré chords, 1st finger bar chords, are useful for that 'big' sound, five or six-string chords with one or more notes doubled up in different octaves, especially the root and/or fifth. This kind of sound tends to sound out of place in jazz, hence the lack of literature the OP mentions, I expect.

[2bornot2bop]

thanks for all the input.

I should have been more specific. I've viewed countless video's where jazz players appear to have a flat bar to the 6th string with the index, while finger 2,3, and/or 4 are also being used. Now it's possible the true angle of the index isn't being displayed in video but in each case the index appears absolutely flat across all 6 strings. if you're playing a 6 string rooted dominant then a barre doesn't work without integrating or somehow muting the 5th.

I simply wondered if I was seeing optical illusions or if jazz barres exited that I wasn't aware of. I 'spose the only real benefit to using an index barre is after employing the thumb at the 6th string...which I've not yet adapted to doing with any degree of comfort.

[ColinO]

thanks for all the input.

I should have been more specific. I've viewed countless video's where jazz players appear to have a flat bar to the 6th string with the index, while finger 2,3, and/or 4 are also being used. Now it's possible the true angle of the index isn't being displayed in video but in each case the index appears absolutely flat across all 6 strings. if you're playing a 6 string rooted dominant then a barre doesn't work without integrating or somehow muting the 5th.

I simply wondered if I was seeing optical illusions or if jazz barres exited that I wasn't aware of. I 'spose the only real benefit to using an index barre is after employing the thumb at the 6th string...which I've not yet adapted to doing with any degree of comfort.

I looked back at that video that you cited. You are right, the player there is playing a G7#5#9 chord and is building it like this:

3-x-3-4-4-6

He is barring the 6th and 4th strings with his index finger and then using his other three fingers to play the rest. You notice, however, that he doesn't actually play the chord, but only hits the notes individually. I don't think many would play it that way. I would play the 6th and 4th strings with my first and second fingers(if I was to play the sixth string at all). I would barre the 3rd and 2nd strings with my third finger and play the first string with my 4th finger.

I wouldn't be able to make the index finger barre work. I think it would be unusual to try and bridge a string like that. I think the guy in the video is trying to show how chords are built and if he were asked to play that particular chord, he wouldn't have fingered it as he does in the video.

Sorry I didn't look at the vid in the first place..

Cheers.

[ColinO]

By the way, I never use my thumb - I have never been able to make that work either.

[barrymclark]

When I first started playing drop chords, I had this same issue but that was because I was still trying to use the barre chords I had used to that point. My work around was, as one suggested, hybrid picking. I would use the pick for the 6th string and use my other fingers for the other notes in the chord. I ended up retraining my hands (still working out some inversions) to stay away from barre chords unless there is little other choice (just for the sake of retraining my hands; don't want to get back into comfortable old shoes). Now that I am getting more and more comfortable with that, I don't have worry about that 5th or 4th string (depending) ringing out when not wanted and I can strum away. Small victory for sure... but a victory.