Beginners DO NOT Learn These Chords First

Now I have seen more students quit the guitar over this single reason. Their teacher taught them bar chords within the first few weeks of picking up the guitar. And that is such a no, no. And you know, I know teachers are going to yell at me and be like, bar chords. Everyone needs to know bar chords. Bar chords are great. You can do a lot with bar chords. But for beginners, I think there's other chords that you should be learning instead. First, let's talk about why I don't think beginners should be learning bar chords. Number one. They're very uncomfortable. So a lot of beginners, you know, this is a whole new mechanic. Getting one string to ring on a guitar is very, very hard. Never mind trying to get all six strings to ring while bar. Look at even. I didn't even play that. I've been playing guitar for how long and I didn't even get my bar chord to ring perfectly. Okay, so it just goes to show you there is a strength component to this. All right? And that would be like going to the gym and saying your trainer goes, okay, you haven't worked out in years. And they're going, okay, give me 50 push ups. And you're like, maybe I can do five, maybe I can do 10. It's the same thing. So there is a strength component to barre chords. The other thing that is super frustrating about barre chords, let me grab a pick here, is this.

It's really hard to get the strings to actually sound. Now this will take time, this will take effort, but it's really frustrating. And you're not gonna wanna play the guitar if it doesn't sound good. Alright? So instead what I do is I focus on open chords for students and I work with a lot of older adults in their 50s, 60s and 70s. I have a number of students who've come through my studio who have arthritis and they're just not able to play bar chords. Like it's so painful to do. They can't do that. So what? So we want to focus on open chords, which can actually sound very good. And I show people some easy versions of chords to get started with. Because again, it is so hard to move one finger on the guitar, never mind three or four at the same time. Okay. I've had a number of students come through my in person studio. So I'm in Boston. If you guys don't know me, my name is Lauren Bateman and I help make the guitar make sense. I specialize in working with beginners, particularly those that are over the age of 50, and I've taught a number of students in my Boston studio, obviously Boston, we have Berklee College of Music, right? So I have a ton of amazing guitar players, you know, in my area that are, you know, teaching guitar because they're trying to make a living. And I would have students come into my studio with their notebooks, and there'd be bar chords, and there'd be music theory, and there'd be all this crazy stuff. And I'm like, well, what songs can you play? And they're like, I can't. I can't even play a song. And I'm like, okay, my first goal for you is for you to play a song by the end of your first lesson. I said, we're just gonna take this book, we're gonna throw it out, and we're not gonna use it for long time. And the reason is because, again, they got hung up on these barre chords. It would be a bunch of barre chords. And they're like, I can't play it. It's hard. It hurts, okay? Because a lot of students, especially beginners, they have very, very tight wrists, okay? And bar chords put a lot of pressure and tension on the wrist. A lot of students tend to over hyperextend their wrists, even on open chords. They have that problem. And the reason I start with open chords is I can teach you four simple chords. I always teach my students. I teach them the E minor chord, I teach them a C chord, an easy version of the C chord, a G chord, and I teach them an easy D chord, okay? And the reason I do this is because you can literally play thousands of songs with just those four chords. And as a teacher, I have enough information that I can use this tool called a capo, that I can help you play even more songs and eliminate bar chords. For example, just go search Lauren Bateman, Hotel California, and I'll show you how I can teach you to play Hotel California without using a single bar chord. It makes it so much easier. It makes the guitar so much more fun, and it makes it more accessible to you. And a goal for me is to make the guitar fun, okay? Because if it's challenging, it's already challenging enough. Trust me, learning to play the guitar is not easy. So I don't need to make it more challenging for you in the beginning. And there's going to be the music purists out there going to be like, you. You need theory, you need bar chords, you need this, you need that, and you don't. You really don't. I didn't Go to school for music. And maybe that's why I feel that way. But I've written, you know, three albums, I've played in front of like 20, 30,000 people. And I did it without a degree in music. And I didn't really have a lot of lessons growing up because my parents couldn't afford them. So I basically had to teach myself. And when I taught myself to play guitar, it was to have fun and it was to write my own music. So I teach from that perspective that we want this to be fun. Because if I teach you something like course with no name, which is two chords, and we just get you strumming in time with a song in your first lesson, you're like, oh my God, I can do this. Because there's so many students who just feel like, this is impossible. This is a dream. You've wanted to do this for years. And then you come into the lesson and the teacher's like, great, I'm going to show you this F bar chord. And you're like, this is horrible. I must not be good enough to do this, so I'm going to quit. And that's not the case. If you go into a guitar studio and they teach you bar chords in your first lesson, turn around, walk out the door. That person does not know how to work with beginner students. Just, just trust me on this because I used to teach all those students after they would leave the other teachers. Okay, you want a teacher, even if it's not me. If you can find someone local, you want a teacher who's gonna work first teaching you some simple chords. Okay? Open chords. We call these open chords. And the reason they're called a bar chord is because, you see, my first finger, it's barred. So it's playing more than one string at the same time. And remember I told you it's hard enough to play one string and one finger at the same time in the beginning. So I teach simplified versions of chords so that you can start having fun with music. And in my seven level guitar system, I show people easy fixes for bar chords so that you can play more songs. But the goal is not to make it hard. It's already hard enough. We can make things harder. I just want you to have fun in the beginning. I want you to believe in yourself and that you can do this. Alright? And if you've had a bad experience with a teacher, I'm really, really sorry about that. I highly recommend you go check out my seven level guitar system. I'll put a link in the description below. I've had a number of students who've gone through my program and they said, Lauren, I took lessons with, you know, an in person teacher for a year and I learned more and like the first two modules of your course than I did in that entire year of lessons. I've heard that story over and over again. So if you're someone who's worked with an in person teacher, you're coming to YouTube because you're feeling frustrated. Go check out my seven level guitar system. I've helped thousands of students, most of them in their 50s, 60s and 70s. And I have some people in their 80s too. I've helped them finally have fun with their guitar and that's what matters most. So if you're interested in ditching the bar chords and having fun with your guitar, go to the link in the description below. Check out my seven level guitar system. I'd love to help you start having fun with your guitar today.