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Uncle Bob's Guitar Lessons
Lesson 7 - The Big, Bad Barre Chords
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Finding Chords Everywhere You Look

Building Chords Anywhere on the Neck

With all these new chords that barre chords have helped you create, you may not have noticed that you can now create any chord anywhere on the guitar neck. By combining the various barre chord forms, E-Form, A-Form, D-Form, C-Form, and G-Form, you can traverse the guitar neck and create a chord in any position.

For example, if you were using an A-Form barre chord on the 4th fret to create a C# chord, switching to an E-form barre chord on the same fret is an Ab chord, and switching to a G-form barre chord on the same fret is a B chord.

Likewise, if you were using an E-Form barre chord on the 6th fret to create a Bb chord, switching to an A-form barre chord on the same fret is an Eb chord, and switching to a D-form barre chord on the same fret is a Ab chord.

Since the only chord forms that we have listed are the E-Form, A-Form, D-Form, C-Form, and G-Form barre chords, these are often referred to collectively as the CAGED approach to chords. So when you hear about "caged chords", that doesn't mean locking your chords up in a cage.

Advanced Study on Barre Chords

By the way, after having played and taught using this technique for years, I discovered a book series by Bill Edwards that has what I consider is the best discussion of this topic that you can find. Here are the books that he currently has available:

• Fretboard Logic I - The Reasoning Behind the Guitar's Unique Tuning
• Fretboard Logic II - Chords, Scales, and Arpeggios Complete
• Fretboard Logic III - Applications: Creative and Analytical

I highly recommend the series to my guitar students.