Ah, to be 64 again . . .

Ha! Just kidding, I'm only 50 and I feel much younger thanks to all of you. I am just getting into Barre Chords in Fundamentals 2, been about 10 days now, and on my electric guitar, I can make them easily. I can even make them fairly consistently up and down the neck of my acoustic. Transitioning quickly between Open Chords and Barre Chords is still a challenge, but I am definitely seeing improvement from repetition and practice.

Lisa's lessons help tremendously as she starts with the easiest transitions and works forward from there. As well, I have been working on the Song "Imagine" and the transition to/from the F Barre Chord. The Song helps me because it gives me an incentive to get the transition down in time and with good tone - once I really get it down, I'll be able to play the Song.

Hey, when you work on that transition, it occurred to me from Lisa's lesson, you need to really focus on the fact that your left arm and wrist position change substantially from open chords to Barre Chords. Don't just focus on the shape of your fingers, as you do with open chord to open chord transitions; when switching to a Barre Chord, you need to physically move your left arm and the angle of your wrist relative to the neck of the guitar. THAT move, rather than simply repositioning your fingers, needs to be the focus of your practice. You can practice that move without a guitar in your hands (at work, on the subway, grocery store). As you practice that move without a guitar in your hands, stick up your index finger as if it were your middle finger and you were giving someone an impolite greeting. You'll find that the next time you pick up the guitar to practice, your transition will be smoother!