Well I'm hoping now that your A Shape Major chord is coming along nicely, so it's time to check out it minor, 7 and min7 relatives!

A Shape Minor Barre Chord

The A Shape minor chord is pretty easy really. Looks pretty much the same as the E Shape Major chord, but with the root note on the 5th string.

Most people find this grip pretty easy, especially if you have been following my course along then you should be super comfortable with your E Shape Major grip now, so this one is just moving it down a string and hey presto - there it is.

The only thing to make sure you do properly is to mute the 6th string, otherwise it could sound horrible!

There are no common problems with this one, cos most folk get it pretty easy!

Remember to keep your thumb round that back (very roughly it should be on the other side of the neck to the 2nd finger - but everyone is a little different so don't stress if yours is not!).

Practice picking out all the notes one at a time and make sure they are all clear!

A Shape Minor 7th Barre Chord

This one is kinda easy too because it's the same shape as our E Shape 7th chord, but with the 5th string root.

You shouldn't have too much of a problem with this one either - the shape should feel pretty familiar - the tricky bit I guess is getting that note on the 3rd string.

Make sure your 3rd finger is not touching it. A good trick is to take off your 2nd and 3rd fingers and check your barre is good, then replace them and make sure the 3rd string is still ringing out clearly.

If your barre needs correcting you might have to move it up of down a little but remember that you MUST mute the 6th string, it's not optional.

Picking out the notes one at a time and making sure they are all good is the trick here!

A Shape Dominant 7th Barre Chord

This one is a new grip, but it's not a hard one!

Your fingers will probably not be used to this grip - it's a new kinda shape, but it's not hard, just different.

You should not have much trouble splitting your 3rd and 4th fingers, but sometimes it's fun getting that note on the 3rd string clear between them.

Just takes a little manipulation, fiddling about until yo get all the notes good.

You know the drill: Strum, Pick 'em Out, Strum.

Do it. Lots. It works :)

Practice

When you are practicing this, you want to follow a similar pattern to the one we used when learning our chord in the Beginners Method...

Place the chord down.
Check each note.
If any notes are not ringing out clearly then try and figure out what is wrong, move your fingers a little to fix it!
Strum the chord.
Repeat lots.

Moving On...

Hope you are having fun with that. Once you have them sounding good we're going to be jumping them all over the place!!