Lesson: Hinge Barres, Pivots, and Partial Barres

Lesson: Hinge Barres, Pivots, and Partial Barres for Classical Guitar 
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A dedicated barre (bar) lesson on Hinge Barres, Pivots, and Partial Barres. How to play these various barres and when to use them. I mention these in my pieces quite often so it was time to put out a lesson explaining their uses and specifics. Also see my lesson on basic barres as well if you need advice on the basics.

Barre Abbreviations in scores:

  • BV3 = Barre at the 5th fret, over three strings (E, B, G Strings)
  • BV5 = Barre at the 5th fret, over five strings (E, B, G, D, A, Strings)
  • BIII2 = Barre at the 3rd fret, over two strings (E, B Strings)
  • hBV = Hinge Barre, a barre only over some of the strings while allowing open strings to sustain (commonly open bass strings). Usually followed either by a full barre or a new bass note with the 1st finger.
  • Piv. (or piv.BII2) = Pivot Barre, a technique where the player either pivots into a barre or releases a barre while allowing certain notes to sustain or avoiding a finger jump to a new string.

I don’t indicate Partial barres because if I notate an open string while barring it’s self-explanatory. The RCM uses a fraction to indicate the number of strings but it’s not completely intuitive.

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