Week 24 of 27
Goal: You play your first full barre chord, Bm, and accompany a song in D.
Review
Last week: the small F. Play the mini barre on the B and e strings – do both ring?
Step by step
- In a barre chord, your index finger lies across several strings – like a capo. For Bm at the 2nd fret, from the A string to the high e string.
- Then: middle finger B string 3rd fret, ring finger D string 4th fret, little finger G string 4th fret. Don’t play the low E string.
- Tricks: roll your index finger slightly onto its side, thumb in the middle of the back of the neck, elbow close to your body. Position matters more than strength. More in Barre chords.
- Pluck the strings one by one to check. Not everything rings yet? Completely normal – barre chords take a few weeks.
- Then Am Lagerfeuer in D: D, Bm, G and A7.
Time to make music: your piece
Am Lagerfeuer in D: D, Bm, G, A7 round and round. If Bm still sticks, strum only the four thin strings there – that already sounds good.
Homework for next time
Five days, about ten minutes each:
- Tune first every day.
- Days 1–2: just the index finger across fret 2 – pluck each string.
- Day 3: the whole Bm chord, place and release, ten times.
- Days 4–5: Am Lagerfeuer in D.
- Fun: take a photo of your first clean Bm!
Done when …
- at least four strings ring clearly on Bm
- you play Am Lagerfeuer in D once through
If you get stuck
- A string under the index finger sounds muffled? It’s sitting in a joint crease. Slide the finger slightly up or down.
- Hand tires quickly? Press briefly, then release and shake. Strength comes with time – tensing up doesn’t help.
For teachers: lesson plan
- ≈ 10 min Warm-up: “finger capo” – everyone lays just the index finger across fret 2 and plucks string by string.
- ≈ 15 min Practice: pairs check each other: one plays Bm, the other plucks each string and gives tips.
- ≈ 20 min Together: Am Lagerfeuer in D – anyone not ready for Bm plays only the four thin strings there.
Differentiation: those who are confident play the piece with down-up or help a partner; those who need more time strum only on beat one of each bar.
For the board: openstring.de/gitarre/en/lesson/24/