[Rwp] Need very basic advice from a guitar player

[Christopher-Mark Gilland]

Let me start by saying, if you do your guitar stuff with a software synth, then you're not who I need to talk to.  I need to get some help from someone who plays physical 6 string guitar with standard tuning, E A D, G B E and who is a right handed player, meaning that you fret and chord with your left hand, and strum/pick with the right hand.

OK, feel free also to write me about this off list.

clgilland07 at gmail.com

Here is the situation.  I have a song which I'm trying to jam out to, which is very basic.  It's just your 1 4 5 pattern with an E minor thrown in at a few places.  Mostly though it's just key of D, with D, B minor, G, and A or A7.

The issue is, I've been playing guitar now since I was 5 years old, and I'm now 33.  I never ever have been able to get the full B minor chord down pat regardless what chord I'm coming out of.  I know exactly how to form it.  I know about doing an A minor chord with my 2nd, 3rd, and 4th fingers, then barring it at the 2nd fret, and strumming 5 strings.  My guitar teacher I had before moving out of area for him to teach me any longer painfully tried over and over and over to help me get it, but I just couldn't then, nor now seem to get there quickly, no matter how much I practice.  Finally, what my guitar teacher told me to do, though it sounds really nasty is to do a partial, as he'd call it, B minor chord.  Basically 1st finger on the first string 2nd fret, 2nd finger on the 2nd string 3rd fret, and 3rd finger on the 3rd string 4th fret, then strum 4 strings.  Of corse, this is going to make my lowest note be the opened D 4th string, so I don't get the nice B root note from the 5th string that I'd get if I did an A form bar chord.  So, rather than going from a D chord, for instance to B minor by taking all 3 fingers off the kneck from my D, to reform the B minor, are there any tactic ways I could get there with the full B minor more quickly?  Like leave my 2nd finger from the D chord where it is, hop this finger up one string, etc.  I'm playhing the D with first finger on 3rd string 2nd fret, 2nd finger on first  string 2nd fret, 3rd finger on 2nd string 3rd fret, then I'm strumming 4 strings.

I'm sorry for posting this here, but I'm sure there have gotta be some guitarests on here who probably could give me a suggestion.  I know at the end of the day, it's just gonna take practice.  I think what's slowing me down is, I'm logically in my head not used to playing an A minor with my 2nd 3rd and 4th fingers.  I normally use my 1st, 2nd, and 3rd fingers.  Well now, the 1st finger has to be my bar.  Therefore, I'm having to literally place each finger down one by one on the kneck, then once I get it formed, then throw down my bar.  That's obviously not acceptable.  Time I do that, I'll miss the whole measure, if not more.

So yeah, any suggestions?

Again, feel free to write me off list.

clgilland07 at gmail.com

Chris.
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