Hi Avrongoss,

I just saw this post. The advise given above is all great advise and I hope you are making progress with this passage.

Trying different thumb positions is definitely a good first step. Also try moving the bar up and down, this might help as well. Just because you only need to hold down strings 2 and 3 doesn't mean you could have the bar starting further up if this is comfortable.

I would also suggest that you try positioning your hand slightly different. For this chord it will help if you first put on fingers 3 and 4 in a pretty curved position. Then put the 1st finger down, pressing with the left side of the finger instead of the bottom part, if this makes sense. This will tilt all your fingers more to the left and gives your second finger more room to "move" under the 3rd finger.

Keep trying different positions until you feel more comfortable with one and then repeat the passage.

If you keep having trouble, don't give up! Just change the fingering:

Holding the A with the 3rd finger is really not as important as you might think. So if all trying fails, just release the 3rd finger and use it for the B. This is still stretchy, but not too bad.

At the end of the day don't make yourself a slave to the piece, just slightly alter the chord if this helps you. Not every chord works for every hand and that's totally fine!

I also heard this bar played with slightly different notes: instead of the B I have heard it with a G. This version I believe is by Jesus Ortega and might solve your problem entirely. In this case you would play the same chord in the beginning of the measure, but using 3 and 2 instead of 3 and 4. The 4th finger then plays a G on 8th fret on the second string.

The same chord can also be played in third position, using a bar to play the g.

Good luck trying all those things!

Thanks Rod... I will do !

Hi Avrongoss

Keep at it as it will come!

Only advice I can offer is to isolate bar and practice it slowly.

It may also help to warm up with 1/2CV and move 2nd finger on and off 6th fret..then 7th fret and if possible 8th fret, so 2nd finger gets used to moving that direction...(and develops the stretch). Then repeat with 3 & 4 placed.

I very slightly move my hand lowering my thumb position a little and this helps keep things just relaxed enough to play the bar and over time it has become much cleaner....not sure if this makes sense but most importantly experiment with what is right for you and keep everything as relaxed as possible and avoid tension building up :-)