Barre chords are way over-rated! OK, the 1st position "F" chord (on the first 4 frets) is really important, but the rest of them are not needed! Ha, how's that for an opposing view.

Here's why. Open chords can be played in all the common keys and then there is a capo for other keys.

Here's my advice. Keep trying the barre chords that the instructor wants you to learn. But if you hand starts hurting, then do something else instead. Doing lots of barre chords at 4 months seems a little early to me. There is so, so much that can be done with the open, "cowboy" chords.

Kevin

"Good science comes in peer reviewed journals. Conspiracy theories come in YouTube videos. "
Kevin @ bandcamp: Crows Say Vee-Eh