I just know that barre chords got a whole lot easier for me when I bought a better guitar!

I'm a beginner as well, and have been picking things up from online video tutorials, guitar for dummies books and trying out chords for myself following the tabulature on online pages and in sheet music.

I was having a hell of a time with barre chords -- just. could. not. do. them. I was using my father-in-law's old college guitar.

Folks on another site told me that the difference between a laminated-wood guitar (like my father-in-law's old inexpensive one) and a solid wood handle was vast. And they told me to check the "action" -- the distance of the strings from the frets, which should be very close and even all the way down the strings. The old guitar I was using had a lopsided action and the strings were not close in -- which is why I was having trouble.

I spent the money on a low-end Taylor and the difference in "feel" was incredible. I suddenly was able to play several barre chords that had escaped me.

Still working on my finger muscles, but it's nice to make a little progress.

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2007 Grand Prize Winner International Songwriting Competition

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