SPECIALTY BARRES PART 1: HINGE BARRES

Copyright Douglas Niedt. All Rights Reserved. This article may be reprinted, but please be considerate and give credit to Douglas Niedt.

A hinge barre frets the first string (sometimes also the second) as if holding a full barre, but with the tip of the finger lifted off the bass strings — a technique for entering and exiting barres smoothly, without clipping notes short. This tip shows how to place the hinge so the first string falls behind the middle joint and the weight of the hand does the work, with video demonstrations and repertoire examples.

The hinge barre is a very useful technique for entering into and exiting out of other barres. The first string (sometimes also the second string) is fretted by the first finger as if it were a full barre, but the tip of the finger is lifted off the bass strings.

Watch as I demonstrate in this video:

Specialty Barres Part 1: Hinge Barres, Video #1: Overview

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Let's look at a passage from Bianco Fiore (White Flower) by Cesare Negri, one of the Six Lute Pieces of the Renaissance edited by Oscar Chilesotti. If the chord change is played with conventional technique, the first finger must lift suddenly off the F# in the first chord to make the barre required for the second chord. The result is that the F# is severely clipped short:

Watch me demonstrate in this video.

Specialty Barres Part 1: Hinge Barres, Video #2: Bianco Fiore Bm Chord Conventional

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With the hinge barre technique shown below, the first chord is played with a hinge barre. Then, the tip of the finger is brought down flat onto the fretboard to form the barre required for the second chord. The result is a very smooth and effortless chord change with no break between the two F#s on the first string:

Watch as I demonstrate in this video.

Specialty Barres Part 1: Hinge Barres, Video #3: Bianco Fiore Bm Chord With Hinge Barre

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For most people, when the hinge is brought down on to the fretboard as a normal flat barre, the barre will cover all six strings.

In most circumstances do NOT try to go from the hinge barre to a five-string or worse yet, four-string barre. Allow the barre to cover all six strings regardless of how many strings need to be barred in the music. Trying to go to a smaller barre will affect the stability of the hand and make things difficult. In the few rare instances (some are illustrated below) where you must go from a hinge barre to a barre of four or five strings, you will have to curl the hinge finger and slide on the joint to get to the smaller barre.

How to Place a Hinge Barre

To do a hinge barre, first place a standard full barre across all six strings. Then, lift the tip of the finger. You now have a hinge barre. Simple as that. Full barre, lift the tip of the finger, and you have a hinge barre. When you hold a hinge barre, you are not holding the bass strings. The bass strings are ringing as open strings, they're not being held. The third string is being touched slightly by the barre finger. The second finger string is muted. Only the first string is being held by the hinge barre and its note is clear.

The important thing is to place the barre so the first string falls behind the middle joint (on the side towards the palm) of the index finger.

You want to be sure the hinge barre holds the first string below the middle joint (on the side towards the palm). In other words, don't hold the first string on the joint or above the joint (the side towards the tip), but behind or below the middle joint (the side towards the palm).

When you do it correctly, your hand hangs on the edge of the guitar neck from the bone of the middle joint. And the weight of the hand holds the string down. You hardly have to press between the thumb and the finger. It's primarily the weight of the hand that holds the first string down. When done correctly, hinge barres require very little effort.

In some cases, the music will require that the hinge barre holds both the first AND second strings so that BOTH strings should sound. In those cases, put extra pressure on the second string so it sounds as clear as the first string. The third string will still be muted but the bass strings will still ring clearly.

When done correctly, hinge barres require very little effort. The important thing is to place the barre so the first string falls behind the middle joint of the index finger. See the illustration:

Don't let the string fall on the joint or above it. When placed correctly behind the middle joint, the hand itself will hang from the knuckle bone on the edge of the neck. The first string will be held down by the weight of the hand with no effort from you.

Watch as I demonstrate in this video:

Specialty Barres Part 1: Hinge Barres, Video #4: How to Place the Hinge Barre

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Notation for the Hinge Barre

There is no standardized notation for the hinge barre. Here are some examples of currently used notation:

More Examples of Hinge Barres

Hinge barres can follow a full barre or precede a full barre. Here is an example of both in the same passage from Bianco Fiore. First I show the passage with conventional fingering and illustrate the resulting problems:

Here is the same passage using hinge barres. Note how the sound of the passage and ease of execution is tremendously improved:

Watch:

Specialty Barres Part 1: Hinge Barres, Video #5: Bianco Fiore Using a Hinge Barre After the Trill

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Finally, here is an example from a more modern piece, the Fandanguillo by Joaquin Turina:

Watch:

Specialty Barres Part 1: Hinge Barres, Video #6: Using a Hinge Barre in Fandanguillo by Joaquin Turina

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Difficult Situations

I already stated that in most circumstances you should not try to go from a hinge barre to a barre of fewer than six strings. The reverse is also true: don't go from a barre of fewer than six strings into a hinge barre. Trying to come from or go to a smaller barre is awkward and is difficult to consistently execute correctly. Unfortunately, sometimes you have to do just that.

Here is an example from J.S. Bach's Prelude of Lute Suite No. 1 (BWV 996) as edited and fingered by Julian Bream that involves the difficult circumstances of approaching the hinge barre from a barre of fewer than six strings and continuing on into another barre of fewer than six strings. First I show how using conventional fingering results in poor execution:

The next example shows how Bream fingered it with a hinge barre to make the passage sound much more musical:

Watch:

Specialty Barres Part 1: Hinge Barres, Video #7: Hinge Barre, Prelude of Bach Lute Suite BWV 996, Ex 1

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Here is another example from the same piece where the hinge barre is approached by a three-string barre:

Watch:

Specialty Barres Part 1: Hinge Barres, Video #8: Hinge Barre, Prelude of Bach Lute Suite BWV 996, Ex 2

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Misuse of the Term Hinge Barre

The following examples have been described by some writers as hinge barres. To me, these are nothing more than normal barres being placed and momentarily lifted. They require no unique technique or positioning as does the true hinge barre.

Here is an example from the Allegro spiritoso of Mauro Giuliani's Sonata in C Major, op. 15. The movement of holding the low F and then making a full barre to play the high F (while continuing to hold the low F) is said by some writers to be a hinge barre:

I don't see this passage as anything out of the ordinary and would notate it as nothing more than a normal barre:

Likewise, in this passage from Pavan No. 3 by Luis Milan the barres are described by some as hinge barres. To me it is nothing more than the first finger making a full barre that is held for the first beat, lifted on the second beat as the low F and A are held, and then lowered as a full barre on beat four to hold the C:

Don't get me wrong. This is no big deal. It isn't anything I lose sleep over. I just like to use the term hinge barre for one specific technique.

Other Uses of the Hinge Barre

The hinge barre can also be used as a guide during shifts and to avoid string noise from the bass strings during shifts. See my tip How to Use a Hinge Barre as a Guide Finger.

More to Come

Hold on to your hats folks. There is more to come next month: Specialty Barres Part 2: The Cross-fret barre and Partial Barre.

I know, I know. You're on pins and needles just thinking about it!