HOW TO USE A HINGE BARRE AS A GUIDE FINGER

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

Sliding a full barre up or down the neck creates heavy drag and loud bass-string squeaks — so at the moment of a shift, lift only the tip of the barre finger, slide the resulting hinge barre along the first string, then flatten it back into a full barre. Five videos demonstrate the technique in Romanza, Villa-Lobos’s Etude No. 1, Recuerdos de la Alhambra, and Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring.

A few years ago I wrote a lengthy technique tip about guide fingers. You can read it here. One technique I touched upon in the article was using hinge barres as guide fingers. I would like to explain the technique in more detail in this technique tip.

Let's look at a difficult chord change in the famous anonymous Romanza (also known as Romance or Romance de Amor).

It is usually not a good idea to use a full barre as a guide finger. Moving any barre up or down the neck with full or even reduced pressure creates heavy friction or drag. Freedom of movement is impaired. Usually, loud bass-string squeaks are produced.

In this example, it isn't a good idea to slide the full barre from the second fret to the seventh fret. The correct way to make the change in Romanza is to turn the full barre into a hinge barre at the moment of the shift, slide up, and then resume with a flat, full barre at the seventh fret. In other words, at the moment of the shift, lift only the tip of the barre finger off the bass strings. Keep holding the first string with the inner part of the barre finger. You now have a hinge barre. Slide this hinge barre along the edge of the fretboard to the seventh fret. As you reach the seventh fret, place the tip of the barre finger back onto the bass strings. You now have a full barre again. During the slide up the neck, the inner part of the barre finger should not lift off the first string. Maintain constant and secure contact with the edge of the neck. Using the hinge barre as a guide finger allows total mobility, creates very little drag, promotes speed of movement, and is very stable.

Watch me demonstrate.

How to Use Hinge Barres as Guide Fingers, Video #1: Romanza

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The technique is relatively simple. Watch me demonstrate the basics and how to practice it.

How to Use Hinge Barres as Guide Fingers, Video #2: The Technique

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Many examples can be found in the repertoire where hinge barres serve as guide fingers. Following are some examples of ascending shifts.

Watch me demonstrate this shift.

How to Use Hinge Barres as Guide Fingers, Video #3: Villa-Lobos Etude No. 1

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This next example from Francisco Tarrega's famous Recuerdos de la Alhambra is particularly important. Sliding the entire barre from the second to the fourth fret produces a loud squeak that is distracting and can ruin the mood of the piece. Using the hinge barre as a guide eliminates the squeak, preserving the magic.

Watch me demonstrate the hinge barre shift on "Recuerdos."

How to Use Hinge Barres as Guide Fingers, Video #4: Recuerdos de la Alhambra

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Hinge barres are also used as guide fingers in descending shifts. Here are some examples:

Watch me play this passage from "Jesu."

How to Use Hinge Barres as Guide Fingers, Video #5: Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring

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Watch me play the passage.

How to Use Hinge Barres as Guide Fingers, Video #6: Choros No. 1 by Villa-Lobos

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Summary

In general, when you come across a passage with consecutive full barres, shift from one to the other using a hinge barre. It doesn't matter whether the shift is up or down the neck. It will sound smoother and will make less noise. Also, the technique requires far less hand strength than sliding full barres up and down the neck. For that reason, in pieces with many barre chord changes, using hinge barres tires the hand much less, promoting greater left-hand stamina.