Barre-ish Chords (with Sovereign Hands)

Barre chords are useful chord shapes, but they tend to get very messy when you put in some distortion because many notes are played at once. What I usually do is to play selective notes from the barre chord to create a neater and more crunchy sound, as demonstrated below:



The chords here are G, Dm, F, C.

Two patterns are used here, though they sound quite similar. The first uses only the A, D, and B strings, while the second uses the A, G and B strings. Hence a G chord would be played like this:

---------------
-12------12----
-----or--12----
-12------------
-10------10----
---------------

To convert this into a minor chord, move the topmost note back a fret (B string, from 12 to 11th fret). The first pattern utilises all three notes from each chord, creating a fuller sound than the second pattern, which uses the root and middle note only.

To avoid strumming on the other strings, keep a low angle between your fingers and the fretboard, such that the fretting fingers touch the other strings lightly to mute them.

Also, do experiment around more with other combinations of notes, starting with the barre chord - you might find interesting and very usable shapes!