Bar chords are a source of stress for beginner guitarists. Learning how to play bar chords is a new skill which requires a whole lot of practice, mostly without any discernible progress. You need to learn to use muscles you never used before and they are going to hurt when you first start out. The question of how to play bar chords without any discomfort is the subject of many questions in internet guitar forums. The answers just boil down to a couple: There is a way of cheating at bar chords, and playing real bar chords needs a lot of uncomfortable practice so you might as well get on with it.

The thing to remember with bar chords is that if you practice consistently, everything gets easier. Your fingers will get used to making the chord shapes and you will be surprised how easy it becomes. Also when you start out with bar chords you will inevitably muffle the strings, but keep trying, you will soon be able to play the chords cleanly.

The first bar chord most people learn to play is based on the open E major chord. You make your bar chord by following the fingering of the F chord shown on the tab below. To play an F chord without the bar just move the open E chord up the fretboard and don't play the first, second and sixth strings. Naturally, this limits your playing and gets you some dismissive sniffs from players who have gone to the trouble of learning to play bar chords properly, but if you really want to avoid training your first finger to bar, then this is your way out.

E-------------0---------------1---

B-------------0---------------1---

G-------------1---------------2---

D-------------2---------------3---

A-------------2---------------3---

E-------------0---------------1---

The open A major shape is used further up the neck to make other chords or you can cheat with this shape as you did with the E shape.

E-------------0---------------5---

B-------------2---------------7---

G-------------2---------------7---

D-------------2---------------7---

A-------------0---------------5---

E---------------------------------

If you are just a beginner with bar chords, chances are you are just a beginner with open chords as well, so you could add some interest to your learning by experimenting with the bar chord shape while you are still learning the open chord shape. Any little trick you can think of to add variety to your guitar practice will help you over the hump when you are learning how to play bar chords.

One thing to remember is when you are learning a physical skill that involves using muscles in new ways, you never know for sure whether the pain you are feeling is just the discomfort all beginners feel or whether you are going over into the kind of pain that is signalling serious muscle and tendon damage. So to be safe, avoid all pain. Start practicing something that doesn't hurt.