You won’t encounter any weird hand contortions or new techniques when learning to play the A-based 7th barre chord forms on the guitar. Playing the A-based major barre chord on the guitar is quite awkward with respect to left-hand fingering. Fortunately, the A-based 7th barre chord forms are much more logical and comfortable. All you do is pick up a variety of different forms to enrich your chord vocabulary.
The following figure shows the notes on the A string. You can use this chart to find the appropriate fret for any A-based barre chord.
How to play dominant 7th barre chords
Dominant 7th chords sound bluesy and funky compared to major chords. Learning to play A-based dominant 7th barre chords is simple if you know how to play an open-position A7 chord. Remember that you can “slide up” to this chord from a two-finger, open-position A7 chord (but only if you use a 3-4 fingering for the A7).
Refer to the following figure to see the fingering for the Bb7 barre chord (A-based).
Now, using the previous figure to find the right frets, try playing the simple progression shown in the following figure, which uses major, minor, and dominant 7th A-based barre chords.
How to play minor 7th barre chords
Minor 7th chords sound soft and jazzy compared to major chords. You can form the Bbm7 chord by “sliding up” from an open-position Am7 chord (using a 3-2 fingering), or you can refer to the following figure and place your fingers directly on the frets for the Bbm7.
The following figure shows a simple progression that uses A-based minor 7th chords exclusively. Use the chart above that shows all the notes on the A string to help you determine the appropriate fret for each chord, if necessary.
How to play major 7th barre chords
Major 7th chords have a bright and jazzy sound compared to major chords. You can form the Bbmaj7 chord by “sliding up” from an open-position Amaj7 chord (using a 3-2-4 fingering), or you can refer to the diagram and place your fingers directly on the frets for the barre chord.
The simple progression shown in the following figure uses A-based minor 7th and major 7th barre chords. Again, use chart above that shows all the notes on the A string to help you determine the appropriate fret for each chord.
