Why do bar chords on guitar hurt my fingers?

Barre chords can be difficult for a variety of reasons. First, make sure your guitar is set up correctly. Stings that are too high can make barre chords harder to play. If you're using medium gauge strings, get Light or Extra Light strings. These have lower tension and are easier to press.

Now that your guitar and strings are optimized, we can look at your technique. Small hands shouldn't be an issue. You may need to rotate your wrist a little farther under the neck so your barre finger can reach across the fretboard. Notice that your fingers are harder (bonier) on the sides than on the underside. To the greatest extent possible, try to utilize that by tilting your barre finger a little to the rear.

Finally, don't try to clamp your barre finger like a vise. In most cases, you only need to be pressing a couple of strings. For instance, look at a barred F chord. It's essentially an E shape, barred on the first fret. Since your other fingers are covering the E shape, the only strings your barre finger has to press are 1,2 & 6....the outside strings. If you curve your first finger a little, you can let it relax in the middle. Three strings are only half as hard to press as all six!

Don't expect it to happen overnight. Barre chords can take a lot of practice, but they are worth the effort. Once you master them, it will become second nature, and open up many more possibilities.

Barre Chords Hurt

Hello there,

Barre chords. Every guitarists first nightmare. They are hard. I resisted learning them. Tried all sorts of things to avoid them. Finally broke down and learn how to play them. Looking back nearly 60 years later, I cannot imagine playing without them. I would be lost.

The key is to get the technique right. Here is a video. This guy does a decent job explaining how to play barre chords.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvVj1TZ4r_4

By the way, many years ago, I lost the tip of my finger back to about the first joint on my first finger (the finger that is used to form the barre). I now have an usually short finger. So I do have some experience playing barre chords with a short finger.

Later,

Norm

The friction of the metal, which is twisted finely and runs away at your fingers. People only finger pick guitars if they have done so for a while. Buy a pick.

That typically happens when the action is too high. Barre chords should not hurt you. Make sure the action is set properly.

TM above has excellent information here.

Also try grabbing them at different locations.

It will strengthen the muscles in your fingers and arm

and will be easier to do them as you progress.

just because the muscles need to stretch, try keeping them in the bar chord position for a while and doing them more. i had this problem