alright im pretty good with them on my acoustic and all but typically i cant really pin the B string down when i barre only the top 5 strings (a d g b e). it rings and all when i play but it doesnt sound clear and crisp. i roll my pointer finger over when i bar so i get the hard side down and not the fleshy part. any tips on how i can better myself at this technique? thanks!

use your thumb, play it like an open chord, and then you open up magical possibilities!

I roll my pointer finger a bit, too. It works fine for me.

I'm not sure how long you've been playing, but I assume it hasn't been for long? You're doing it right, but it isn't going to work out until you're more comfortable with it.
Over time the technique will become natural, and you should get the sound you want.

its very important that while playing, you keep your wrist straight and dont bend it at an angle when forming the chord, like alot of ameteur musicians.

This post was edited by weasleface on Feb 21 2010 06:12pm

ive been playing for like a few years casually but ive been picking it up a lot for the about the past few months (3-4 hours a day). i dont think im bending my wrist. i have good form but in order for me to get it down i have to apply a lot of pressure (practically squeeze the guitar between my thumb and barre finger) which doesnt seem/feel like what i should be doing.

you just need to practice it more then

gain some hand strgth

you can do some hand exercises when not playing the guitar too, that may help