Kurt got a guitar for his 13’th birthday, feb. 20 1980. Before that he played drums in band at school. If yu want more info get Michael Azzerad’s "Come as you Are" book. As far as bar chords I can see you have already been given tons of advice, so u are probably already playing pretty well, but just in case u got discouraged: yes u need bar chords. they make playing alot easier as u can skip all the other crap. ur fingers must be stronger but it is worth it!

To answer your question, unless you are going to become a folk singer and you will use a capo, yes barre chords are essential, but they are very easy. it should only take you a few days to get them down if you know how to make an open Emaj and an open Am, it should not be that difficult.

He started playing guitar at the age of fourteen. His guitar was given to him by his Uncle Chuck for his birthday. An old beaten up Sears model with a 10-watt amplifier.

Kurt started playin a plastic guitar at age 5

i’m gay

His father gave it to him at the age of fourteen…

"I ve found it hard, its hard to find a way,oh well,whatever, NEVERMIND…

I think barre chords are extremely important. You can take them so far. On each fret, you can get at least 4 notes out of it. eg. Play it on the 6th fret, you get an A, lift your middle finger, get an A minor, lower your middle, ring and pinky down one string and you get a D minor add the pinky to the fifth string and get an A7. I’m sorry if my terminoligy isn’t that great. Forgive me, I’m self taught, AND a woman so I admit to being slower at things. By the way, Kurt did use barre chords and power chords. he used everything so I suggest you learn it. It’s rewarding to be able to play songs and actually have people recognise them.

Hey fuckfaces!
Check out http://www.nav.to/ihatenirvana

Cobain Ruled !

If you opened this page not knowing what barre chords are simply close this window and burn all of your musically equipment. Barre Chords are very good. They are a bitch to learn, but learn every single key you can. Every change that is in that key. Play till your hands turn blue. Or in my case until my mother pulls the plug on my crate amp. Barre chords are really nice to lay down a rythmn piece on a track, or simply to get the backbone of a song. Ahh, what else to say? STAY OFF OF THE INTERNET, and pick up your axe.

FROM: ME
TO: NOBODY
WHY: CAUSE I SAID SO
HOW: SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!!

: Does anyone have any info on Cobain about his equipment,when
: he got it? How he got it? and so on. I am a crazy Nirvana fan and
: would like to know a bit more. Are barre chords important? Are they
: hard to learn

:u fuckin fool, of course bar chords are essential. your hardly gonna play heavy shit with the basic easy chords! ok im sorry 4 bein such an asshole but come on! anyway heres my advice: practice bar chords on a shitty acoustic guitar, this way your fingers will get stronger so when u pick up an electric guitar it will be a relief because the action (distance of strings from the fretboard) is closer and better and the strings are softer and of a lighter gauge. also, use some 8 or 9 gauge strings on the electric. use the acoustic till your fingers bleed, then you will be ready for the electric. bar chords (go to guitar.com to find some chords tablature) are hard to play at first but dont give up. if u spend time and give effort to mastering the guitar you wont regret it. i hope this helps u. email me when u read this.
ps. sorry getting pissed off

– qh!l!p

: Does anyone have any info on Cobain about his equipment,when
: he got it? How he got it? and so on. I am a crazy Nirvana fan and
: would like to know a bit more. Are barre chords important? Are they
: hard to learn

:u fuckin fool, of course bar chords are essential. your hardly gonna play heavy shit with the basic easy chords! ok im sorry 4 bein such an asshole but come on! anyway heres my advice: practice bar chords on a shitty acoustic guitar, this way your fingers will get stronger so when u pick up an electric guitar it will be a relief because the action (distance of strings from the fretboard) is closer and better and the strings are softer and of a lighter gauge. also, use some 8 or 9 gauge strings on the electric. use the acoustic till your fingers bleed, then you will be ready for the electric. bar chords (go to guitar.com to find some chords tablature) are hard to play at first but dont give up. if u spend time and give effort to mastering the guitar you wont regret it. i hope this helps u. email me when u read this.
ps. sorry getting pissed off

re:

>my advice is forget about trying to play
>barre chords, it’s only really for accoustic you need >them. All barre chords sound like shit when
>you play with distortion,

This is about the most idiotic thing I’ve ever read.

: Does anyone have any info on Cobain about his equipment,when
: he got it? How he got it? and so on. I am a crazy Nirvana fan and
: would like to know a bit more. Are barre chords important? Are they
: hard to learn

Yep, I will definatly have to agree with Ben. If you are serious about playing the guitar, DON’T take the shortcuts. Barre chords are ESSENTIAL to playing so many songs. Once you learn them, and get comfortable, you can play most any song, and it helps to keep you at the root to play riffs, etc.

: Does anyone have any info on Cobain about his equipment,when
: he got it? How he got it? and so on. I am a crazy Nirvana fan and
: would like to know a bit more. Are barre chords important? Are they
: hard to learn

Forget everything that John just said, that is a complete lie. I don’t care what genre you are playing, barre chords are a neccesity, if you can’t play them now, LEARN THEM. You are just block head if you think you could become a good guitarist, by avoiding a certain phrasing of a chord. That is all that Barre chords are, if you play a major chord on the 6th string, and on the 5th fret, that is the same chord as the open chord that you play for A. Its just another phrasing that you must learn, esspecially if you ever want to learn any Jazz, blues or more than just Nirvana or Green Day. Barre chords will be hard to play at first, but please learn them, you will become just as stupid as the other guy if you don’t. Kurt started playing the guitar at about 13, starting a bunch of little garage bands. He got gear from pawn shops, he sold some of his early stuff for drugs, he found gear, he stole gear, he borrowed gear, you get the point. He played a lot of shitty stuff over his career, mostly Epiphones, later strats, Mustangs, Jaggs, jag-stang, kay acoustic, and a buch of others. He used a Ds-1, a Sansamp, big muff, he used a EH small clone for chorus. He used countless amps, and played through all sorts of power amps speakers, and any that he could make his sound louder with.

95% of alternative music uses few or no barre chords, it’s all power chords or 5th chords, which
only need three finger to play.

Kurt Cobain did amazing things with just basic chords- my advice is forget about trying to play
barre chords, it’s only really for accoustic you need them. All barre chords sound like shit when
you play with distortion, so it’s better to stick with power chords or for accoustic just do what
everyone else does and play the easier forms on the first two or three frets.

Kurt Cobain used mostly Fender Mustangs or Fender Jaguars, with a BOSS DS-1 (I think)
distortion pedal and often some form of chorus pedal. That’s basically the Nirvana electric sound.
For accoustic stuff a beat up and mostly out-of-tune guitar is essential.