Struggling with certain Barre chords

[mullac51]

Over the past 4 days i've been trying barre chords out and i'm struggling a bit trying to barre the D and A string. I can barre the G + D string together pretty well. Do I need to just keep practising till my finger strenth increases or are there any tips that you guys know?

Thanks,
Callum :)

[Jim]

Assuming reasonable action on your instrument it's mostly a finger strength issue.

[mullac51]

Yeah my tutor modified my mando last week so the action is all fine. Just wondering if there's any tips or tricks to it :)

[Jim]

You might check out Mike Marshalls instructional video re: how to hold the mandolin, It is posted here on the cafe I think. Basically it address' the angle that the fingers engage the strings ( fingers angled toward you more than on guitar if that means anything to you). That may help also the angle of the Mandolin neck relative to your body. These may help but building strength is probably most important.