Ok, yikes the F chord. I'm struggling with playing the F chord (can't do it). I'm wondering if it's a question of building muscle in the index finger or if it's finding the sweet spot or something else entirely? Lisa says eventually everyone gets it but I'm just wondering what the dynamic of it is. Thanks in advance.
dlashme
Originally Posted by: dlashmeOk, yikes the F chord. I'm struggling with playing the F chord (can't do it). I'm wondering if it's a question of building muscle in the index finger or if it's finding the sweet spot or something else entirely?
Every beginner struggles with it. :) Some students just keep practicing it & eventually it works with enough repetition. Other students benefit from a more gradual approach.[br][br]
Just do this simple shell voicing of the F now. Use your middle & ring fingers. Do this any and every time you need an F chord as you move forward with the courses and learning.
F chord:
E |----------|[br]B |----------|[br]G |-2-------|[br]D |-3-------|[br]A |----------|[br]E |----------|
Do this simple diad version of the F chord for now. Put the tips of your ring and middle fingers on these notes. Reach your fingers around until you can comfortably grab those notes (fingertips straight down into the strings) and your thumb on the back of the neck. Do not hold any part of the neck with the palm of your hand.
Later work on adding your index finger:
E |----------|[br]B |-1-------|[br]G |-2-------|[br]D |-3-------|[br]A |----------|[br]E |----------|
If necessary just work on the upper part of the chord. When you get to this one note that you might need to wiggle your index finger around until you can do that barre effectively. Some students have more success with using their index finger pad directly. Others use the side of the pad of their index finger. Experiment!
E |-1-------|[br]B |-1-------|[br]G |-2-------|[br]D |----------|[br]A |----------|[br]E |----------|
Work on each of those separately for a while. Eventually you can try to put it all together in the full F chord voicing like this:
E |-1-------|[br]B |-1-------|[br]G |-2-------|[br]D |-3-------|[br]A |----------|[br]E |----------|
Give that a try & let me know how it goes at your convenience! Be patient with yourself & best of success.
Hello Dlashme,
I have also struggled with this chord. Struggled to the point where I configured my own way to play the F-Chord. What I do is Barre the first fret and place middle and ring finger on the other frets needed for this chord. Will this turn around and bite me later in guitar playing...maybe, but what I tell myself is since I am the one playing the guitar, I need to find a way to play that works best for me. Will this work for you? Maybe, maybe not. Find what works best for you. Try different things.
That being said, you have come the right forum for answers and help.
Jon
Yep, I can only play an F chord by barring the 1st fret. Luckily that has worked for every song I've tried to play. Maybe one day I'll run into problems trying to shift to or from the barr but it's what I can do, so I do it.
Good Luck!
Thanks for the tips. I'll keep practicing. When I first started the course I thought I had made a terrible mistake to learn to play the guitar - my hands had very little stretch and every note was a struggle. I'm amazed how much I can do now, so I'm sure this nasty little F chord (and all barre chords) will come to me with time. Thanks again for the alternative.
dlashme
I also had trouble with F major open chord and developed my own way to play it. https://www.guitartricks.com/forum/thread.php?f=46&t=53549
This works well for me, and what I have learnt is there are many ways to play the same chord, I don't get hung up on playing a chord a particular way. I look at what chords precede and follow and if it's easier to use non standard fingerings then it's OK. it just depends on what works for you
