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.