The F Chord

[RacerxRocks]

I have been working on it for a year now. What helps me is to plant my ring finger and my pinky first i end up strumming those 2 first then bar with first finger and middle finger. It at least sounds decent enough and I really don't think average person will notice.

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[Mandobart]

Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

I'll often play x 3321x

Or 13321x and fret the low F with my thumb.

I hate 6 string Barre chords. Fatigue the hand, and they sound boring and take up too much space. I only play em if the music absolutely requires it, which I find is pretty rare.

Preach it brother! You really don't need to hit all 6 strings ever. I can play all the same chords on my mandolin (only four courses, and sometimes I only use three).

[rick-slo]

Best to be able to do all versions of the chord with good facility, including the full barre. All are useful, if not essential, depending on the context of the music.

[Silly Moustache]

Why are we encouraging a less than complete chord ?

Put the guitar on a stand. grasp it with your left hand just below the nut.
Pick it up and swing it to playing position without changing yor finger positions, you will have a full 6 string F.

[macmanmatty]

the only reason I would not play a full F is if I needed to hit the open A string as part of the chord in the bass. All other hammer ons and pull offs you can get using the full barre shape.

[joeguam]

Originally Posted by s0cks

Where others need a lower position like this:

Have you tried using the (thumb) side of your index finger like this picture instead of the underside? There's less flesh on the side of your finger essentially requiring less pressure to barre all 6 strings.

Also, is your guitar professionally setup? If the nut slot depths weren't cut correctly, you will never get rid of the pain from the F chord.

[Laughingboy68]

Originally Posted by macmanmatty

the only reason I would not play a full F is if I needed to hit the open A string as part of the chord in the bass. All other hammer ons and pull offs you can get using the full barre shape.

I use the thumb over if I want to use open string suspensions with my boom-chuck strum. I haven't figured out how to do what i do with that grip if I try to barre it. I use the barre when it's called for, but that doesn't seem to often be the case.

I agree with Jeff and Jon. I don't think one should use it as an excuse to not learn how to play barre chords. Just understand that there are often other ways that might make more sense depending on the situation.

Mike

[funkapus]

Originally Posted by macmanmatty

the only reason I would not play a full F is if I needed to hit the open A string as part of the chord in the bass. All other hammer ons and pull offs you can get using the full barre shape.

I'm not sure I understand. When I play fingerstyle, making my F as 1x3211 (wraparound thumb, pinky not used) lets me use my pinky to play additional melody notes on the first three strings in frets up the neck from the chord. How would you catch the G on the 1st string, or pluck the D on the 2nd string and bend it up to a D# to get the dom7, while otherwise making the full F so your thumb and other fingers can be picking notes in the chord?

I suppose I've seen people make the full F that way by catching both the 4th and the 5th strings with their ring finger; I envy those people.

[JBCROTTY]

Another option is to play an F power chord which is : 133XXX (use ring and pinky fingers on the third fret of A and D strings) Strum only the Low E, A, and D strings.

[Slow Rider]

What helped for me was play the standard chords with the middle, ring and pink for a while and put my indexfinger behind the nut where it just rests.
With this you´re not excercising strength, but you do help your hand get used to the form of the barre chord. And it helps stretch the fingers.

Just like juggling, learning difficult stuff you have to learn in steps.

Also make the movement from E to F or C to F over and over again without playing the right hand. The helped me also tremendously.

It took me years to learn the F barre but now i´ve mastered it.

[Puerto Player]

Pick the F chord with each of your fingers flamingo style, you'll concentrate on that so much you'll forget about the fingering hand and all of a sudden it's doing it trying to help out your other hand.

[paulp1960]

Originally Posted by JBCROTTY

Another option is to play an F power chord which is : 133XXX (use ring and pinky fingers on the third fret of A and D strings) Strum only the Low E, A, and D strings.

That I would call F5 it's not a triad and is neither major nor minor.

It has it's uses but maybe not a good general substitute for F major.

[Mr. Jelly]

I don't do many full bar chords. I believe thinking in five and six string chords is a hindrance. Chords are three notes. You can get away with two notes but I don't think that's technically a chord. I'd suggest cheating (for lack of a better term) for now and you can move on and work on it here and there as you go along. it is supposed to be fun. Who wants to listen to music being done by someone that doesn't want to do it?



peace

[Yamaha Man]

Another option I learned while playing with the old timers at the senior center- Put a capo on the first fret and just play an E chord. I've found that playing songs in the key of F work very well with the capo on the first fret. Give it a try !!

[Laughingboy68]

Originally Posted by Martin Maniac

Another option I learned while playing with the old timers at the senior center- Put a capo on the first fret and just play an E chord. I've found that playing songs in the key of F work very well with the capo on the first fret. Give it a try !!

Or try the fourth fret and play a C-shape fingering for F.

There are many ways around the frustration caused by playing an F barred at the first fret. Open your mind, make sure your guitar is set up well, use a capo, try alternative grips. F can be your friend. Eventually, the challenge of playing it as a barre will seem pretty straightforward.

Now B flat major... after 35 years, that's a chord I still try to work around. Can't say that I consider B flat to be my friend; maybe just a challenging acquaintance.

Mike