The F Chord

[Trinibob]

Hello everyone working hard at learning how to play chords on my left-handed guitar and I am finding the F chord very troublesome.
Anyone have any fingering variations to make this easier? Thanks for the help in advance

[mushin]

Here's what helped me learn bar chords. I found a song filled with them, Bm,F,F#,B... I started trying to play the song daily. After about a year I could get through it. By year two I could play it clean.

[Mystery123]

Haha, same here, that F is really a pain.

There's however few variations to start with.
Instead of full bar,


You can try pressing 1,2 strings with tip of 1 finger.


Or use 1 finger to bar but only press 1,2 strings and don't play 5,6.
Barring 1,2 and 5,6 strings is really tough, especially with uneven finger like mine.

[stanron]

All the notes of an F chord are there if you finger

x x x 2 1 1

or

x x 3 2 1 x

The second is probably the easiest and I think it's fair to say that everyone who has ever learned to play guitar has struggled to play the F chord at first. Practice will produce results eventually and it won't be all that long before you forget it was ever a problem.

[Silly Moustache]

What about the "thumb over" shape ? Use your thumb to fret the 6th string on 1st, and index finger just for the 1st and 2nd. Rest as per normal.

[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.

[simpl man]

It's been a little while since I went through this myself, but what I did was to start making my E major chord with my middle, ring, & pinky fingers. Once you get used to that, sliding it up a fret & using the index to barre becomes easier.

I also use another shape that combines the two mentioned by Mystery123 above:

x33211

It sounds a little fuller and can be used to pick alternating bass notes on the A & D strings. I think this is sometimes referred to as C/F (C over F)?

[CaptJack]

Barre chords (and F in particular) were the wall I hit on justinguitar that finally sent me in search of lessons. The teacher suggested three steps:

• Have the guitar set up extremely low, like an electric guitar, and use extra light (11s) strings.

• Once I was generally comfortable playing F that way, replace the extra light strings with lights (12s).

• Once I was successful there, have the guitar re-setup to a more typical low action acoustic level. This is where I am now, and F is no longer the terror it once was.

Hope that helps.

[rick-slo]

Originally Posted by Trinibob

Hello everyone working hard at learning how to play chords on my left-handed guitar and I am finding the F chord very troublesome.
Anyone have any fingering variations to make this easier? Thanks for the help in advance

Welcome to the forum.

People may chime in but also do a little forum search as this topic has been covered many times.

[Trinibob]

Thanks all I'm going to try every trick I can to master this cord going to get them big fingers working soon

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

I'll often play x3321x

Me too. I call it "lazy F", and it works fine, especially changing to or from a C - the most common scenario in which you find an F chord.
One finger per string, mute 6th with thumb, mute 1st with side of index. Or...

Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

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

Yep.

Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

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.

Right!

Of course, let's not make that an excuse for beginners not to learn them... It's just that there are ways round them, and the more you practise all the other chords, the more flexible and stronger your fingers get, until you find the barres get easier. There's no harm in simply avoiding playing any song with an F in it (or Bm the other common one), while you are building your dexterity. IOW, if you hit a wall... go round it.

[Laughingboy68]

I've been playing for long enough that a barre F isn't something that is too tough. That being said, most of the time my F is a thumb over version, and that high F might be there or not, depending on what the song calls for. This allows for lots of internal suspensions and alterations by allowing some open strings to ring.

I agree with some of the experienced voices on this forum. Old fashioned barre chords for major chords are often a bit blocky and boring - especially on an acoustic guitar.

Mike

[mr. beaumont]

Which is not to say, don't learn them, but rather, don't let getting hung up on them sidetrack you from all the other cool stuff out there.

[s0cks]

Finding the optimum position for the index finger barre helps too. I have to have my index finger quite high, sticking over the top of the neck. Similar to this, but maybe even higher:



Where others need a lower position like this:

[macmanmatty]

103211 is also an F and you can use the thumb wrap as well to make it easier. In some songs you my even need to hit that A in the bass