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  #16  
Old 08-21-2013, 06:59 PM
mc1 mc1 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ukejon View Post
Not quite but you are close, MC1. Bad-Form is my middle name!
well, trouble is my middle name. at least, that's how i correct people when they say, "here comes trouble".

i actually can't wrap my thumb. i suspect that is due to tying to get some degree of classical technique working on a classical guitar. but even on an electric, which i played for years, it's hard for me to use my thumb to fret.
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  #17  
Old 08-21-2013, 07:05 PM
Lazmo Lazmo is offline
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Just another angle…

Have your guitars had a proper setup?

If not… high nut slots will make F difficult, no matter what.
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  #18  
Old 08-21-2013, 07:10 PM
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I remember it being difficult in 1965 when I got my (truly awful) beginner guitar. Sometime in 66 it ceased to be a problem. Probably because I changed guitars.
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  #19  
Old 08-21-2013, 07:15 PM
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Check the guitar's string height set up, especially at the nut. If the setup is right, barre chords are pretty easy to do.
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  #20  
Old 08-21-2013, 07:16 PM
Rpt50 Rpt50 is offline
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Never could do it with the "correct" Barre chord form. It became super easy however when someone showed me how to fret the root note with my thumb around the back. Now I use my thumb for everything below the 6th fret.
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  #21  
Old 08-21-2013, 07:17 PM
guitar344 guitar344 is offline
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You could bar the first fret and play as if you were figuring E Major. Or you could just bar the first fret of the hi e and b and second fret G and Third Fret D. It takes awhile. I think C minor is challenging.
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  #22  
Old 08-21-2013, 07:24 PM
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Yes, F chords are eventually a piece of cake - unless you're me, and stand to play, and tie your flipping strap the the head at the nut, then whenever you try to make an F your thumb gets tangled in the stupid strap and then everybody laughs and says STRAP BUTTON, STOOPID, but No, I'm not bitter, not meeeeee!!!!
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  #23  
Old 08-21-2013, 07:27 PM
Analog Kid Analog Kid is offline
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never really found f chords that hard :/
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  #24  
Old 08-21-2013, 07:59 PM
mr. beaumont mr. beaumont is offline
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Practice and patience...the only remedy.

just my luck, by the time I could play a first position F barre chord cleanly every time I got into music that essentially never requires a six string major barre chord ever.
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  #25  
Old 08-21-2013, 08:45 PM
MrMartyr MrMartyr is offline
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The F chord is where proper posture becomes important. You have to be either standing and strapped in, or sitting in performance posture. The chord is easier to play when the rest of your body is properly postured. So sit up straight, just make sure to relax your shoulders. It does take a while to develop the hand strength. Make sure to get a good foothold on the apex of the neck with the meat of your thumb.

And I know this is going to sound like the opposite of what you should do, but try this. Relax when you play it. Relax and strum a Reggae rhythm.
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  #26  
Old 08-21-2013, 09:38 PM
clintj clintj is offline
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The F chord is one that will really separate an okay setup from a good one. I managed to build up some serious hand strength from trying to play that chord with the nut slots way too high. Once that was fixed, it was easy. It's almost a rite of passage for guitarists.
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  #27  
Old 08-21-2013, 09:42 PM
Fireside_Guitar Fireside_Guitar is offline
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I notice you play a Yamaha FG700ms Beetlescott. Like others I would ask has the guitar been setup at all?

I just got a new FG700s and it`s being setup right now...the nut needed work as well as a pretty good truss rod adjustment(added a bone saddle as well). When I brought the new guitar home I wanted to take it camping that weekend but the action out of the box wouldn`t allow me to play comfortably for more than 10 minutes. F chords were horrible to play on it out of the box.
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  #28  
Old 08-21-2013, 09:44 PM
RobertForman RobertForman is offline
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there are like ten ways or more to play any chord up and down the fretboard, don't get hung up on the fingering of a particular chord. also don't get hung up on redundant notes in any particular voicing of a chord. a chord = a triad: 1, 3, 5. that's it. I have been playing guitar since 1978 and if there is one thing I have learned along the way, it's that less is more. with that said, the easiest and probably most applicable way to voice an F chord is play the F note on the 3rd fret of the 4th string, A note on the second fret of the third string, and C note on the first fret of the second string. this is a very easy chord to play.

another good F chord is take the first position D chord shape and move it up to F, and another really sweet F chord is to take the first position C chord and move it up to F. All chords are moveable.

Last edited by RobertForman; 08-21-2013 at 09:46 PM. Reason: add more info.
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  #29  
Old 08-21-2013, 10:01 PM
The Old Anglo The Old Anglo is offline
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Go between a Full Barre F major chord to a D Major then to a Bm barre chord and back again. Do this about 1,000 times and all will be well.
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  #30  
Old 08-21-2013, 10:03 PM
harmonics101 harmonics101 is offline
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Who needs the F Barre chord ?

Heck, I learned the F Barre before I learned the non F Barre.

Once I learned the Non F Barre, I only play the F Barre if necessary.

You'll be amazed how much you can skip the F barre chord.

Course, that means you need to learn the Thumb Wrap F chord

Thumb Wrap ? Barre ?

Personally, I use the Thumb Wrap about 85% of the time, and the F Barre only 15% of the time.

You can do the thumb wrap F all the way up the neck and not even use a Barre. Same thing with the A Barre, a much trickier feat if you ask me

Cheers and Happy Barring

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