Everyone has to face this sometime... don't be scared. It won't hurt... much ;)

Being able to play F is a really important step and one that might take you a month or more of frustration. I found it really hard when I first learned it. Really hard. But I often see students that pick it up during a lesson and can play it perfect!! So try and see how you go, more tips below if you are struggling...

Video Lesson

 

It's time to face the F Chord

The next stage involves learning every beginner's nightmare, The F Chord. But don't be alarmed. It is a very nice chord and leads later to playing barre chords (which is where you will transcend from a beginner to an intermediate player!).

Try not to let yourself get discouraged if you find it hard. Try and think back to how hard it was to play your first chords and make them sound good, well this one is no different really - and once you get it you'll wonder why you ever had a problem with it at all!

If you have an electric and an acoustic guitar I would recommend starting on your electric, which is going to be a lot easier. Get the technique good and your hand comfortable with the grip, and then move to acoustic - you're going to have to press a lot harder and have more finger strength, but your technique will be solid!

There are a few ways of playing this one, I'm going to try and introduce you to the hardest one first and see how you get on. Then we make it a little easier and easier...

 

If you really struggle to get the barre there are a couple of things to try:

If you have very old or very thick strings then changing to nice new thin strings (9's on electric, 10's on acoustic) will almost certainly help because thin strings are easier to press down.

Make sure your "action" is not too high - meaning that the strings are too far away from the fingerboard. This is usually adjusted in a guitar shop and is called a set up. You'll have to pay for it but it can make even a cheap guitar nice to play and is often worth the money.

Barre chords are easier when they are further up the neck, so playing it with the barre at the 5th fret (which would make it an A chord actually) might be easier and allow you to build up the strength in your hand enough to go back to F. If not then try one of the variations below. Mute the thickest string with the tip of your 3rd finger to keep it muted!

The F chord above sounds more full then the one below but the lowest note is a C note, so some people find it sounds strange. I don't I like the sound of it better and in fact, I found it easier to play than the mini one shown below! Your third finger should mute the 5th string and later you might like to mute the thickest string with your thumb (but don't worry yourself over that just yet unless it comes real easy!).

 

Common problems

"My B string buzzes", oh if I had a dollar for every time I heard that :). It's just because your barre is not strong enough yet. Make sure the barre is rolled a little onto its side, but most likely it's just going to take some time to get your muscles strong enough to hold the barre strong enough!

"I can play it but it's so slow to get to it, I'll never be able to use it in a song", well think back to your slow changes when you started. Most people need to spend quite a lot of time doing one minute changes with the F to even start to get the changes smooth. It's going to take you some time, but once you are over this hurdle the rest is plain sailing!! :)

"Perhaps I need to buy one of those hand strengthener machines", no you don't, just practice more! Those things are a waste of time, do your workout on the guitar!

 

Once you have this sorted we are going to look at changing to and from F in BC-162 • 1 minute Changes

 

HELP!!!!

If you need to ask a question about this lesson - there is a topic set up specifically to help you with this lesson. To help you find it easily you can click the following link and it will take you right the topic. You'll be able to see questions that other people had and ask your own questions! Hopefully one of the very helpful members of our community will be there to help you soon, I do go there and answer stuff too - but there are just too many questions for me to answer alone! So click this link to get help with this lesson!

Justinguitar Beginner's Products

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