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Challenge with F Chord
Hi All – hoping for some help or tricks, tips. techniques to help with playing the F chord. I am simply not able to do it (yet). I can play all other chords we have encountered cleanly – although cleanly with transition is another challenge. This chord transition challenge is one that will improve with time, I am sure. But I just can’t play the F chord. It’s very frustrating -\ I can play all 4 strings separately and cleanly. but put together I end up muting all 4 strings. It’s very frustrating and I need to master it, too many good songs (and daily challenges) include this chord so I can’t just ignore it. Help!!! And thank you!
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21 Replies
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I assume you are talking about the F-mini where you barre the high E and B strings. You are not alone my friend, this chord is extremely difficult to play. I attempt regularly to play it but only rarely do all strings ring cleanly. It comes down to a balancing act for me, getting the pressure on the 2 lowest strings just right while not muting any other strings at the same time.
For the challenges I will often cheat and focus on fretting the B and not worry about the high E at all while avoiding it while strumming it.
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My only advice on the mini F is to try and use the outside part of your index finger when barring the B and high E strings. Not the fleshy part of your finger. Curving your elbow outward going away from your guitar will help a little with getting the correct angle. I would also advise embracing barre chords as soon as you can. Don’t try to avoid them. They are amazingly valuable, and if you also do the Fretboard Wizard course, you will see why. I try to play some type of barre chord(s) everyday. I still play them poorly most of the time, but improving.
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@Skyman911 the only way I can get a clean F chord is by pulling my elbow tight in towards my rib cage. Both you and @Loraine are recommending to position the elbow away from the body. When I attempt to move my elbow away the E and the B strings begin to thud.
I can’t find a position where it works besides tucked tightly to my body. If I try to raise it more, now my fingers are coming in terribly flat and I’m muting all strings, chord modification would be out of the question.
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My advice is to optimize the position of your left THUMB. It´s so important. You need the presure at the right spot. Also watch Tonys indexfinger and try to position your indexfinger simular to his. Let the strings ring one after the other and optimize the ankle of the indexfinger and how far it reaches over the second string and the position of the thumb until all strings ring clearly one after the other.
Last not least: learn a song with a lot of F chords. I chose “Let the pony run”. Strum through he chords / the song every day once. A simple downstroke on the one beat Slow down for the Mini Fs. Take all the time you need to form the Mini Fs. Strum the strings one after the other in slow motion to check if every string is ringing clearly. If a string doesn´t, don´t worry. Try one or two adjustments not more! Tehn continue through the song.If the mini F strings ring clearly strum all the strings fluently once. Then continue through the song to give the next appearing Mini F a try. Good Luck!
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I have struggled with the mini-F for easily 10 months. I’m getting better but I’m still not there. I often cheat like @petelanger and don’t barre the high E string. That technically is an Fmaj7 chord, and it works for a lot of songs.
Stick with it, like most things guitar it just takes a LOT of time and practice.
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You are definitely not alone. Neither the mini or full F come easily at the ger. . I agree with much of the above advice. Positioning the thumb more towards the headstock around the 2nd fret! Angling the fingers as suggested where tou are using more the the firmer side of the index on the high E and B string. The biggest reason you’re muting them all when you barre is because you flatten your fingers when you’re stretching for the 1st fret.
Suggestion is to push your elbow downwards, and slightly outwards (forward), so that your fingers automatically curve and you get added pressure on your fretting hand to help with the barre. I can’t stress enough how important it is to stretch angethe elbow downwards when barring. The added pressure is what will keep Spanish pressure on the barre. Fret the high E and B string as close to the fret, while turning a,ightly towards the headstock. This adds pressure to the fingers. You may your barring finger down. You may have to really move your body to allow for the elbow to push down. I push it out forward slightly, because this adds pressure.
The only other advice is to keep practicing, remove your fingers after every try and replace them. Before removing your fingers, really study your arm and wrist to see where the problems are, such as muted strings. Make corrections next time. When you finally can play each string cleanly, and the barre sound clean, then again stop and study the positioning of your hand and fingers.
For practice with full barre chords, I play 7 Spanish Angels, by Ray Charles and sung by Willie Nelson ,to practice barre chords, but it has more than just the full F, so wait until you learn them.
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Thank you! I am struggling too. Great advice.
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@Loraine when you say push down on your elbow, what does this really mean? I can lower my shoulders as much as possible but once it’s all the down, how much more pushing is possible? Now I can raise the guitar neck also so the elbow continues to descend relative to my fretting hand.
What I am finding is that I literally am pushing the left elbow into my ribs in order to be able to lay my index finder on it’s side (the bony part, not the fleshy part). Doing this there is a limit to how far you can lay down #1 because you start to have muting problems with #2 and #3 because now you are fretting on the side of those fingers (no longer with the tips).
There always seems to be a trade off between getting good, clean sound from the notes F (#1), C (#1), A (#2) and F (#3).
I hope all this isn’t confusing you @stpotter329gmail-com .
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I believe these are some of the challenges learning from an online platform. One can struggle for a long time. Personal instruction shortens this process greatly. When you have someone that can physically show you then you don’t build bad habits that are difficult to change.
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Hey Pete, It is very much like you mention. Often times you do have to raise the neck of the guitar in order to push the elbow down and out. I find it helps with the pressure to move my elbow outwards, while you say you pull it in to be by your ribs. If you push outward, away from your body, it force your wrist and hand to curve and gives more leverage to fret the barre. The curve of the hand puts pressure on the barre. Everyone is different, so what works for you may not work for someone else. Also, a clear barre chord doesn’t necessarily take a lot of pressure. If you find the sweet spot where the chord rings out clear, stop Anfang note the position of your hand and fingers. Also, if you think about it, most barres only need to have 2-3 strings fretted. The other strings are covered by
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Everyone – thank your the great responses and even better advice! All very helpful and I will begin to incorporate going forward!
Steve P.
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Here is my 2 cents. I struggle too and mine is not consistent yet but this is how I do it… I had actually replied to someone else and he had a photo of how he was doing his fingering… So, when I refer to “this is kinda how you have yours” … I was specifically talking to him BUT… I am still showing how I get it to work for me. LOL… You twist your wrist such that your palm is very close to the neck. I hope that helps. We are all different and thus find what works best for us… but thought maybe giving a visual on how it works best for me may help you as well.
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Hi there – I just saw your reply and it DOES help! Thank you! I am thinking I will take the Barre chord skills course soon and just completely move away from the “mini F” chord ; )
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Awesome! I am taking the Barre chord courses right now as well. BUT.. when you have these things where we do hammer ons and certain fingerstyle picking, the mini F is the one to use. Its a tough one to get under your belt though. I can do it but still not consistently when I am actually trying to play a song… lol.
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Thanks, I do pretty much the same as you, it does seem that your elbow moves in rather than out as @Loraine and @Skyman911 have stated above. For me it only works bringing it in.
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Yes… when you twist your wrist so that your palm goes up closer to the neck your elbow does move in toward your body. I knew what the others were saying but sometimes I think it helps to see it. I tried really hard to just type directions lol…
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I gonna try this… also cute guitar
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Thanks. Its a Takemine GB7… Its a bit big for me really but I do enjoy it. I also have a Martin SC13E which is much easier to play (for me anyway).
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Mine is a bit big for me but the trick worked! Okay, once but it worked!
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YAY!!! I needed that little giggle! I am still working on consistency too!!!!! I am glad it worked for you 🙂
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I am having the exact same problem, I thought the C chord was the end of my guitar journey, but after about three weeks of practice finally getting it about 50% of the time, the mini F chord has held me up for 4 weeks now and am extremely frustrated, but hope we can break through eventually.
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