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MIni F chord blues
Hi All, I have all but given up on playing the mini F chord where you bar the high 2 strings. The only way I can even possibly bar them with my index finger is to have my finger perpendicular to the strings, then I can’t play the other stings without them all being muted. In fact, this is the first chord I’ve tried where all 4 strings are muted when I strum it! LOL Anytime I try angling my fingers like Tony does in the video, my index finger goes in between the top 2 strings, and they are muted. Not making excuses, but this guitar has a 2″ wide neck at the first fret and a lot of space in between the strings. It is a Yamaha NCX 700C which was given to me. I have resorted to leaving the high E open for now. Has anyone found an exercise or method for overcoming this? Thanks
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2 Replies
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Don’t worry, this is perfectly normal! You are approaching things the right way, the 3 string version is perfectly fine (you want to try and not play the High E string if you aren’t able to turn it into an F.
It probably took me about 14 months to get to where I am now which is about 75%. To explain what that means: if I have a second to set it up and can play the F mini clearly. Depending on where I’m transitioning in from I’ll hit it clean some of the time. Other times the B or E string might be partially muted, not a clear ring.
I’ve written plenty here in the forums about this chord. I’ll search for some of guidance I’ve given in the past and post it below. Maybe something in there is helpful.
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In this thread a lot of people give their take on the F-mini. I want to give some updates on my comments in there:
I talk about “pulling my elbow tight in tight towards my rib cage” and a whole lot of hand rotation and what not. This was 9 months ago and now I can say that most of it is not necessary for me to play this chord today. However, it is quite possibly the journey I had to take to get there. I don’t think going through a lot gyrations in pursuit of playing a clean F-mini is harmful, it most likely helps in the end.
– You have to “feel it” and in order to do so you must feel all the ways it doesn’t work. The F mini is all about getting the optimal position. All chords benefit from good hand position but the F-mini just needs so much more than other chords do.
– AVOID PRESSING TOO HARD! New players (as I was and still am but I’m starting to lose that moniker, tend to push down on the strings with brutal force in an attempt to stop muting and buzzing. It takes a while until you learn that you don’t have to press that darn hard! With a gentler touch this chord is easier to do. Find out how hard you need to press to fret the 2 bottom strings with your index. Keep easing off until they buzz, then increase a little bit. Notice this is probably less than half as hard as you’ve been pressing until now. Then position your hand in such a way that you can fret the other 2 strings. It might help you to raise the guitar neck to improve positioning
https://tonypolecastro.com/family-forums/topic/challenge-with-f-chord/#post-2153829
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