Need Help playing "F" Chord

Discussion in 'Beginner's Q&A Forum' started by d_novice, Jan 1, 2005.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. fictional_real

    fictional_real Pyaasi Jawani

    ^^^little correction. the technique u r telling is absoutely perfect. no question abt it. however, i think jayanth has already said this but i do like to repeat. for the 'F' chord...put the thumb on a bit left sid away from u and not exactly but near to the back of the index finger which helps to put more pressure on the strings by index finger so dat the strings dont mute often.

    the technique u have said is absoutely correct but for F chord i think this technique will help you a lot.
     
  2. Rey1970

    Rey1970 New Member

    guys you can try a different guitar, probably its the shape of the neck.I've never had any problem with chords.....I first learned on an old accoustic that a band leader had so when I perfected WHAT he wanted me to do , NOT what I wanted to do, electric guitars was easy for me practice makes perfect.play on......
     
  3. nadish

    nadish Active Member

    I'm also having trouble with this stupid Chord. U now its really hard to hold 2 stings at a time with ur cute little innocent finger... Atleast 4 me. its really hard
     
  4. chandu15

    chandu15 New Member

    Try this one. It just matter of getting adjusted, and orienting your fingers. I too had trouble initially playing this one, but I got around it playing it this way. The index finger touches all the strings here, but concentrate on pressing the E & B only (with the beginning portion of the finger in contrast to the tip of it). this eases the undue pressure felt bending the index finger.


    E...A....D....G....B...E
    ================
    |....|....|....|....|....|
    |....|....|....|....|....|
    |....|....|....|....|....|
    X...X....X....X...X....X
    |---|---|---|---|---|
    |....|....|....|....|....|
    |....|....|....|....|....|
    |....|....|....|....|....|
    |....|....|....X....|....|
    |---|---|---|---|---|
    |....|....|....|....|....|
    |....|....|....|....|....|
    |....|....|....|....|....|
    |....X....X....|....|....|
    |---|---|---|---|---|
    |....|....|....|....|....|

    good luck,
    cK.
     
  5. jayswami

    jayswami Blue J

    lol. nice tips baamdbaaja.

    my tip is this.. develop a liking for the dirty sound u get when u play F, and keep playing it dirtily. one day it will become crisp.
     
  6. .:VinAY:.

    .:VinAY:. New Member

    hey guys...im an absolute beginer too & even i had a horrible time with "F"...in fact i jus gave up on it but later on once i finished the 1st Major Bar Position i realised tht i cud aL of a sudden play "F" both ways :D
     
  7. deadman2115

    deadman2115 New Member

    hi,d novice
    keeping practiceing &u will achieve ur goal
     
  8. rabi_sultan

    rabi_sultan <Bulla Ki Jana>

    that is basically it. you will one day get your finger strong enough to hold down all six strings.

    meanwhile read the six simple exercises and continously repeat them, this will help you get your finger strength quickly.
     
  9. acoustic

    acoustic New Member

    Play like D on the 5th Fret

    Well if Barre is tough for you,

    you can play F chord on the 5th Fret just like you play the D chord on 2nd fret
     
  10. deathdr_87

    deathdr_87 Awesome Guitarist

    ok - for playing the F chord - the est and most effective way is to simply hold down the bar with 1 finger - forget the rest and then play each note individually and see if it sounds right - keep doing it till it sounds right- u wont have much trouble aplying the chord after u get that done
     
  11. The Pacifist

    The Pacifist New Member

    Try practicing a combination of Dm, C (the non-barre versions of both) and the F chord. I found that once you get your fingers right on this combo (and its widely used, you'd have recognized), the F chord becomes slightly easy .Its already a piece of cake once you are playing a Am,G,F barre combination, coz by the time you arrive at the F during the 4th or 5th repetition, your fingers have already lost all sense of touch... :)
     
  12. ssslayer

    ssslayer Banned

    l.o.l.

    F maj chord shape ... the onli prob is that of perseverence ... coz there are many other "exotic"c hords out there the 7th, 9th, 11th, 13th and their variations and cousins that are also "tough" ...

    so dude the onli thing ya need ta show is perseverance ...
     
  13. DrSaurabh

    DrSaurabh Wh@+s Up D0C

    seriously it is funny.............the thread starter dint post once after that start:) interesting
    funny.......but what the hell we got a nice tutorial on how to play the F Major chord.......now only if more people had trouble with C D E G A B Bm Cm Am Dm Em Gm Fm.........etc....we would actually have a comprehensive database on how to play each chord:p:
     
  14. annand

    annand the pessimist

    *grins*

    i too am one of those who had trouble with the F-chord. the only reason why you're having difficulty with it is because your fingers are not strong enough yet. as your fingers get stronger, the F-chord and everything else becomes much easier to play. what you need to practice is some excercise that will strengthen your fingers.

    try this excercise:
    e|---------------------------------------------------4---|
    B|--------------------------------4--------------3------|
    G|--------------4-------------3-------------2----------|
    D|----------3-------------2-------------1--------------|
    A|------2-------------1---------------------------------|
    E|--1----------------------------------------------------|
    you can move on to the second fret, the third, and so on.


    here are some others to try. also, try doing the following excercses using hammer-ons.
    e|-------------------------------------1--2----|
    B|------------------------------1--2-----------|
    G|-----------------------1--2------------------|
    D|----------------1--2-------------------------|
    A|---------1--2--------------------------------|
    E|--1--2---------------------------------------|

    e|-------------------------------------1--3----|
    B|------------------------------1--3-----------|
    G|-----------------------1--3------------------|
    D|----------------1--3-------------------------|
    A|---------1--3--------------------------------|
    E|--1--3---------------------------------------|

    e|-------------------------------------1--4----|
    B|------------------------------1--4-----------|
    G|-----------------------1--4------------------|
    D|----------------1--4-------------------------|
    A|---------1--4--------------------------------|
    E|--1--4---------------------------------------|

    and remember to start-off practicing slowly ofcourse.
    as your fingers become stronger, difficuly chord fingerings will become much easier.
     
  15. swoosh

    swoosh New Member

    It's the thumb folks.

    The thumb is the key to playing all barres, F being the most common. You actually have to use it to your benefit - by pressing it up against the neck - help the index finger press down. Not the tip but the entire index finger as it lays across the whole fret - pressing down all six (as if it were a capo). You can then use the rest of your fingers to shape out what would be an E major had you not barred the first fret.

    Sushant
     
  16. vipin_slash

    vipin_slash New Member

    Problem comes when u try to shift to F from some other chord say in U2 song
    "Angel of Harlem" the Rythem part is C-C-F-F-F. that actually need practice.Most
    Important is that u'r posture should be accurate.dont play guitar while sitting in
    wrong posture.In F chosr if u try to Barr the 1and 2 string u'r pressure on other two
    strings (for 2nd and 3rd Fingers) decreases.Practice is the only way out.
     
  17. ronnieanand

    ronnieanand n00bier th@n th0u

    If C to F and F to C is difficult, then try playing all in Barre Chords. It will be like a Breeze. Alternatively you dont need to play the F Barre Chord if you are scared about Barre Chords and want to play only open strings.

    Try this for F Major Chord. This is a simple version if you find the F Major Barre Chord difficult.

    E -----1---------------------
    B -----x---------------------
    G -----2---------------------
    D -----3---------------------
    A -----3---------------------
    E -----x---------------------

    This is not exactly F. It F/C. It would still sound like F. x means mute the string. You still can get the F Major sound as it has only F, A, C notes (Root, Major Third and Perfect Fifth). Usually for beginner the semi-barre across the first and second string is difficult. By this method, you could avoid the barre. If you are confused how to fret the 1st string and mute the 2nd string, then just fret the 1st string with the fleshy part of the finger tip instead of the actual. This way, the tip will slightly touch the 2nd string but not strong enough to actually fret it. So the 2nd string will get muted.

    E -----1---------------------
    B -----1---------------------
    G -----2---------------------
    D -----3---------------------
    A -----x---------------------
    E -----x---------------------

    If Barring is not a difficulty but two many things to fret, then try this one. This one is proper F. This is slightly easier before playing the full barre F Major chord.
     
  18. nebuchadnezzar

    nebuchadnezzar G34r G33k

    I always had this little doubt....
    When barring chords like F ,Bb,Bm(and there transposed versions across all frets)..you can get away with just sounding the 1st 2nd and 5th 6th strings with your index finger..thus you can slighly arch your index finger for this(requires lesser effort)...but for playing sevenths etc in barre..those 3rd ,4th, 5th strings may also need to be sounded...my query is..should one always fret all six strings with the index finger or just make a subtle switch when playing seventh (and similar)chords??
     
  19. nnshinde

    nnshinde New Member

    hi d_novice...try this one it worked for me and frnds 2..
    try placing ur first finger only on first fret..play individual string practice this till u get perfect sound
    thengo for first and second together....and so on...this might help....but above all dont loose patience....i remember my sir said once that i f u know 'F'...u know half of the guitar..jokes apart keep trying
     
  20. ronnieanand

    ronnieanand n00bier th@n th0u

    It's not a rule that you should be barring all the 6 strings. You could play just what's neccesary for making the chord sound like it's supposed to. So go ahead and shift those chords with different barring it to your convenience.
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page