having a problem with F and B chords

[Brenisainmdom]

Hi there. sixth week in as a beginner. Great lessons to get me started. having problems with the above chords - any tips or am i missing something.

For b especially, I am nearly ending up using my feet as well as my hands! - painful chord.

Bren

[Guitar Tricks Admin]

Try fretting the chord without the pinkie to get a good anchor- or even make sure you've got the 5th down with two fingers first, and then move on.

The key idea is to make sure that your hand gets stretched and strengthened enough to reliably hold these chords.

If you're having trouble with one chord, move on to the next one. The exercise will give your hands the ability to form these patterns. If you keep at it, you'll notice that you're getting better every day!

[CSchlegel]

Hey & welcome to GT!
Hi there. sixth week in as a beginner. Great lessons to get me started. having problems with the above chords - any tips or am i missing something.
I dealt with the F & B chords in my instructor forum:

http://www.guitartricks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=28207

Read that, give those suggestions a try & let me know how it goes! Best of success.

[JoaquinCastillo]

Hi there. sixth week in as a beginner. Great lessons to get me started. having problems with the above chords - any tips or am i missing something.

For b especially, I am nearly ending up using my feet as well as my hands! - painful chord.

Bren
They are usually painful because your pressing to hard. Believe it or not relaxing also helps a lot. Try also practicing the chord shapes around the 7th and 12th fret and slowly move down the fretboard.

[Joe Pinnavaia]

Also maintain a good thumb position with the left hand. If the thumb is to high then you will feel the "need" to press hard to have all of the notes heard. If you keep the thumb behind the 2nd finger and more in the middle or try lowering the thumb it will give you better leverage to play those chords. Here is a quick tutorial on the topic:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0araEmTbN1w

All the best!

Joe Pinnavaia,
http://www.guitarlessonsbuffalony.com

[hunter1801]

What specific chord shapes are you having trouble with? You can play F and B in different ways. What frets are you hitting?