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major F chord

warberg80
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warberg80
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02/01/2007 4:50 pm
I need some help on the F major chord (could not find other threads about it in this forum).

There seems to be some variations of it, but I am talking about:

--1---
--1---
--2---
--3---
--X---
--X---

So, I place the tip of 1st finger on 1st and 2nd string. Using maximum force and contraponing on the board with my thumb, I can just make both strings sound. But then the next string, 2nd finger - it's impossible! I can't put that much force on all strings, or at least without touching 2nd string with 2nd finger.

Any hints to that? :-)
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# 1
iiholly
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iiholly
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02/01/2007 6:36 pm
It just takes practice to be honest. You're fingers will eventually be able to do it don't worry. What I used to do was slide that chord up the neck then back down. So you start at the chord you posted then go to

-2---
-2--
-3--
-4--
-x--
-x---

then

-3---
-3---
-4---
-5--
-x---
-x---
ect.

Good luck. Don't worry you'll get it. Don't force it too much either, thats a good way to hurt yourself.

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# 2
Kevin Taylor
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Kevin Taylor
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02/01/2007 7:23 pm
Try the beginners section. I'm pretty sure there's some free video lessons in there.
Kevin's Guitar Tricks Lessons
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# 3


Joined: 10/04/24
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02/01/2007 10:44 pm
This should help you out

http://www.guitartricks.com/lesson.php?input=9247&s_id=152
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# 4
MAVERIC777
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MAVERIC777
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02/02/2007 1:42 am
Good post I was having the same problem.
A man isen't measured by how far he has traveld in life, but how he made the jurney. ;)

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# 5
40ftsmurf
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40ftsmurf
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02/02/2007 3:24 am
For some reason it seems that most beginners have the hardest time playing the F chord. I did when I started playing. Getting my wrist to bend and be able to hold down the strings with enough pressure seemed impossible. Now, 30 years later, I don't even think about it.

It really just takes practice. There aren't any hidden secrets. It seems that is the answer to nearly all guitar playing problems. Patients truly is a virtue. Along with a stubborness to not let a piece of wood beat you.

Just keep trying it everyday, but not so much that it hurts your arm, and eventually it will become as natural as jumping off a 70ft cliff in frigid :) temperatures to one of those small blue palstic swimming pools that all of the neighborhood kids used to paly in on the front yard on a hot summer day........................

excuse me. Good luck :)
Favorite quote.....GET OUT THE BEANS!
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# 6
ren
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ren
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02/04/2007 9:43 am
more people give up playing guitar when they try an 'F' than at any other time I reckon...

I'd go with holly's suggestion - move it up the neck... less string tension so you should be able to get it easier.... then slide it down....

Check out my music, video, lessons & backing tracks here![br]https://www.renhimself.com

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# 7
IbanezRG770
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IbanezRG770
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02/09/2007 10:06 pm
I have been playing for about 18 months and I am just now able to hit a good F chord 2 out of 3 times. It is a very hard chord and will drive you crazy if you lack patience. I read an article about a popular player (sorry I cannot recall her name....long blonde hair form the 70s or 80s.) Anyway she has had a very succesful career playing acoustic and she actually retuned her guitar to avoid playing the F Chord. This is just an example of how hard it actually is. So do not think you are the only one having trouble. My big frustration right now is Bar Chords....Hang in there. :)
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# 8
ericthecableguy
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ericthecableguy
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02/09/2007 10:30 pm
Originally Posted by: IbanezRG770long blonde hair form the 70s or 80s.) Anyway she has had a very succesful career playing acoustic and she actually retuned her guitar to avoid playing the F Chord.


Thats just lazy...I wouldn't reccomend this.

Like everyone else said, the chord will come. I couldn't do it for the longest time, but now it's so natural that i couldn't imagine not being able to do it.
For life is quite absurd and death's the final word, You must always face the curtain with a bow
Forget about your sin - give the audience a grin
Enjoy it - it's your last chance anyhow.
METOOB
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# 9
R. Shackleferd
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R. Shackleferd
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02/10/2007 3:16 am
Originally Posted by: ericthecableguyThats just lazy...I wouldn't reccomend this...

That is crazy...frankly, I can't believe it fully. I mean I like alternate tunings too...like Jimmy Page, Leo Kottke, or even some classical pieces use to great effect. Maybe she just wanted to break out of the box. But purely to avoid an F chord? Ridiculous if true. That's almost in the realm of those who wear the "guitar necklace".
[FONT=Palatino Linotype]"Bust a nut!" - Dimebag
"Imagination is more important than knowledge." - Einstein[/FONT]
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# 10
hunter60
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hunter60
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02/10/2007 2:36 pm
Originally Posted by: IbanezRG770I have been playing for about 18 months and I am just now able to hit a good F chord 2 out of 3 times. It is a very hard chord and will drive you crazy if you lack patience. I read an article about a popular player (sorry I cannot recall her name....long blonde hair form the 70s or 80s.) Anyway she has had a very succesful career playing acoustic and she actually retuned her guitar to avoid playing the F Chord. This is just an example of how hard it actually is. So do not think you are the only one having trouble. My big frustration right now is Bar Chords....Hang in there. :)



Not sure, but I think you're thinking about Joni Mitchell. The story I had read about it was that the F chord almost caused her to give up the guitar as she so frustrated with it. But perserverance pays. She stuck with it and, well, the rest is history. Sort of.

Like you, I've been playing for about 18 months too and the F chord vexed me for a while. On the plus side, it did kinda force me to learn barr chords a lot faster cause once I did, I could hit the F major on the barr a WHOLE LOT easier than the open F. If given a choice based on finger placement, I will go with the barr F every time. I still do not like the open F because it just makes me miss more often than not.

Heck, if you're hitting it 2 out 3 times, you're doing a lot better than me! :)
[FONT=Tahoma]"All I can do is be me ... whoever that is". Bob Dylan [/FONT]
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# 11
Kevin Taylor
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Kevin Taylor
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02/10/2007 4:23 pm
Try holding it like this.


|-----2-------|
|-----1-------|
|-----3-------|
|-----4-------|
|-------------|
|-------------|


That's the way I've always held the chord ever since I started. (mostly cause I read the directions wrong :)
But I never had problems playing it that way.
Kevin's Guitar Tricks Lessons
Schmange Music U.K./Canada - Home Page
Schmange's iTunes
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# 12
ferreydumaua
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ferreydumaua
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02/11/2007 12:57 pm
Originally Posted by: 40ftsmurfNow, 30 years later, I don't even think about it.

It really just takes practice. There aren't any hidden secrets.Patients truly is a virtue.




There is always a difficulty trying and doing the chords. Not only in the F chord. So don't quit! Like the latter said, Practice will lead you to perfection... and thus this will make it for you to be as usual as ordinary...
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# 13
ericthecableguy
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ericthecableguy
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02/12/2007 3:09 am
Originally Posted by: schmangeTry holding it like this.


|-----2-------|
|-----1-------|
|-----3-------|
|-----4-------|
|-------------|
|-------------|


That's the way I've always held the chord ever since I started. (mostly cause I read the directions wrong :)
But I never had problems playing it that way.


The F# and A# are a nice touch ;) .
For life is quite absurd and death's the final word, You must always face the curtain with a bow
Forget about your sin - give the audience a grin
Enjoy it - it's your last chance anyhow.
METOOB
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# 14
jeffhx
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jeffhx
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02/12/2007 8:37 pm
i concur with the rest...preseverance is vital.. i actually find the standard B chord to be the hardest but ever since constant practice, im progressing..just hang in there, you'll get it...
[FONT=Impact]grooviest tunes ever [/FONT]
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# 15
R. Shackleferd
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R. Shackleferd
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02/12/2007 11:02 pm
Hey yeah, I actually had a harder time with that shape too come to think of it...I went with the form that uses the ring finger spanning the 3 inside notes, then angling up enough to let the barred high E string ring out. Perhaps harder at first, but once I had it, it was easier to hit quickly versus using all four fingers.
[FONT=Palatino Linotype]"Bust a nut!" - Dimebag
"Imagination is more important than knowledge." - Einstein[/FONT]
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# 16
warberg80
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warberg80
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02/19/2007 5:41 pm
Thanks for all response.

Especially the advice of going down a few frets helped get i little success so I could move on. I guess the size of your hand also affects the details of the right grib. Having fairly small hands, i found it usefull to turn the palm of my hand outwards a bit, as to bar the first strings with the side of my 1st finger.

Practice makes perfect ;-)
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# 17
iceandhotwax
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iceandhotwax
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02/23/2007 4:11 am
since the first string at the first fret is an f note it is a redundancy try
-x---
-1---
-2---
-3---
-0---
-x---
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# 18
z0s0_jp
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z0s0_jp
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02/23/2007 4:39 am
Originally Posted by: schmangeTry holding it like this.


|-----2-------|
|-----1-------|
|-----3-------|
|-----4-------|
|-------------|
|-------------|

.

WTF?????????????????
"Dammit Jim!! I'm a guitarist not a roadie...so haul my gear"
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# 19
R. Shackleferd
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R. Shackleferd
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02/23/2007 4:54 am
Originally Posted by: z0s0_jpWTF?????????????????

Yeah, I did a double-take at first too...but it's not fret #'s...it's the fingers, as in how to place them to fret the typical melody chord shape F.
I'd guess it's not the orthodox way of fingering the chord not because of any inherent difficulty with the shape itself, but in quick transition to another chord (or from another chord going to F) would the fingers perhaps become clumsy. But like he said, he's never had any problems with it...and to a "veteran" it wouldn't be any harder than some of those other harder chord shapes, diminished, augmented, etc.
[FONT=Palatino Linotype]"Bust a nut!" - Dimebag
"Imagination is more important than knowledge." - Einstein[/FONT]
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# 20

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