Need help with F chord

Hello everyone! I'm a noob (been playing for about three months) and I have been going through the tutorials. I'm having trouble with the F chord. I see progress with all the other chords but F is kicking my butt. Barring isn't really the problem, the trouble is with fingers 2, 3, & 4 on the left hand. I've been working on this chord for about 2 weeks now. This is weird to me because my fingers picked up on the other chords in about a solid week of practicing them. Guess I'll just keep practicing it and hopefully muscle memory kicks in soon. But if anybody has any useful tips, I would appreciate them.

You could try practising playing an E chord with those 2-3-4 fingers, rather than the way you are probably used to, using 1-2-3 fingers... Once your 2-3-4 fingers "learn" their places, the barred chords using the E-shape will come naturally.
||-----|-----|-----|
||-----|-----|-----|
||--2--|-----|-----|
||-----|--3--|-----|
||-----|--4--|-----|
||-----|-----|-----|


When playing songs that contain chord progressions to and/or from the E and F chords, I always tend to play both chords with the 2-3-4 fingers and barre the 1st fret with the 1st finger for the F chord. Also, Try playing other chords using the barred chord using the E-shape to get your fingers used to it. So next time you go to do an A chord, rather than reverting to a non-barred chord.. go to the barred E-shape.


Another way of doing an F chord is to hold the bottom-E string down on the 1st fret with your thumb.

1 to 4 are your normal fingers, T is your thumb:
||--1--|-----|-----|
||--1--|-----|-----|
||-----|--2--|-----|
||-----|-----|--3--|
||-----|-----|--4--|
||--T--|-----|-----|

This position opens up a lot more flexibility in the variations on the chord, though it really is just the same notes being played as a standard barre chord. A particularly nice F chord I like to use a lot when I am practising chords is:
||-----|-----|-----|
||--1--|-----|-----|
||-----|--2--|-----|
||-----|-----|--3--|
||-----|-----|-----|
||--T--|-----|-----|

I'm not actually sure what this chord is, I just know it sounds nice.. hehe.. :o This chord also frees up my pinkie finger (finger 4) to play bass notes when required. A nice chord progession to use that chord with would be:
/ C / G / Am / Em / F / G

Here's one good exercise you can do for muscle memory. Hold The F chord for 2 seconds, then release while extending your finger a little bit (so that you don't keep your finger into the chord position) wait 1 second then make the chord again. Do this about 15-20 times. Then leave it for 10 minutes and work on something else. When you come back to the exercise, instead of extending your fingers, lay your hand on your lap 1 second then make the chord again.

I'm a very strong believer in visualisation. While your hand travels from your lap to the fret board, visualise your finger. Think about which fingers goes where.

After a while you won't have to think about it and they will position themself naturaly.

Thanks guys! I'll give these a shot.