Many beginning guitar players fight with a basic F chord. While the guitar chord F is one of the more difficult basic chords, in this video guitar lesson I’ll give you some tricks to help make it easier.
(Video Guitar Lesson)
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2 Hand Positions for an F Major Chord
There are 2 basic hand positions I want you to practice for the guitar chord F. One is a more “Classical” position with your thumb lower on the back of the neck of the guitar.
The other you will wrap your thumb over the top of the neck and put your palm on the back. Each will be important in different situations.
F Guitar Chord – Classical Position
For guitar F you need to barre your 1st finger across the 2nd and 1st strings. Then put your 2nd finger on the 3rd string 2nd fret, and your 3rd finger on the 4th string 3rd fret. Keep your thumb about in the middle of the back of the neck. Angle all of your fingers slightly to the left.
You are going to press down the 1st and 2nd strings with the left side of your 1st finger.
F Guitar Chord – Alternative Position
The 2nd hand position to try is to bring your thumb up and wrap around the neck a little and touch the 6th string very lightly. So you are muting the 6th string with your thumb.
You are then going to take the whole surface of your palm and put it on the back of the neck. Most of the time placing your palm on the back of the neck is a bad idea, but it can work well for the F chord.
You are then going to press down the 1st and 2nd strings with more the flat surface of your 1st finger. With this position you might be able to very lightly touch the 5th string and mute it with the edge of your 3rd finger.
Easier F Chord Fingering
If you just can’t get the F chord to sound, there’s an alternate voicing you can use. Basically you just mute the first string rather than trying to bar across the 1st and 2nd strings.
Another common way that I play an F chord is with my thumb playing the 6th string. Check out the Must Know Rock F Chord lesson for more info. AKA the “Jimmy Page F Chord”
