How To Play the F Chord - Different Fingerings and Techniques

 

The F Chord is probably one of the most problematic of the major chords to play. Many beginners struggle with this chord mostly because it usually requires some barring of the strings. It is also a commonly used chord because it it part of the 3 chord triad in the Key of C, along with C and G, so you often have to play this chord in many pieces of music. However, there are many different ways this chord can be made on the guitar, and each different form has its own advantages and disadvantages depending on your playing style and the piece of music you are playing. Below, and in the video, I will look at different ways to play this chord and the upsides and downsides of each. All the shapes shown are for a guitar in standard tuning.

Full Barre

 

The first shape involves putting a full barre across fret 1 and then forming the rest of the chord with the middle, ring and pinky fingers. This is one of the most commonly used forms of this chord and you will often see it written like this.

Advantages

• Access to all 6 strings of the guitar, so good when playing fingerstyle blues as you can play the deep bass notes
  

Disadvantages

• Requires all the fingers on your fretting hand to play, making it tricky to play melody notes on higher strings at the same time
• A slow chord too make as it requires making a full barre
• It can be physically hard to make as it involves barring fret 1 as it requires the most force to form the barre.
  

Half Barre

 

The 2nd shape involves putting a partial barre across the top two strings of fret 1 and then forming the rest of the chord with the middle and ring fingers. This again is a commonly used version of this chord.

Advantages

• Quick to form and easier to play than the full barre as it only requires barring of two strings.
• Not too physically demanding as it only requires barring of two strings.
• Frees up the pinky to play notes on other strings
  

Disadvantages

• Only forming the chord with the top four strings, so you dont play the two lowest strings. These lower bass strings are used a lot in fingerstyle blues, so not being able to use them can make the chord sound out of place in a piece of music
  

Half Barre Expanded

This shape is similar to the half barre shape but also involves fretting fret 3 on the A string with your pinky. This is not a very common way to play the F chord.

Advantages

• Covers 5 strings of the guitar so allows for bass notes to be played on the lower A string
  
• Not too physically demanding as it only requires barring of two strings.

Disadvantages

• Can be awkward and slow to form as it requires the half barre and using the other three fingers on the fretting hand.
• Not a true F chord as the deepest bass note is C and not F as in the other shapes.
• Requires all the fingers on your fretting hand to play, making it tricky to play melody notes on higher strings at the same time

 

Short F Chord

This shape involves only fretting the D, G and B strings and doesn't require any barring. This shape can be useful in certain pieces of music, but isnt commonly used.

Advantages

• Very quick and easy to form
  
• Doesn't require any barring
• Very similar to the C chord shape which is often played before or after the F chord, so it is easy to move between the two.
  

Disadvantages

• Only allows access to 3 strings of the guitar
• Doesn't give you access to the lowest 2 strings of the guitar so you can't play many bass notes with it.

Thumb Overhang

This shape involves forming the half barre shape but then also fretting the lowest string on fret 1 using your thumb by hanging it over the top of the neck. This shape is commonly used especially in folk and blues msuic, but it is not for everyone.

Advantages

• Played across 5 strings of the guitar
  
• Allows access to the lowest string for playing bass notes, so it is good for playing fingerstyle blues and folk music.
• Can be easier and quicker to form this chord rather than using a full barre.
  

Disadvantages

• Fretting the 1st fret on the lowest string can be hard to do, especially if you have shorter fingers.
• Can be tricky to form until you get the hang of it, as fretting notes with the thumb is not common
  

 

F Chord Inversions

The F chord can be played in many other positions further up the neck. How useful these other shapes are depends on the piece of music you are playing and the notes you wish to access. Here are a couple of examples below.

This takes the A chord shape and moves it up to fret 10 on the guitar, thus making an F Chord. It also requires a barre over five strings across Fret 8.

This takes the D chord shape and moves it up to fret 5 on the guitar.

The usefullness of these other shapes depends on the piece of music you are playing and what you feel comfortable playing. There are also many other of these F Chord inversions up the neck.

I hope this has been helpful in showing you different ways of playing the often problematic F chord. Which method is best depends on the piece of music you are playing and your own playing style. If you are having problems with playing the F chord, try using one of the different techniques shown above and it may make things much easier.

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