The F Chord

Sooner or later a song needs an F, and F is where a lot of people quit.

The full version is a barre chord: your first finger lies flat across all six strings at the first fret while your other fingers build an E shape on top. It is hard because pressing six strings with one finger is genuinely hard, not because you are doing it wrong.

Two things make it work. First, roll your first finger slightly onto its side — the bony edge presses far better than the soft pad. Second, drop your thumb down the back of the neck, behind the middle of it, rather than hooking it over the top.

Expect this to take weeks, not minutes. In the meantime, there is a smaller version that gets you through the song.

F

The full F barre. This is the one to work towards.

F

A four-string F, no barre. Play only these four strings and you have a usable F today.

Am

A minor, the fourth chord in the track below. Same shape as E major, moved across a string.

This track is a slow ballad in C at 70 BPM, and it repeats C, F, A minor and G forever.

Seventy beats per minute is slow, which is the point — you get a long time to fight the F into place. Use the four-string version to get through a whole pass without stopping, then try a pass using the full barre and accept that it will be messier.

Two passes, two versions. That contrast is how you will notice yourself getting stronger in a few weeks.

C, F, A minor and G at 70 BPM. One pass with the small F, one with the barre.