OK, I was in the same camp as all of you that were saying that the “mini” F is actually harder than the full barre F. I’m frankly still in that camp, but with a good amount of time fidgeting I finally figured it out…
Two things helped me to finally make a “mini” F that works: 1) changing my thumb position around and 2) changing the angle of the neck.
I’m still not great at the mini F, but it’s starting to come along a little bit. I still can’t get it accurately in a song while keeping in time though.
I’m starting my training for module 9 now. Do you guys have a favorite song for incorporating each F variation? I know I’ll be using big F in Far From Any Road and Fmaj7/C in One, but I’m not sure where I’ll fit a mini F.
I’m trying to play the most challenging form of the F chord and the form that only requires that the two thinnest strings are barred, and when I cover those thinnest strings doing either version, they’re always muted. I’ve tried moving my first finger every which way, but I can’t get it so I don’t mute those strings. Any advice would be appreciated.
I had this very problem. The good news is I’m passed it and you will be too eventually. Now I struggle with changing to it fast enough. I suppose I’ll get past that too.
What I did was to just roll my finger around a bit until I found the least fleshy part of my pointy finger. I have to kind of bring my elbow in closer to my body to get there. Apart from that, I’ve made it a priority to incorporate it into songs I’m working on so I’m forced to keep at it. You have to develop the correct muscles in your hand to pull it off. Maybe you’re not quite there but practice will get you there.
Hope that helps at least a bit.
My favorite Justin line so far happens in his song lesson for “Imagine”. He sings the chord names into the song as he does and says “Imagine there’s no F chord. It’s easier if you Fmaj7”. Yup.
Not sure how long you’ve been at it, but it can take a little while. Then, one day bang! , and you’ve got it forever. .
Assuming you are consulting Justins lessons in the F chord, then it may just be a matter of continued focused practice.
Two quick things to check though; one, the ‘groove’ in your index finger isn’t lined up with the B/e strings, and two, your index isn’t too flat against the strings.
All the best.
We’ve all been there. It took me a long time to play F chord cleanly and consistently. I’ve watched a lot of different lessons and none didn’t really help, only time spent practicing. And if you’re playing on a steel string acoustic it’s tougher.
We all had problems with this chord. I thought I can never play the chord. You will see in a few weeks you can play the chord like every other chord. I also looked everywhere and blamed even my index finger but all of the sudden ,I played the F chord.
You will get there as well
If some of the more advanced players happen to read this I would really appreciate some advice.
After lots of struggle, I can play the mini-F and switch to it at a slow to moderate tempo, but not without extra tension in my hand and wrist. However, if I play it with my index finger resting across all the strings and barre the chord with the bottom part of my finger it becomes easy and comfortable.
I’m just wondering if there is some reason further along the guitar journey for me to keep struggling with normal shape, or should I just play it my way and move along?
The mini-F grip (especially the F/C grip) is used a lot in folk & rock music. Neil Young songs are a great example of this.
I wouldn’t let the mini-Fs stop you from moving on, but you should keep them as a small part of your practice routine until you can do them without tension. It took me almost 3 years, but I can finally do the F barre and the F/C without tension in my fretting hand now.
Maybe worth posting some pictures or a video of you playing the mini F to understand why your experiencing tension to get feedback on your fretting and posture.
I will say that i have played guitar on and off since I was younger so I did learn the barre F a long time ago, but at the same time I have always had more trouble with the mini F. I find it difficult to flatten my first finger. I can change to the barre F easier than the mini for sure. I am still a beginner and have a long way to go to be considered anything but, however I really think up to this point (Grade 2, Module 10) changing and getting a good sound out of the mini F, has been one of the more challenging things for me.
I’m a bit hesitant to give you advice since I’m a beginner myself. But this worked for me so maybe it can help you.
I still try to fiddle with the regular shape on occasion, but I play the mini-F as an alteration of the regular F-barre chord shape where I only barre the bottom strings and let the tip of my finger mute the top strings.
I used to. Now my min D is mostlt spot on but on the F barre chord my B string is either muted or semi buzzes. My mini F improved just from a lot of practice going from D To F in House of the Rising Sun. I do press my index finger down fairly hard.
Yup.
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