Why am I finding the full F barre chord easier to play than the cheat F chord. Barring just the BE strings hurts like hell
John
It may be that using just the one part of your finger on the ‘cheat’ is less comfortable: might that top joint in your finger have some inherent weakness or old damage. If you find the ‘full’ chord easier go for it: you may find some changes slightly more difficult. One other thing worth checking: when youve got your fingers down on the full F pick the individual strings and listen for evry string ringing out properly; no buzzes or accidentally muted strings. Do the same with the four strings that should sound out from the ‘cheat’ F: you might be voicing the chord better than you think.
Brian
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If you find that easier and can definitely make all strings ring out cleanly then that’s great, if you can’t the other option that’s almost the same is to play a 5 string version using almost a full barré, just use the tip of your barré finger to mute the low E, if that works better then go for it. I used to have the same problem but not for the same reason, I found that I couldn’t get all of the strings to ring out with the 6 string version, so I tried moving my barré finger towards the high e until the strings were ringing out, I lost the low E but got the rest clean.
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I don’t think you’re alone in this. I learned the full barre chord from the outset. I tried the other version but didn’t have great success covering the 2 notes with finger number 1 so just set about learning the full barre. It took some time but more useful in the long run.
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I also find the barre easier to play than the ‘cheat’ (BTW it’s not a cheat- it’s the notes F A C F which is a ‘real’ F chord). The problem I have is changing quickly from say an open C or Am to the F barre and back to an open chord. So I use the open version more often.
You could try just resting your index finger on string 1 to mute it. That gives you the notes F A C. That’s still a real F chord. 
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That’s what I was going to suggest. Depending on the chord progression, it’s often easier to grab that little F then go to the full barre chord.
Any reason why the “Old School” version of F was left off this updated lesson? I learned it from the older video- it’s definitely my favorite way to play it, even though I can play the full barre without much issue these days.
Would you mind sharing the shape of the “Old School” version you mention?
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Sure!
So your middle, ring, and pinky fingers all keep the same positions as in the full barre chord F. But instead of barring the whole first fret with your pointer finger, you just do a mini barre on the B and E string. The thick E string is not played- you can mute it with your ring finger with a bit of practice.
What I found helpful with this version is that 3 of your fingers are practicing the proper placement for the big F, and I only needed to work on the barre with my pointer.
Incidentally, Old School sounds 100% proper in the songs I like to play so far, whereas some of the other “little” F chords were hit and miss.
Here’s the link to Justin’s older F chord lesson where he goes over Old School.
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Hi John, I’m speculating here, but the answer to “why old school F is left out of the new lesson” could be that it’s technically an F/C. In fact, Justin hints at that in the lesson. If memory serves, there is an analogous C/G (typical C shape adding a G root on string 6) used in a lot of 60s music. The other reason may be, as he also mentions in that lesson, that the “old school F” is still quite a challenge to play. For me, I was able to get control of the full-barre F before I was able to manage that mini-barre. I suppose it depends on one’s hands.
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You could be absolutely right, and yes we are all different.
I found the general shape difficult to change to at first, but I 100% found the mini barre much easier than the full barre. I can do either now. For me, “big” F and Old School were my most challenging to learn, alongside Dm which I still find tricky sometimes for some reason.
I gravitated to Old School purely because of the sound. I was able to learn the smaller F chords a lot faster, but they just didn’t sound right most of the time. Old School always sounds right in my songs, even if technically it isn’t a “full” F chord. But like the man says, "it sounds cool, then it is cool"
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It is a full F chord. The note C is in a F chord it’s the 5th. The only reason it’s writen F/C is to let you know the C is played as the lowest note in the Chord. The mini barre F is also a full F chord, I could never understand why Justin includes the mini barre F in the Cheat Lesson.
Thanks for the explanation!
I dont know enough about theory to say whether F/C (Old School) is or isn’t a “legit” F chord, but my ear definitely always seemed to think so.
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Always trust your ears, they won’t let you down
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I am not able to make the bar itself with my index finger without another finger holding any string . I can get it if other fingers push down on it but otherwise I can only hold down the first and last string. I have only been practicing for like 15 mins but not being able to make the barre itself is quite a let down for me. Is there any particular detail that i am missing or do i just need more strength.
You don’t need to be able to do this (it’s not easy). When you play the full barre F, you’re only fretting strings 6, 2 and 1 with the barre. I would concentrate on playing the whole F chord and forget about barring all 6 strings with just the index finger.
Getting the F chord down takes a long time. For many, it’s an ongoing project that can take years. So, patience and perseverance are key.
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I can figure out all of the F variations including big barre F, but I can’t for the life of me get my finger 1 to make mini F! The highest e string doesn’t ring out. Any suggestions?
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Hi Mitalee,
Why are you using your thumb to play the mini F chord? The low E string isn’t played in the mini F; just the four top strings.
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apologies, edited my question
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Try barring more than e and B string with your index finger. There is no rule saying you can’t barre as many as you need to. They’re fretted by your other fingers anyway.
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