Hi there! Hope everyone is enjoying this journey with Justin and his team as much as I am. I’m in Northern Virginia (Washington, DC area). I’m new to guitar, starting with both a Taylor acoustic mini as well as an electric Fender Jagstang. Love them both. They are short scaled guitars. This is the longest I’ve ever stayed with a musical instrument. It’s getting easier, though not sure I’ll ever get that F chord! Any thoughts on how to use your pinky when you can’t feel it is much appreciated. Cheers! Time for a glass of wine here! lol…
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Welcome! I love the DC area. I almost took a job in Arlington about 15 years ago. Glad you are sticking with it! Keep strumming 
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I love the fact that we get to meet people from all over the world here. But it’s also great to meet some that are close to home. Hello, from Hampton Roads Virginia!
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Thanks for the nice note!
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Nice to see you here as well!
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Welcome to the forum Liz
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Welcome to the forum!
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Welcome to the forum Liz. Great to hear you are making progress thanks to Justin. It’s a challenge at first when you struggle with various things, like the dreaded F chord, just hang in there it gets better and better and the rewards when you can be the one playing songs are just awesome.
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Welcome Liz,
I wish you a lot of fun 
Greetings,Rogier
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Hello Liz and welcome to the community.
I’m interested in your decision to pick short scale acoustic and electric and how you find them in action. Was it a comfort choice, a body-fit choice? We get a lot of questions from people for all different reasons asking about guitar body size and scale length.
Cheers 
| Richard_close2u | JustinGuitar Official Guide, Approved Teacher & Moderator
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Welcome to the community.
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Hi Liz. That’s really exciting! Stick with it, I’m sure in time you’ll be able to get the F chord. It definitely takes time. Welcome! 
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Hello and welcome!! Stick with it, you won’t regret it!
The best thing i found to help with the F chord, was sliding it up two frets to G, then two more to A, and back to G to F. A strum on each chord to check my fingers. The shape doesn’t change and it gets easier up to A. Not easy at first but really helped me build strength in the hand to hold down the F. I did this mindlessly while watching TV as a workout for the muscles. Maybe that will help you too!
Rock on!
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Zeus (great name!) thanks for the reply and suggestions on sliding the F chord position. I’m like most beginners - just the usual struggling with barres in general, I guess. The only exception so far seems to be the A barre on the top 3 strings. My fingers aren’t the most intuitive it seems regardless of where they are on the fretboard yet! But, I’m only 2-3 months in, and only self teaching with a few online subscriptions. If I can’t get it on my own I might start some in person lessons.
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Thanks!
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Thanks, Jason!
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Hi Richard, I chose a Taylor GS Mini E Plus and my Fender JagStang after I initially bought a Strat and found the fret too wide scalewise to comfortably wrap my fingers around, and thought maybe if I scaled down it might make it easier to get started and less frustrating. Which, honestly, for me it has. They both really fit my body well, especially the curves of the JagStang. The Taylor’s very lightweight.
I got some help at our Guitar Center store, and ended up with a JagStang first because I wanted to try an electric. I then added the Taylor. They’ve both been great choices for me. I don’t feel overwhelmed by either’s neck shape or length. I haven’t had either action adjusted yet by a luthier, but they both seem very adaptable to whatever style of playing I want to follow in the future.
For those who might not be familiar with the JagStang, it’s a combination Fender Jaguar and Mustang and has pickups that allow for bright/strat/tele or humbucker/more surf/ more distortion. It was designed by Kurt Cobain with Fender, though he apparently didn’t use much.
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Hello Liz and welcome to our community. 
I hope you get your F chord issue sorted out.
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Thank you! Me too!