I would personally beg to differ from @MarkDickens comment (particularly if playing electric guitar) BUT do understand that for a beginner they can be very challenging. However once mastered they would be a go to chord shape in many instances.
There are literally tons and tons of threads on this forum about this Craig. I think mainly because open chords - in general - are relatively straight forward to fret and get something clean even if it then takes months to perfect them…whereas for many barre chords are challenging just to get clean.
The first thing to recognise is that we’re just talking about E shaped barre chords (rather than F barre chord in general). So whichever fret you place that barre the note on the 6th string is barre chord you are playing. So at fret 5 the note on the 6th string is A so you would be playing an A major barre chord. At fret 3 it’s a G major barre chord and so on.
So one thing that many people practice to start with is playing higher up the fret board as it’s much easier to get your barre chord working right there…once that become comfortable you can work your way back down towards the F.
Make sure you turn your barre chord finger on it’s side…you’ll probably slowly build up callus over time on the edge. Your finger looked quite flat in the video…you need to be using the edge.
Also - and not to put you off - it took me many years to get to a point where barre chords were “easy” to play. You need to play the long game unfortunately.
But there’s also a band behind Macca most of the time and he plays the bass and keyboards much more often than the guitar, so he has fewer opportunities to play barre chords. However, I would bet that since the mid 1950s he had plenty of opportunity to perfect his barre chords.
Also, what determines if you really need to use a technique or not? I guess it’s entirely up to the type of music and the player in question. For some people, full barre chords may sound better or may be more convenient than switching grips for a matching open chord.
Six weeks really isn’t a long time when it comes to mastering the F barre chord. Justin’s own video says it will likely take months to get comfortable with, never mind hitting it perfectly every time. I must have watched that video at least eighteen months ago, and still bugger up the F fairly often. As with most things guitar there are no magic tricks, it just takes time and a lot of practice.
Just don’t get too hung up on it, as it can be frustrating and suck the fun out of guitar if you’re too focused on just one thing you’re struggling with. Keep it in your practice routine, but do other things too to keep yourself progressing. It will come eventually, and you have the F chord “cheats” until it does.
If you watch his videos he does tend to play the bass notes using the thumb over method but you do see him from time to time playing barre chords the other way too.
You can try to put capo on 3rd fret and try. If (and when) it works gradually move the capo to the 2nd and 1st fret and repeat the procedure, then remove the capo and try without it.
My thoughts … it is time for a little tough love here I am afraid to say.
You are only a few months in to your guitar learning.
In your introduction topic you explain that you played long ago but due to injury have hathe ‘wrong way round’ … a righty learning as a lefty.
First - cut yourself some slack, I think your previous ability to play is placing too high a set of expectations on you.
Second, go steady and learn the basics fully and consolidate.
The fact that you have reached Grade 2 F barre already suggests that you are over-stretching rushing through the course material.
Here is an overview of Grades 1 and 2:
And here are Justin’s recommended practice routines - to be done several times a week for at least a week for the first few modules and longer than a week as the course progresses.
Justin does introduce the full 6-string F barre chord in Module 9. Realistically, and taking an estimated average learning and practice route of 30 minutes per day, several times per week, Grade 1 is likely to be a 6-month or more learning course.
I wrote this recently in this topic.
Beginner Grade 1 has 75 lessons plus essential consolidation. Each lesson requires at least one day of practice time but by the end of Grade 1, in Modules 5, 6 and 7, I would say that to do the learning justice and really get solid in the basics, each lesson should respectfully be given several days or a week or more, each of the seven modules probably starting at one week for module 1 up to several weeks for module 7. I would even (albeit exaggeratedly to make a point) go so far as to suggest treating each module number as a guide to the weeks required.
Modules 1 to 7 = 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 = 28 weeks. That is more than six months just there.
Grade 2 has 68 lessons. And as the learning ramps up the technical challenge and skill, each lesson and each module will require extended time to really get to grips with. I would suggest a similar approach.
Modules 8 to 14 = 8 + 9 + 10 + 11 + 12 + 13 + 14 = 77 weeks. That is more than a year.
Okay - those cumulative totals are on the high side. But I would rather encourage that over the opposite of not taking enough time and hitting a brick wall of frustration. As many have done. As you have done.
My recommendation - forget the F barre and take some backward steps to consolidate.
Oh yes, and learn songs, learn songs, learn songs.
“forget the F barre and take some backward steps to consolidate.
Oh yes, and learn songs, learn songs, learn songs.”
Thank you, Richard. There are thousands of pleasant sounds to be coaxed out of this clever instrument, without being hung up on holding down one note on the first fret of the low E.
Coming back to my earlier remark on Macca, I have spent months on mastering his majestic “Blackbird”. Less time on “I will” and other Beatles classics.
Not a barre chord in sight, no band to add depth. Just stripping the chords down to their simplest incarnations, with only 2 fingers on the fretboard for 99% of "Blackbird ". The other 1% is an open G.
At my advanced age, i won’t be torturing myself for 28 weeks to hold down a low E string .
I finally managed to nail the F barre chord a couple of weeks ago which tied win with a set up of my guitar from a luthier. Overall this took over 6 months of practice to get to this point and nearly gave in a few times. Still need to work on PFC’s and OMC’s but getting there.
This has also allowed me to work on my E shape barre chords up the neck and and can just about hit all up to the 10th fret.
A lot of people have taken a long time to get this working. It took me a month to get it right once and three to four months to get a clean ring on all strings most of the time. I think a lot of the progress was gaining flexibility in my fingers more than strength. I also needed to figure out the right position for my anatomy.
Eventually, I needed to extend finger 1 over string 6 a bit more than recommended to avoid the soft spot under the second knuckle that was only deadening string 2. I also needed to rotate finger 1 about 45 degrees to get a flatter surface to work with. The rotation is now down to maybe 30 degrees.
Keep working at it. It takes several weeks for our bodies to adapt, longer for bigger changes. It will come. Be sure you don’t try to force it, that causes injury!
Thanks so much!! I didn’t realize I’m expecting too much too soon. Part of my frustration has been that if I slide the shape up to fret 3 for a C bar chord, no problem. I consider my hand strength above average, but my index can only bar fret one if there is pain. No pain no clean sound. I will follow your advice. Much appreciated.
I wish I could cover the 6 strings as comfortably as you seem to do in your photos. I never took to barre chords, since my second guitar was a 12-stringer. I contented myself with forgetting the low E string, and never missed it.
Hey @chiprs just want to say I know how you feel! I’ve been there. At 6 weeks I was still very much rubbish on F.
I’m at 6 months now and I have only just recently started to feel comfortable with F, but only because I drilled those changes mercilessly, every day, for a very, very long time. Much longer than 6 weeks, for sure.
Be kind to yourself. This really is a difficult skill to learn.
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