I think I’m starting to get there with the F barre
Well very slowly anyway…
I can form the shape a bit quicker now, and started using it when playing (very) slowly. Using Don’t Look Back In Anger to practise it. F major and F minor barre chords in it.
Not sure if it’s simply by forcing myself to keep at it that’s helped, or the finger positioning. Previously I’d been placing my barre finger so the tip was just on the low e string, kinda like it would be if it was a chord. But now I’ve move it ‘up’ slightly so the top of my finger comes past the low e and ‘off’ the neck by about half a cm
It is quite common to have to experiment with the barre finger positioning. Fingers are different and you need to avoid a string being under a groove in a finger joint.
If you’ve not tried, you may find it also helps to roll the finger over slightly towards the nut … at least that helps me.
I will soon be entering my 6th month of working on the F-Chord. Never a dull moment!.. I can get it pretty much every time now, although String 2 was problematic in the early days, and still catches me out occasionally now. The main issue i have is speed… I just can’t change quick enough to make use of it. Anyway, i continue to work on it almost every day. I’m trying 1 minute changes etc, but speed progress is slow.
I tried the mini-F , but actually found that a struggle too. Big Sausage fingers!
So i’m limited at the moment to substituting F for F7 where possible… it doesn’t always work, but surprisingly works most of the time.
I feel the F chord will be cracked before Xmas though. or at least I hope so.
Any tips gratefully received to increase speed!
Cheers,
Andy (currently at the end of grade 2, consolidating).
Andy @andyl75
Sounds as though you are at about the same point in the journey as I am. I have found incorporating it in a song is helping me getting the changes faster and more accurate. Actually it is A barre chord with the capo on 4th fret, much easier, changing between C and G chord shapes.
Added a few posts about a week ago on this subject. One thing that has helped me recently was that I try to move my knuckles further out as I found they were too close and causing my fingers to lay too flat and muting strings.
I started focusing on, and leading with the second finger. When I place it first it acts as a reference point for the other fingers.
Second finger - barrre - fingers 3 & 4 together.
I also found that F to C changes became quicker by leading with second finger. It only needs to move across one string.
I started leading with second finger because it always straightened alongside first finger when I was leading with the barre. Then I had to curl it to place it on its fret, pulling the barre out of shape.
I have to reply to myself here after following Justin here I can do a perfect F and switch between c and a quickly now. Once he explained it it just clicked
I found that there is no real easier way to try and get your Bar F down. Either place the Bar finger first then follow up with the E shape to finish it off, or the other way. I have been practicing this for easily 6 months now. Took forever to finally get my fingers to go to the spots i needed them to be. At first i just put them where i would hit the notes, slowly but surely using finger excersixes that Justin has provided it all came together. Now i can hit that F chord and play it in songs…sometimes i hit er good…sometimes, well, practice, practice, practice!!!
I started practicing the F chord yesterday and I feel it’s gonna take a long time. It’s good to see that some people got it right after a few months of training. Wish me luck!
I struggled with this, like many, but finally blew right past it when I developed enough awareness of what is going on with the wrist and hand positioning. From then on it is just meaningful practice. Absolutely break it down in terms of how your hand must move to make this work.
The way I went about finally forcing some awareness is by consistently starting from a strummed C. Using a very quick slide of the middle finger down one string allows you to use it as an anchor. The 4th is already in place to assist also. That helps to have a good starting point and to get your thumb ready to readjust when your wrist does move. Just take some time to realize that you must actually lead with your hand/wrist in turning things over. Do not try and reach with your fingers or position them by thinking of them. It is the wrist action that gets them going. That will get your thumb where it needs to be too. Your index will shoot forward and down when the wrist bends outwardly first. Practice seeing that happen. Just try and develop a wrist motion that gets your 5th finger moving in the intended direction where it can easily fall in without it hunting and lay things down on the edge of your index.
The bit about the 1st and 2nd string muting is eventually overcome when you realize that this is the part of the finger you must press down with, not the tip of the index. The tip of the index will do its thing by just laying on the low E where it takes almost no pressure.
It took me a good year to get to where the F chord was just like any other chord (it took a year before I gave it a serious treatment). I like playing easier barre chords now. I hunt down the songs where I can use the F, G, A E chord-type of barre. In many instances it is easier to do that with just a quick slide that to use open chords.
I just adore the barred B minor chord, and that is really only just an adaptation of F too.
Anyway, it’s jus to say that it is worth the effort. The work I put into it has allowed me to use the process to tackle other things. The strangest things come out of that. You end up knowing exactly what to do to correct sloppiness in other places. Think less about what your fingers need to do. In some wrist positions they will never be able to achieve it.
I think you can solve that but just sliding the index either towards the low E or high E. The right part of the finger has to be touching the 2nd string. You’ ll know you have it when you start to see two lines in the side of your finger after you’ve played this chord for a while.
I’m getting the F chord more consistently , so I am making some progress. I have been working at it regularly since June. I think I actually played a decent sounding one during a song practice.
I’m just trying to get my first finger in the right position and just can’t. I have large hands and no matter how I lay my finger, I can’t get the b string to ring out. I can get both e strings to ring, but not the e. I’m not even at the point of where I can put the other 3 fingers. Literally just trying to use my first finger to try and get it into place. Sigh…
Try this. I posted for someone else with similar concern about a month ago:
Another trick I learned is use your right arm (at the bend of your elbow) to push the top portion of the guitar towards you. The headstock should be moving away from your body while the rest of the guitar pivots towards you. It makes the strings come towards your fretting fingers of your left hand. Some complex barre chords are nearly impossible without this trick. I tried it and it works really well. Could be a game changer
How long have you been at it? It took me a couple of weeks of everyday practice for my b string to ring out clearly. For me it was how I was pressing it down right under my knuckle. Try experimenting with how you are laying your index finger down. I had to lay it down on it’s side a little for it to really get it to ring out right.
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