hello,
what kind of strings are better to learn the F chord ? I have custom light strings (folk guitar, MARTIN Cordes Authentic Silked, Custom Light, 92/8), my fingers don’t really hurt anymore (except a little bit finger 3 et 4 sometimes, and of course my muscles when i’m trying the F chord). I figured F chord is easier on other frets if I put a capo on (for example on the 5th fret…), so should I change for other chords or is it not useful ?
thanks ! 
I don’t have intelligent answer for you but you’re not alone. Big F, small F, mini F it’s all the same to me…. I don’t see how I will get able to do this, but like you keep practicing and trying to keep hope that one day it will work……
Hi Lisa,
Martin Custom Lights are 11 gauge. That’s what I play, but I’ve been at this for 3 years now. I started with 10s (Martin calls them “Extra Light”). I’ve never played silk and steel strings, so I can’t comment on that.
As I said, I’ve been at this for a few years now. I still do not get the F chord to ring out all the time. It takes practice, lots of practice. Rather than using a capo, a common approach is to practice the F at, say, fret 3. Once that feels pretty good, move it back to fret 2. When that’s pretty comfortable, go to fret 1.
Most importantly, be kind to yourself, and don’t let the F chord keep you from moving forward in the lessons!
My F chord seems to sound almost pretty good, except 2nd string which doesn’t make any sound 90% of the time and i don’t know why… should I put more force to push my 1st finger on it, it is the placement…
It’s most likely the placement. The string might be falling under the crease at your knuckle. It takes a while to sort this out, but try just moving your barre finger a little bit in either direction. Also be sure your barre finger is close to the fret. Also it might seem weird, but you will develop a sort of callus on the side of your barre finger. For me, that took a long time. So…patience and practice!!! Most of us struggle with the F barre chord. 
Hi!
I’m already playing the F chord pretty well, but Justin mentioned in the lesson about feeling free in the hand when playing the F chord. The problem is that my elbow is too close to my body, and I can’t move my hand freely when playing this chord. I don’t have this issue with other chords. Is there a mistake I’m making? Check out the photos. Thanks!
I suspect if you lift up the neck a bit towards the ceiling, that will free up your elbow a bit for the F cord.
Also, I noticed you are dropping your left shoulder, which is probably making things worse as well.
Also, also… Why is your right leg so much higher than your left leg? This might be lifting up the body of the guitar, and contributing to the problem.
the hand rotation trick at 13:00 minutes was really useful
This lesson has been the one that has haunted me the most! Seriously struggling trying to nail the F chord, but I’m going to keep practicing until I can pull it off.
Have you tried playing it at the 5th fret? This is an A barre chord, the frets are closer together and there is less tension on the strings.
Then try it at the 3rd fret this is a G barre chord. Frets are a little further apart little more tension on the strings.
After a few tries I was actually able to get all the notes to ring out like that without having any dead strings! Thanks for the tip - now to slowly work my way back on the fretboard.
Hi everyone! I’m a beginner guitar player and just progressed into Grade 2 and learning bar cords. In Justin’s lesson, he teach using you index finger to press the thicker E string as well as the bottom B and E. While the 2nd, 3rd &4th finger press their relevant strings. I really struggle with this and a friend has said simply press down all the strings in the first fret creating a bar with the index finger to act as the nut rather than arching it.
Just wondering if this is a good habit to get into or shall I stick with attempting an arch (but I’m really struggling)
Hope that makes sense.
Thanks!
It’s a good habit because you need to barre the e,B and G string to play minor barre chords and the e,B and D strings to play 7 chords.
Press all the strings with your indexfinger. This way, you strengthen your hand and you get all the strings at once.
It will take some time, but you’ll get there.
Keep at it!
Good luck!
I think Justin teaches it that way because it’s somewhat easier for beginners. It’s a bit like the F “cheats” he also teaches, in that it’ll grant you an extra chord which greatly expands the songs you can play.
But yeah, like the guys above, I’d go with barring all the strings instead. Harder to do initially, but it’ll be a great help in the long run.
I target the pressure where it’s needed, so on an E shaped barre chord that’s E, b and e. If I need to, I will barre more strings (for a minor or m7 chord for example) but it adds tension and tires the hands more. If you are playing a 5 minute song containing only barre chords and try and hold down all six strings all the time you are putting more effort in than you need to - you will get tired, add tension and ultimately could even risk an injury.
To the OP, if you are struggling and find it easier to hold the barre across all six strings, then that’s fine, but I’d suggest you try and target the pressure where it’s needed.
In the words of BB King “why you working so hard?” (although tbf that was talking about heavy gauge strings 
)
Hey William–
Welcome to the community!
It took me, also at the Grade 1-2 transition, a while to be able to regularly pull off the F barre chord (transitioning to it on beat–not there yet…).
A few things that I credit with helping me get there:
Excelsior!
Bruce
I agree with this. In my experience, trying to barre all the strings leads to a very bad habit… Using more force than you need.
I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it… Barre chords 80% technique and 20% strength. You want to be focussing on using the least amount of pressure to get all of the strings in the chord to ring! As long as E, B, and e are ringing out under your barre, that’s all you need.
In my experience, learning barre chords further up the neck; and experimenting with learning them in the classical position were two of the most useful techniques for me.
This said - if barring all the strings works better for you, and your hand and wrist is not getting tired or sore - go for it. Different approaches work for different people.
So I tried this F chord and failed as expected. The next day, the meaty part of my hand between the thumb and index part began to feel sore. Few days later, still sore. After feeling okay, I tried to practice guitar again. Picked one song with the basic chords learned in the previous lessons, no F chord at all, but after one song, the meaty part of the hand became sore again. Couldn’t continue practice. Is this normal? Before the F chord, I was fine with no hand soreness. Tried practicing the F chord once for like 5 minutes and suddenly this soreness keeps happening.
Welcome!
No, this isn’t normal.
I suspect you have been grippingv your guitar too hard all along, and working on the F chord was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
I’d suggest massaging the sore spot with your other hand, and see if that gives you some relief. Do it before and after every practice, for 20 - 30 seconds. And also a few more times during the day.
But if you are gripping too hard, the pain will just keep coming back. Use the search function to find some tips on how to play with lighter grip…it’s been discussed here a few times already.
