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.
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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.
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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.
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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:
- “Tincture of time”: it took a while, longer than anything other one thing, to date
- Exercise: I bought a little finger exerciser to use while driving, or on a trip w/out a guitar (I ditched the molded rubber) https://www.musiciansfriend.com/accessories/daddario-varigrip-fiddilink-hand-exercisers/l80260000001000?rNtt=hand%20exerciser&index=4
- Luthier setup: the action was too high, and he adjusted the nut – much easier for me to fret those troublesome E&B strings properly on the first fret.
- Hold the guitar “less facing me” so the fretboard was less visible. I then didn’t have to cock my wrist as much ( which was diminishing the muscle/tendon function )
Excelsior!
Bruce
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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.
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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.
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The way I threw my full-sized guitar back on the rack and ran for my 3/4 size guitar when we really got into this lesson. Whew… gonna be stuck here for awhile!
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Anyone here decide to work with an in-person teacher for this? I love Justin but did not find the F chord lesson very helpful. I can’t even do a mini F. I have small hands. Can’t make any sound with it at all. And my arm, elbow and wrist hurt from having to apply ENORMOUS pressure just to make a muted sound. Thinking of going to a guitar shop, checking the action on my cheap Fender dreadnought and maybe working with a teacher. I’ve run through this thread, checked out many many videos here and elsewhere and I still can’t physically get close to making even a mini F. Honestly, guitar in the last 10 days has gone from a stress reliever and something that brings me joy to a becoming a source of stress and dread.
Hi George, this is exactly where to start. In fact, you might have a complete setup done. Others have commented on the incredible difference having their guitar set up makes on the ability to play it easily and cleanly. I’d suggest doing this, then returning to trying the F chord. If you still cannot play the F mini-barre, AND if you cannot play a clean F at a higher fret (say fret 5) or with a capo at fret 1, then consult a teacher.
FWIW, many of us (myself included) have small hands. It sometimes just takes us a bit longer to develop the stretch we need for some skills, but I’ve learned that we get there!
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Thank you for this. That is my plan this weekend, to get to a guitar shop. And this morning, before work, I just picked up the guitar and played some songs I know well pretty well just to feel the fun of it.
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I play a baritone ukulele as well as guitar and I wanted to get to grips with the F chord so that I could play songs on my guitar that I had learnt on the ukulele.
I reckon I’ve spent about two months and I’ve finally got a mini F chord that sounds reasonable.
I can only repeat what many others have said, keep practicing and suddenly you’ll find it’s sounds good.
Hope this encourages a few people as I know there have been times I’ve wanted to throw the guitar out of the window 
Ed
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