How To Play An F Major Chord on Guitar
When it comes to playing an F major chord on guitar, most guitarists get super frustrated.
It’s usually one of the first barre chords you attempt trying and it’s also probably one of hardest to learn.
Why?
It’s because this chord is barred in the first fret where there is the most tension on the strings. So it’s extra hard to press the string down.
Below, I will show you how to play an F major chord on the guitar using all 6 strings, but I will also show you a 4 string variant that some students find easier to start off with.
Choose with F barre chord works best you. 🙂
Return to All Guitar Lessons6 string F Major Chord on Guitar
This is the traditional way of playing an F major barre chord on the guitar. As you can see from the diagram, your first finger acts as a barre (more like a capo) at the first fret of the guitar and most play 3 strings – E, B and e.
The rest of the chords if formed by your other three fingers in an ‘E chord shape’.
Now most students don’t have an issue with the top 4 strings of the chord. The main issue occurs on the B & e strings.
Barre chords definitely take A LOT of strength to them and they are very awkward chords to play at first, which is why I don’t teach them to absolute beginners. The frustration of the F chord can you lead many beginner to give up on the guitar entirely.
That’s why I usually teach the ‘easy F chord’ to my beginner students. You can watch the video below to learn more about that.
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4 String F Major Barre Chord
As you can see from the diagram, this F major chord only requires us to your 3 fingers instead of 4 and it also requires the first finger to only barre 2 strings.
No the two string we are barring are the hardest to ring on the 6 string chord, but since they are the only focus for the 1st finger in this version of the chord, many students find this to be like a ‘trainer F chord’ getting them ready for the big boy.
It’s up to you which one you use. Play around with both. It should be noted that the 6 string version of the F major chord does have a bigger and richer sound to it because of the extra bass notes on the 5th and 6th strings.
But when it comes to playing along to songs, either one will do.
