Of all the basic major chord shapes, F is the most notoriously difficult to play – at least as a beginner. While A through E and G tend to be fairly intuitive in terms of fingering, you might need a little extra help with F, and that’s completely normal. Don’t worry, I’ll break it down for you in this quick article.
By far the easiest way to play an F major chord is by placing your ring finger on the 3rd fret of the D string, middle finger on the second fret of the G string, and using your index finger to barre the first fret on the B and high E strings, as shown below:
While this is the simplest way to play F major, you might find it sounds thin due to the absence of the two lowest strings. Of course, the easiest way to rectify this is by adding the 3rd fret on the A string (C) and the 1st fret on the E string (F), in the process creating an octave with the existing C and F notes in the shape.
With this modified shape, you’ll often be taught to play it with your index finger barring all strings on the 1st fret, your ring finger on the 3rd fret on the A string, pinky on the third fret of the D string and middle finger on the second fret of the G string.
Trouble is, as a beginner you’ll likely find that you haven’t yet built up the strength in your index finger to maintain that barre for any length of time. Here’s where this modification – one that will revolutionise the way you approach chords – will come in.
Place your index finger barring the 1st fret of the high E and B strings, your middle finger on the 2nd fret of the G string, your pinky on the 3rd fret of the D string, your ring finger on the 3rd fret of the A string, and your thumb over the 1st fret of the low E string, like this:
You’ll notice you’re still playing the exact same chord as the previous example, however with a shift in fingering, this version is far more comfortable to play.
The good thing about this shape is that there are no open strings, meaning you can move it around the fretboard to play different iterations of chords. For example, move this entire shape up two frets and you’ve got a G major.
Of course, as a beginner this might be your first introduction to the idea of using your thumb to fret notes. But as I’m sure you already see, and will realise more clearly with practice, it’s a vital aspect of guitar fingering, and one that will make your life much easier on many occasions.
Thanks for reading – make sure you subscribe to the newsletter on the right-hand side of this page for more useful content!
