These are some of the best tips I have ever seen. It took me almost three months of determined practice to play the full F Major. And it has taken another year and a half of practice to be able to transition to it in time. And many times, I'm still partial or late. It takes patience and practice....lots of practice, and then more practice. And upon learning this chord in a song, everything else done on guitar becomes easier. Your hand doesn't naturally do what is required here. Practice.
Just started today great comment I've been practicing guitar on and off for about a month now and know all the open chords and power chords now I have to learn barre chords well I guess If I get f major the rest are easier so I'll get it done weather it takes a month or a year and my reward for learning this beautiful art form is a brand new Gibson hummingbird. Just also I'd like to thank Andy guitar for all his speciality tips and tricks and inside know how and how to translate it into such a relatable way
It's humbling to me that I was once stuck on playing the F Barre Chord. Now I can switch from say an G chord to an F chord with ease. It's just nice to go back to where I got started :)
@@sathira_anuk5179 i don't have a problem with holding barre chords anymore! If I learn a new song I gotta practice the respective switch same way you learn anything else in a new song but otherwise I'm fine!
I've been playing guitar for 5 months now, and I must admit, your channel, and your lessons are some of the best if not THE best guitar tutorials in all of RU-vid. I've been wanting this video for weeks now, and I must really thank you man! This helped a lot, really easy to understand as always, keep up the good work! Thanks and greetings from Argentina :D!!!
This was literally the most helpful video ever. This way of thinking totally unlocked the barre chords for me. I can literally play the F chord on demand like it was an open chord after 5 minutes of watching this video and months of not being able to play the F chord.
Notes: Side of finger Finger not to far above fretboard - just sticking out a bit Thumb right behind the index finger Close to the fret Fingers slight angle towards you Use bottom fingers to play open chords Changing on beat four (instead of the and) Practice F to G - C - Am Great lesson! 😁
I've been playing for almost five years, and I always played open chords with my thumb over the neck. Playing them your way is great for strengthening your thumb just as you said. Thanks Andy!
This is a hard chord to get right but what made it more enjoyable to learn was picking one of my favourite songs with the f chord in it and it is really satisfying to hear one of your favourite songs coming together it will take time though /edit I've almost got this chord but I would recommend using a 4 finger g in andy' s course because you use your pinky already
@ZeN Not months weeks, I was also using the Tom Petty song learning to fly because it just repeats the same four chords and learn to play an E major with fingers 2,3 and 4
Sir, it does not matter how i try, i can not press the finger in a way that it gets all six strings to ring. At the best i am only silencing two strings. No angle or amount of pressure solves it. Shall i go for surgery?
+Lily Bailey Thats the real challenge- it can take time! This video should help you with your chord changes ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-VaegrntyEgk.html
Lily Bailey That's my problem atm. I can play it perfectly, just can't get there quick enough. Sometimes it's ok, other times it's stops my songs dead in their tracks as my little finger goes into spaz mode flailing all over the place picking noses and scratching retinas.
Exactly !!! I can play the F chord perfectly individually now. But changing from open chord to an F chord quick enough in a song is impossible for me .
I forced myself to write songs incorporating the F barre so I had no choice but to get better at using it. F & B barre chords are the toughest to get comfortable with for me.🎶
I sure can't play it in a song, but your first tip, use the side of you index finger gave a nice clean chord! Awesome! My hands are smaller and I've been drumming for 20 years, picked up piano, then guitar about a month ago and one of my goals was to play the F and the B.
I couldn't play a single barre chord. It seemed impossible. But now 6 months later I can play all 4 main barre chords individually (shifting between them is a challenge ). So if any one is struggling with barre chords it will definitely happen just give it time ! There is honestly no secret or hidden technique to master. Just a lot of practice and a lot of experimentation (see what works for your fingers cause we have differently sized hands ) .
I can play the F barre chord but only when my barre finger(the ones that goes straight on the fretboard) is on the 2nd fret.When I play it on the first fret,it doesn't sound right.Because it sounds dead although I think I've pressed the string hard enough
Learning F chord or barre chords in general is really a struggle in the beginning. But once you nailed F barre chord, doing it is just like doing an open chord. It will be just second nature. Learning F chord is like learning C chord, you will have a hard time at the beginning. The only difference is it will take longer to learn F barre chords.
Thanks Andy really helpful and I guess I’m getting there - slowly! One thing that has also helped me is that at the start of learning this I was putting the barre finger down last. So the I forced myself to play it putting the barre finger down first. After awhile alternating between these two methods the fingers are starting to go down much more together. May not work for everyone but it has helped me.
This is a great lesson, Andy. For me the most useful tip was #2. Keeping the thumb low behind the neck is great not only for building the muscle, but because it puts your hand in the best position for moving to the F chord. Hanging your thumb over the top of the neck for open chords like C and G was a habit to break but totally worth it! That's how classical guitar players do it.
this is the first day ive ever even PLAYED a barre chord,,, I'm so proud of myself.,, in a few years hopefully I'll remember this video and see my progress :')
I've said this many times in the comments but i'll say it again - you're a great teacher and providing excellent material all for free. When I have a little extra $ I'm going to pay to download your lessons because you truly deserve it.
same with me. I just now discovered that putting my thumb even lower on the neck works better, at least for me. Before I had it at about 3/4 of the neck and now at 1/2. Maybe that helps you too, I still have to practice the changes though^^
Thanks for the refresher, haven’t played for a couple years and couldn’t for the life of me. Remember how the chord went. Time to learn Tennessee whiskey..
Thank you! Finally a video for playing F Barre on acoustic! Not how to play the easy version or cheat it. Great video really helped me get the B string ringing
Bud That was almost instant. After your tip about using your 2,3,4 to play E. And sliding them down to play. F. The sound was instantly better. Unbelievable tip. Awesome. I had a knife injury in my hand years ago. I honestly thought until this lesson...that I would not get this chord. Amazing tip!
After strugling for quite sometime, I came across your video 10m ago and decided to try some of the tips. After trying tip 3, I just couldn't believe how clean the chord sounded. I feel like I can actually play the chord now. Thank you much Andy!!
Thank you for the " use side of index finger instead of the bottom" its simple advise like that that makes worlds of difference. Thank you. You are a good teacher for me.
This is probably the best guitar lesson I have ever watched! So clear & detailed, easy to see EXACTLY where hand/fingers go. So many lessons to not show the detail as closely, leaving me constantly guessing! Thanks Andy, keen to try this all of a sudden after dreading it for so long!
Great advice, particularly practicing the first position e chord with the same three fingers as the barred f. This was the key for me as my pinkie always fell on the same string as my ring finger. I'm off and running now as the barred f opens up the whole fretboard. Thanks a million.
Thank you. I did the first tip and finally got it with the barre almost immediately. I was getting the shape right but I had my first finger too high one the fret and on the flesh of the bottom not the side. My forearm is killing me now though
I just can’t play it. I’m going to start doing the E with the 3rd 4th and 5th fingers and try and just get the first finger covering all the strings properly which is hard enough at the moment. I’ve gave up on this years ago but I’m back to conquer the F even if takes me till the summer
This video really helped me. I kind of had it but not quite. I could land it but it required a lot of strength and I would buzz the strings. Your advice was the tipping point that put me on the right track. Thank you!
Ive always had guitars but have been lazy when it came to knuckling down & learning. What I do know Is all self taught from books but I really should have got some lessons as Ive always needed a kick up the ass,lol. This channel has been great for what I needed so nice one Andy. Books can only take me so far without pointers or encouragement from a sound teacher. Im gonna put in the hours everyday from now on & really push myself so I can do what I should have been able to do years ago. Kids start playing these days & turn pro in just a few years & put me to shame. Ive never had a lesson or even owned a tuner. I just tune up from records which is simple. Anyway, cheers & keep it up mate. Nice one.
If you want to be able to play barres, its pretty simple. Its not easy but till you learn em, forget about all open chords, and pkay everything with barres. Cause open chords you should consider only as some bonus, but barres are pretty important. Every chord you could play with barre ;)
Do what I did. Practice it on a guitar with hella high strings and keep doing it until it sounds right then do it on a better guitar. Its one of the most painful things ever but its worth it.
Before anyone tries to learn barre chords on Acoustic, make sure your acoustic is low action. Learning barre chords on Acoustic with high action is extremely hard
Using lighter strings really helps too for beginners. I was using extra light Ernie Balls and just recently switched to medium-light and I've had to start the process of finger strength for the F Barre all over again. This chord is my personal hell.
To every beginner here: get your guitar set up by a professional if you bought a cheap one fresh from the factory. The first Squier I bought had incredibly high action and since I didn't know any better, I only realized that once I bought my second guitar. Playing barre chords on that is an absolute breeze
Andy, would you say before learning the F Barre Chord, someone should learn a scale and practice that scale using those three weaker fingers until they can play that scale up and down both fast and accurately.
