F guitar chord feel like a struggle? Help is here! Learn how to play easy F major chord shapes and progress to F barre chord shapes fast. All 5 guitar chord charts show finger positions and fret numbers.
F guitar chord: does the mere mention of it bring you out in a cold sweat?
If you struggle to play the F major chord on the guitar and it’s holding you back from learning some of your favourite songs, whatever you do, carry on reading!
In this article, you’re about to learn five shapes to play the F Major chord with.
The F major chord charts include the best finger positions to use, and you’ll find some easy (ish) alternative shape variations for you beginner guitar players that’ll save you the headaches.
What Is The F Guitar Chord?
Before we get into it, we need a little basic music theory. When someone says the “F chord”, they really should specify what type of F chord they’re talking about.
You see, a chord is made up of two things: the root note (e.g. F) and the quality.
Quality is a fancy way of saying chord type. So, think F major, F minor, F dominant 7th, F diminished, Fsus4, etc. The word after the note is the type of chord it is. Phew, that’s a lot of F’s!
"F chord" isn't just one chord. There are many different types, so specify which one you mean!
With that being said, when someone asks, “How do you play the F chord?”, they likely mean the F major chord.
Five F major chord shapes you can play on your acoustic or electric guitar are coming up.
Stay till the end because, as a bonus, we also have a diagram of the most common F minor guitar chord shape you should learn.
F Major Chord Names
F major | F | F Maj | F major triad
F Major Chord Theory Facts x 5
- The F major chord contains the notes: F – A – C
- The F major chord is made by notes from the F Major scale. Notably, the 1st (root), 3rd and 5th
- The F major chord formula is: 1 – 3 – 5
- If a song is described as being “in the key of F major” the first chord (aka the tonic) in the key signature is the F major chord
- F major, Bb major and C major make up the I-IV-V (1-4-5) chords in the key of F major
Good to Know
In the chord diagrams below, the best fingerings you should use are shown in the finger position circles. The notes are shown below the chord boxes, with the F root note highlighted in blue.
Shape #1. – The Easier F Major Chord
First thing is first, let’s dive straight in with the easy F chord shape that doesn’t require a barre – hurrah!
The even better news is if you can play an open C major chord shape, this F chord formation feels similar to play. Have a gander below:
Open F Major Chord – The Easier Shape
This open F major chord shape is an inversion, which means the F root note isn’t in the lowest bass position. As the blue circle indicates in the chord chart, it is located on the 3rd fret of the D string.
The root note is the lowest-sounding (pitch) note you play in most beginner-friendly chords.
Pro Tip
In this F major chord shape, you play strings 5, 4, 3 and 2 only. Mute the bottom and top E strings. How? Wrap your thumb around the neck by fret two and dampen the 6th string by lightly touching it. Do the same on the 1st string with the base of your first (index) finger.
Shape #2. – The Partial Barre F Chord
We call this next shape the partial barre F major chord because you only need to form a bar on the top E and B strings instead of the full F barre chord, where you have to bar all six strings.
See the shape below.
Don’t dive in and try to play the chord yet. Have a look at the diagram, then carry on reading the steps that follow where we break the shape down, which will make it easier to nail.
Partial F Major Barre Chord
How To Play The Partial F Barre Chord in 3 Steps
Here’s the part where we make it stupidly simple to get the F major barre chord to feel easier to play and sounding sweet.
Why do most guitar players struggle to play barre chords?
The trouble is that most new (and not-so-new) guitarists make the mistake of biting off more than they can chew when learning chords. They try to learn the whole shape in one fell swoop.
You don’t want to do that. Instead, break it down.
With that pearl of wisdom ringing in your ears, let’s start by learning the partial F barre chord shape a few fingers at a time.
Step 1: The 1 Finger Broken Shape
In step one, you use your first (index) finger to form a bar across the 1st and 2nd strings. Play repeated alternate picks between the strings (down on the E string, up on the B string) to check how they sound.
Clean and mute-free is the name of the game.
When you can get this consistent (which may take a few practice sessions or more depending on your ability level), move on to step 2.
Step 2: The 2 Finger Broken Shape
In this step, you add your second finger onto the 2nd fret of the 3rd string. You’ll need to practise this one till you find the sweet spot with the angle of your barred 1st finger and your curved 2nd finger.
Again, pick the individual strings to see how they’re sounding and be persistent.
Most of my students new to this shape find that the B string mutes the most to start with.
Pro Tip
Warm up with the chord shape in step 2 for just 5 minutes at the start of your next batch of practice sessions; it'll make a huge difference.
Don’t give in to the temptation of avoiding songs that require the F major chord. Believe in yourself and establish a regular practice routine, and soon enough, playing and sounding great with barre chords, including the F chord, will become effortless.
Step 3: The Full Shape
Finally, in step 3, you press your 3rd finger onto the third fret of the D string to complete the shape.
This chord shape is easier to get sounding clean when you have your thumb positioned in line with fret 2.
If your technique needs work, your thumb will keep dropping to the left. Keep working on it, and don’t give up.
Moving your thumb closer to fret 1 makes applying the correct pressure on the strings with your fingertips harder.
Good to Know
You can play this partial F barre shape with the C note on the 3rd fret of the A string included. It's best to play the chord from the 4th string onwards because this is where the F root sits (it's also a little easier).
However, I’ve come across songs where this specific chord voicing with the C in the bass position is used, so here it is:
Shape #3. – The 4 Finger F Major Chord
Shape #4. – The ‘E Shape’ F Major Chord
If you’re finding the partial F major barre chord is okay to play, it’s time to suck it up and get practising the full F major barre chord.
Below is the ‘E Shape’ F barre chord.
It’s called the ‘E shape’ because it’s created using the open E major chord form moved up the neck with a bar added, as per the CAGED System.
If you’re not sure what that means and you’re also keen to learn the basics of the CAGED System, I suggest you check out my music theory basics book Easy Peasy Guitar Music Theory: For Beginners.
It’s beyond the scope of this article to discuss CAGED in-depth, but it is definitely a must-know area of guitar playing for bedroom players and performing guitarists alike.
Let’s look at the full barred F major chord diagram:
‘E Shape’ F Major Chord
The E shape chord and the partial F shape differ only in the low F root note.
Shape #5. – The ‘A Shape’ F Major Chord
Last but not least, we have yet another shape you can play the F major chord with, which is known as the ‘A shape’.
We call this barre chord the ‘A shape’ because the main framework of the chord is based on an open A major chord shape. As previously mentioned, this is in keeping with the CAGED System.
‘A Shape’ F Major Chord
To play the ‘A shape’ F major chord, you play the F root note up on the 8th fret of the 5th string and barre across to the 1st string with your index finger.
To form the rest of the chord, your 2nd, 3rd and pinky fingers play the A major chord shape on strings 4, 3 and 2.
Many guitarists like to play this A shape F major barre chord with just two fingers. You bar the three notes on the 10th fret with your third (ring) finger:
‘A Shape’ F Major Alternative with 2 Bars
I prefer this way because it’s not such a tight squeeze, plus it leaves your 4th finger free to form further jazzy chord voicings such as the dominant seventh.
Fair Warning: This isn’t the easiest chord in the world to play, and my advice is you should only work on it once you can cleanly play the more manageable no barre F major chord variations.
Always remember: simple to complex.
Let’s wrap things up with some tips and advice on how to play the F major chord.
3 Tips to Help You Master the F Barre Chord
Tip 1 – Change the way you think
Now, I want to get something out of the way. Because everyone bangs on about how brutal and hard the F chord is to play, it scares the life out of many beginner guitar players.
When you start to learn something with a preconceived idea that it will be super difficult, you’re setting yourself up to fail.
Change the way you think about it. Don’t think of it as a “hard” chord, or the “dreaded F chord”. In fact, don’t think of barre chords in general as being scary and hard.
Instead, think of them as the gateway to being able to play any chord you want using one shape.
Don't think of barre chords as hard. Instead, think of them as the gateway to being able to play any chord you want using one shape.
That’s right, barre chords are all borrowed shapes, in so much as they start off life as an open chord (namely the C, A, G, E and D chords).
This is the basis for the CAGED System I mentioned earlier. You simply add a bar with your finger across multiple strings and move the shape up the neck.
Yes, barre chords definitely take more time to master when compared to the easier beginner open chord shapes, but whatever.
Many things worth having in life don’t come at the click of a finger, do they? So, get excited about barre chords. They open up endless possibilities when playing songs on the guitar.
Tip 2 – Stop relying on “cheat” F chord shapes
Okay, so I’ve included easier versions of the F major chord in this article, but that doesn’t mean you should rely on them because you can’t be bothered to learn the full barre chord shapes.
Believe in yourself and put some elbow grease into it. You can only get so far winging it with the lazy cheat chords.
If you want to learn how to play your favourite songs the right way (using the exact chord shapes played on the recordings), you must know how to play the full chord shapes.
You can get any chord on guitar sounding clean, slick and quick; you just have to quit beating around the bush and get working on it.
You can do this!
Tip 3 – 15 minutes every day
Wondering why you find barre chords hard to play? The straight answer is – you’re not practicing them the right way, or you’re not practicing them enough.
You have to build up finger strength and muscle memory to master any barre chord, and that includes the F major chord. This only comes with time at the bench.
Play exercises such as the Looped Pair Strike and Freeze Method every day to help you improve the F chord.
It won’t make a dent if you aren’t consistent with your chord practice. Consistency is the name of the game. Set yourself the goal of working on the F major chord for 15 minutes minimum every day.
When you do this, the other barre chords will automatically feel easier to play. It’s a win-win!
Do this, and I guarantee you’ll have it licked quicker than you could imagine.
It won’t make a dent if you aren’t consistent with your chord practice. Consistency is the name of the game.
Summing it Up
You just learned five ways to play the F major chord on your guitar. It’s important to take it slow and not expect immediate progress.
Keep practicing, and don’t procrastinate – actively search for songs that use the F major chord to learn and improve your skills.
Oh, and before I forget, I promised you a diagram of the F minor chord, didn’t I?
Here are two for you to get your teeth into:
The ‘Em Shape’ F Minor Chord
The ‘Am Shape’ F Minor Chord
