How To Play The F Chord On Guitar – First Lesson for Beginners

Are you interested in learning how to become a professional guitar player? Would you like to be able to fire off those astounding riffs within the blink of an eye? Or perhaps you’d like to put together a band and eventually record your own music? Before you can become a master of the guitar, it is absolutely vital to learn the basics. Getting the finger string to hold down the chords properly will be your first objective. Once you’ve managed to achieve this goal, it will be time to learn the most basic guitar chords. As someone, who knows a thing or two about guitar, I can tell you upfront that the F chord is one of the most commonly used within modern music.

After you have managed to master the F chord, you will truly be well on your way to composing your own songs. Ultimately though, learning your first chord can be a major undertaking. The pros agree that learning a chord, holding it and strumming it appropriately can be much easier said than done. At the same time, you’ll need to master the rhythm and strum accordingly. Within this guide, you will discover everything you need to know to learn how to play F chord on guitar, so you too can become a guitar god in the near future.

What You Will Need

Before jumping forward, it is essential to make sure your truly prepared for the task ahead. So you will need to acquire the appropriate gear and you will need to make sure your guitar is in perfect tune. Below, you’ll discover a list of required items.

• Your guitar! Acoustic or electric will work
• An amplified, if utilizing an acoustic guitar
• A guitar tuner
• A chord chart or book

If you speak with any professional guitar player, they’ll tell you immediately that it is much easier to learn cords on an electric guitar. The chord on an acoustic tend to require much more pressure to push to the fretboard. Nonetheless, with patience and practice you will be able to achieve your goal no matter what type of guitar you are using. These items are necessities and must be acquired to learn how to play F chord on guitar.

Tune Your Guitar with a Digital Tuner

Tune Your Guitar

Once you have gotten everything you’ll need, you will want to go ahead and tune your guitar. Using a digital guitar tuner is recommended, as this will make the process simplistic and easy. I do not recommend trying to tune the guitar by ear, until you have been playing for a few years. This is something that even I cannot go proficiently. The guitar tuner will let you know precisely when the guitar is tuned to the standard settings.

Prepare Your Fingers

When attempting to master a chord as complex as the F Chord, you will need to prepare and strengthen your fingers. This chord can be difficult, since the index finger will be responsible for holding down several strings simultaneously. There are many finger strengthening exercises, which can be practiced to enhance your finger’s dexterity and power. Of course, it is also possible to simply practice holding the F chord to prepare your fingers. With time, holding down the chords will become very easy and you’ll be able to pull it off without any strain.

Learn The Formation

Chord Book

It is truly impossible to learn the F chord, without knowing the proper finger formation. This is where your chord chart or book will come in handy. I recommend investing in a chord book, as you will be able to utilize it even after you’ve begun writing songs. The book will provide you with the formation for common chords, as well as those that are rarely used. To pull off the F chord, you should first lay your index finger across the first set of chords.

Your middle finger should be placed on the third string from the top and your ring finger should be placed on the third cord from the bottom. Become familiar with this setup and make sure the strings are pressed firmly to the fretboard.

Playing F Major

Now that you’ve learned the proper chord formation and have strengthened your fingers enough to hold the strings in place, it is time to pick up your pick and begin strumming. When looking at your chord chart, you will see that the two bottom chords are designated with an X. This simply means that the bottom strings are closed and should not be strummed. If you ever see a string, which has an O beside of it, this means that the string is open. An open chord should be strummed. So, you’ll need to become proficient at strumming the top 4 strings, while skipping the bottom.

How to Read Chord Charts

This may be awkward at first, but it’ll become natural with time and practice.

Practice And Expanding

Once you have managed to master the basic F chord, you will want to take things one step further. It is possible to learn a wide variety of F chords on your guitar, including F major 7, F minor and many more. After you have truly mastered the Major F chord, you will have a much easier time adjusting the placement of your fingers and transitioning from one chord formation to the next. Mastering and memorizing additional formations can be difficult, but it will be a necessity, if you truly wish to excel on the guitar.

There are numerous websites that will provide you with chord formations, but purchasing a chord book is recommended. This is how I learned and I recommend all beginners to the same!

Conclusion

Well, you have done it! Congratulations! You have learned your first guitar chord. Although you have accomplished a great deal and are well on your way to mastering the guitar, you still have a long road ahead. I sincerely hope you enjoyed this tutorial and I hope you learned from my lesson. Was it helpful and did it teach you a thing or two about playing guitar? If you have any questions or comments, do not hesitate to leave a message below. I am always happy to hear from my readers and will do my best to respond to all inquiries are soon as possible.