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How to Play the Easy Beginner Guitar F Chord Without a Barre - Acoustic Guitar - What’s the Basic Difference Between Drop D vs Open D Tuning?

How to Play the Easy Beginner Guitar F Chord Without a Barre

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Estimated reading time 2 minutes

Table of Contents

Introduction

Do you want to know how to play the easy beginner guitar F chord without a barre? Learning F on the guitar has long been a rite of passage for guitarists. Why? The barre makes it difficult to play, keeping many beginner guitarists from being able to play many otherwise simple songs. Keep reading to learn how to play the easy F chord on guitar.

This article uses musical terms. For definitions, see the Glossary at the end of the post.

How to Color Code Musical Diagrams - Guitar Chords - The G Major Scale (Including the G Major Chord Scale) - The C Major Scale (Including the C Major Chord Scale) - What Exactly Is a Chord and What Does the Term Harmony Mean - How to Play the Easy Beginner Guitar F Chord Without a Barre

How to Play the Easy Beginner Guitar F Chord Without a Barre: The Introductions Please!

The F chord on guitar has the notes: F A C.

  • On the diagrams below, you can see that some of the versions double up notes.
  • The F barre is the most difficult. You’d need a first finger barre across all six strings. (See the hand diagram for the finger numbers.) This makes it moveable.
  • Any chord can be moveable as long as it doesn’t use open strings.
  • What makes it a barre (pronounced “bar”) is when one finger plays notes on more than one string.
  • Even though “open” F is grouped with the open chords, it is in fact moveable and has a small barre on the thinnest two strings.

Most beginner guitarists find it’s hard to play F because of the barre. The easy F chord avoids this problem by eliminating the barre.

How Does the Easy F Chord Work on the Guitar Neck

  • Put your pointer finger (#1) on the second string, first fret.
  • Put your middle finger (#2) on the third string, second fret.
  • Put your ring finger (#3) on the fourth string, third fret.
  • Try to angle your pointer finger enough to mute the open first string. If you don’t, the extra note will add a jazzy sound.
  • In addition, make sure to arch your fingers, placing them just behind the frets, and put your thumb on the back of the guitar neck opposite your fingers.

Mobile users: for a close-up view of the diagrams, rotate your screen 90o to the right.

How to Play the Easy Beginner Guitar F Chord Without a Barre - F Chord Frame (Barre)
How to Play the Easy Beginner Guitar F Chord Without a Barre - F Chord Frame (Open)
How to Play the Easy Beginner Guitar F Chord Without a Barre - F Chord Frame (Easy)
How to Play the Easy Beginner Guitar F Chord Without a Barre - Easy G Chord - Hand Icon LH (guitar)

Hand Icon (churien.deviantart.com/art/hand-template-blank-272630198) by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0). Modified by Geoffrey Keith.

How to Play the Easy Beginner Guitar F Chord Without a Barre: Other Easy to Play Chords

As you can see, the easy F chord is a lot easier to play than the other versions that have a barre:

  • However, if you’re brand new to guitar, you might want to start with chords that use only one finger or only open strings.
  • I use them a lot when teaching kids and have even used them with adults as an introduction.
  • In addition, I use color coding when teaching young kids and special needs kids. For more information: click here.
How to Play the Easy Beginner Guitar F Chord Without a Barre - Easy G7 Chord Frame
How to Color Code Musical Diagrams - Easy Em Chord Frame - How to Play the Easy Beginner Guitar F Chord Without a Barre
How to Color Code Musical Diagrams - Easy C Chord Frame - What Do You Think of the Chord Buddy for Special Needs Guitarists - How to Play the Easy Beginner Guitar F Chord Without a Barre
How to Play the Easy Beginner Guitar F Chord Without a Barre - Easy G Chord

Easy Guitar Songs

Make sure you use the easy versions from the diagrams above when playing from these lead sheets:

Notes:

  • He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands has the simplest chords, so I suggest you start with that one.
  • If you don’t know a song’s melody, search for it on YouTube so you can get it in your ear.
  • Skip the C7 and C#7 in Hound Dog.

Final Thoughts on “How to Play the Easy Beginner Guitar F Chord Without a Barre”

The F chord is tricky on guitar because of the barre. However, the easy version eliminates the barre, making it accessible for beginners.

  • Anything worth doing takes effort.
  • So, make sure you put in your practice time.
  • Have patience, if you practice, you will improve.

Have fun playing!

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