Got my butt kicked in class tonight

[kitniyatran]

F chord is a cool chord, using the same finger position up the neck you can play any major chord, any key. Roots are right there on both E strings. Lift your middle finger it's any minor chord, any key.

Learn one finger position & accomplish 25+ chords, good trade

Comes in handy when one of your LTG jam buddies records his best tune in G# major, could'a been A flat, I don't know. They should never given Graham a capo.

One of the most useful fingerings. Been so long(41 years), I don't remember if it was harder than anything else or not, but I sure use it a lot.
How do you make out with Dm7(like your F, but with open D instead of the F at the 3rd fret)? sometimes working up from 1 or 2 fingers to the full chord helps develop the strength & flexibility.

 

[john_kidder]

Practice for a year or two on a cheap 12-string with lousy action, and your barre will become so strong you can crush necks on lighter guitars.

My playing was transformed from pretty lousy to almost bearable for the right listeners in the right circumstances by learning the basic moveable chords that jazz and swing players use to cruise all around the neck with such little apparent effort. Opened up the whole guitar, gave me an elementary understanding of how such small shifts - just changing one note in a chord - can have such large effects.

 

[dane]

but I'm too damn stubborn to give it up.

That attitude will make the difference. Don’t give up. I read what has been posted here and there is defiantly some good advice here for you to follow. We’re all rooting for you to succeed.

 

[TonyT]

Thanks again, everyone. I'm not really worried about it because I know that the fingers will find a way. It's all come pretty easy so far and this is the first test. The tough part is that you get alot better really fast at the beginning. I keep telling myself that it's only been about 3 months. It's all good. 18 million songs with no F chord and I'm ornery enough to look for ones that I can't play. Yet.

 

[Scratch]

Couldn't hit that 'F' chord for a good six months as I recall Tony. Bet you're well ahead of my start. Still so much I find impossible to do. It's just like anticipating Christmas as a kid. Patience, patience...then it finally happens, and you look forward to...

 

[killdeer43]

Tony,

Here's one for you:
"Degree of difficulty is determined by desire."
Use that one in good health and go get that F!!

Best to you,
Joe

 

[A Song In Your Hands]

I remember the F#@# chord. Learned it in 1979.

1. Impossible at first
2. Easy after a few months of practice
3. Now I switch back and forth, barred or plain, while shaving and eating breakfast (just kidding, I never shave while eating breakfast...too busy riding the unicycle)

They are all that way to one degree or another. Just keep practicing, and you will amaze yourself at your improvement over time. We all learn at different paces, but we all learn.

 

[dreadnut]

yeah, what everybody else said!

Hey Song, I think I remember that F#!# chord, I think mine had a **%@!! too.

To this day, when I see a song written in the key of "F" I think "What were they thinking?"

But then like Jeff said, once you learn the barre position, everything is an "F". I never play a 4 string "F" anymore, I find it much easier to just barre it, plus you pick up the bass strings as well. And I rarely play the full "E" position when I barre, I almost always play the "E7" fingering which is easier and sounds just fine, and it also frees up the pinkie to pick up the high 7th on the B string when needed.

So in my humble opinion, screw the 4-string 'F" and go right to the barre "F7". Once you get the "Human Capo" thing down you've got it made, you can do that anywhere on the neck.

 

[TonyT]

HA. Just finished playing for about 45 minutes. Probably hit it on the nose about 25% of the time. I own that sucker.

 

[A Song In Your Hands]

yeah, what everybody else said!

Hey Song, I think I remember that F#!# chord, I think mine had a **%@!! too.

To this day, when I see a song written in the key of "F" I think "What were they thinking?"

But then like Jeff said, once you learn the barre position, everything is an "F". I never play a 4 string "F" anymore, I find it much easier to just barre it, plus you pick up the bass strings as well. And I rarely play the full "E" position when I barre, I almost always play the "E7" fingering which is easier and sounds just fine, and it also frees up the pinkie to pick up the high 7th on the B string when needed.

So in my humble opinion, screw the 4-string 'F" and go right to the barre "F7". Once you get the "Human Capo" thing down you've got it made, you can do that anywhere on the neck.

True dat! I never hit a 4-string F by choice anymore. Bars rock, bar none!

 

[chicagowineguy]

Tony I just picked up on this thread...seems like you are succeeding in your quest to master the Fmajor! I agree with the guys who prefer barring it, but I will say that the open position chords lend themselves to fingerstyle, when hammers, pulls and slides come into play. Going back and forth between C and F when finger "plucking" is a good exercise and sounds pretty, too! One other thing, that 4 string position can also be moved up the neck to G, A, B etc to good effect.

BTW who is your instructor this session, what class are you in, and what songs are you working on? Andrea Bunch has us working on some pretty tricky stuff by Adrian Belew, Peter Gabriel and Joni, among others...we'll see each other around one of these days, I'm sure!

 

[TonyT]

Tony I just picked up on this thread...seems like you are succeeding in your quest to master the Fmajor! I agree with the guys who prefer barring it, but I will say that the open position chords lend themselves to fingerstyle, when hammers, pulls and slides come into play. Going back and forth between C and F when finger "plucking" is a good exercise and sounds pretty, too! One other thing, that 4 string position can also be moved up the neck to G, A, B etc to good effect.

BTW who is your instructor this session, what class are you in, and what songs are you working on? Andrea Bunch has us working on some pretty tricky stuff by Adrian Belew, Peter Gabriel and Joni, among others...we'll see each other around one of these days, I'm sure!

Class is Guitar 2, Mary Peterson(again) is the instructor. Thursdays at 7 in 212. Right now we seem to be concentrating on Runaway Train, The Weight, What Is Life, and for a little alternating bass change of pace Ring Of Fire.

Which class are you taking?

 

[chicagowineguy]

Hey Tony, I'm in Guitar 4 with Andrea Bunch on Sundays at noon. Andrea is a wonderful, enthusiastic instructor and an accomplished pro...her band is Congress of Starlings...here's a link...

http://www.congressofstarlings.com/

See ya around OTS