Stupid Newbie Question
 

I played several years ago (mostly self taught) and haven't touched a guitar in at least five years, but I'm going to be playing again soon. As soon as my guitar gets here...

I was watching this video on youtube. What the heck is Peter doing with his index finger when he's playing the F chord?

It's been a while since I've played, and I didn't think that F was barred, so I went back to my guitar books and couldn't find a version of F that's barred. Is he just using that first finger to hold down the first two strings and not really touching the fret the rest of the way up?

Oh, and if you follow that link back to newsongcafe on youtube, they have some wonderful worship song tutorials.

That's the normal way to play an F chord, it's barred. It looks like this tabbed out.

e---------1---------
b---------1---------
g---------2---------
d---------3---------
a---------3--------
E---------1--------

By the way, welcome to the boards! :)

http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/2499/35704610.gif

So, are you saying that the index finger is muting those top two strings? Apparently, I've been doing it wrong all these years...

I told you I was mostly self taught.

No, the "full" F barre chord is played 1/3/3/2/1/1. Barre all 6 strings across the first fret. :yep:

I wonder what else I'm going to need to relearn?

Thanks!

Ok, so should I have known it was barred by looking at the chord diagram I linked? Shouldn't the chord diagram look more like this

http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/5391/fchord.jpg

Sorry to be such a newbie here.

That's one way to play it. Depends on full of a chord you want to hear, really. I've done it both ways.

If you barre the whole chord it sounds very full.

I also notice he plays the G slightly different than I do.

E|----3
A|----2
D|----0
G|----0
B|----3
e |----3

or

E|----3
A|----2
D|----0
G|----0
B|----0
e |----3


or


E|------3
A|------5
D|------5
G|------4
B|------3
e|------3

and then sometimes you can just throw fingers in anywhere you want to :D

Most chord box diagrams on "easy guitar" I've seen give the simplified version. Where you only barre the two highest strings and play a four string chord. Playing a full barre gives a deeper richer sound since you hit the F a full octive lower. However its harder to get a clean sound on the high strings with the barre.

Practice makes perfect. :)

Don't be discouraged if you can't do it yet, just practice, practice, practice.

e-3
B-3
G-0
D-0
A-2
E-3
that could be the G chord he's playing

Welcome to the boards and welcome back to the instrument.

Any major chord only requires three notes: the root, the third, and the fifth. For an F chord, those notes would be F, A, and C. You could simply play XX321X and you will have played an F chord.

When you play the 4 string version you've learned, XX3211, you're playing F, A, C, F, so you're doubling the root an octave higher.

The version of the chord in which all six strings are played (barring the entire first fret) consists of, in order low to high, F C F A C F. Thus the root is played three times; it's the lowest note and the highest note, and it occurs in the middle. The fifth (C) is occurs twice, and the third (A) only occurs once.

Each of these versions of an F chord (and there are several others) is valid and contains the correct necessary notes, but each will have a different sound. When you use each depends on the song and also the other instrumentation. I'll seldom use the full six string form when playing electric in a band with a bass player. The lower guitar notes aren't really needed, and the band's sound will become too cluttered. In fact, I'll often just play XXX211 or XXX565.

When playing acoustic by myself, though, I'll be more inclined to use the large chord form to create a fuller sound.

Hope this isn't too much info. Don't get worried over this stuff; it'll become clear to you with time and practice. Spend a little time learning basic chord theory and moveable barre chord forms and the whole instrument will open up for you.

I think this is where I was trying to go when I stopped playing. Mostly out of frustration because I just couldn't reach across the neck with enough strength to do a barre chord. The instrument I had at the time was a piece of cr*p classical guitar with a wide thick neck, and I have short-ish fingers. At the time, I thought the problem was me, but I think it was just the wrong instrument.

Thanks everyone for your help. I'm sure I'll have more questions as I go along.

Yeah, the full barre F is the most difficult chord to barre; but if you can play it, then you should be able to play most barres. The only way to get up enough hand/arm strength to play it, though, is practice. I heard some players use a technique where they use their shoulders to try to apply enough pressure on the strings for a clean barre, but that's never really worked for me, personally. Hand strength, work on hand strength.

Do you have any suggestions on hand exercises?