Hello
So i'm working my way into F barre chord, but i find it troublesome to place my fingers all at the same time, like the guitar players i watch do (especially the barre finger with rest fingers relation). I place them kinda 1b1, and there are some other chords that i tend to do this.
So first of all i'd like to ask for any type of exercise to work this ,,at the same time'' motion, and i also would like to ask if this is bad practise overall, to place specific chords partially (for example d major chord, i tend to place 2 fingers on 2nd threat first, and then last finger, it's really fast in that case, but it still makes me wonder what's the best practise, and if i should aim for doing it at exactly same time).
Thanks in advance.
Barre chords are not easy. Try to practice the movement slowly and increase the speed until you feel comfortable. Practice the change from and to the other chords and not only the F chord in particular.
Keep practicing and you will play the barre chords soon.
Further to what Nuno said, the F barre is the hardest one of all due to string tension. I'd advise learning how to finger the shape somewhere higher up the neck.
It's a movable shape, so an A barre for example is:
5 7 7 6 5 5
E A D G B e
Learn the shape and fingering somewhere around there and then gradually move it down the neck for the full F.
And in the interim use the 'cheat' 4 string version of the F. 'Cheat' is a bad rap; it's actually a nice sounding version of the chord. :)
Don
it's easier to play f as a half barre. xx3211. you just have to barre the top two strings that way. it's much easier. when your hands get stronger, you can use your pinkie to make it x33211, and eventually, you can progress into a full barre. i mean, go ahead and practice full barres, but go ahead and use those in the meantime. even after you can play full barre chords, you may use them a pretty large percent of the time you're playing an f chord, depending on if you want that low f or not. or you might end up using your thumb on the low f. i do that a lot, too. it's really just easier than holding a barre chord until your hand cramps, and it sounds the same.
A drill I assign I call "landing" chords.
Play your target chord, and make sure every string rings clearly.
Lift your fingers just a bit - an eighth inch or so. Keep them in the same position. Bring them all down together, and make sure each string rings cleanly.
Repeat.
As you get better, lift your fingers a bit more. Once you can do it from a couple of inches away, spread your fingers and try to land them together.
This is an incredibly effective drill, because it's FOCUSED - you can easily do it on one chord 50 or more times in just one minute. Playing through songs you might have to work 15 or 20 times as long to "land" the same chord as many times.
The goal of practice is to make things habit... try it, and you'll find yourself developing the habit of landing all your fingers at once pretty quickly.
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