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F maj chord opinion

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(@jeffster1)
Reputable Member
Joined: 17 years ago
Posts: 231
Topic starter  

Hey guys,

My first guitar teacher about 13 years ago taught me to play an F maj without the low E and A strings, meaning xx3211. I sometimes play x33211, but almost never play the full barre. Every time I have to play an Fmaj, I have this guilty feeling inside. Am I alone?


   
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(@gnease)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 5038
 

forget about the supposed "completeness" of barre chords and listen to the sound. play what the music needs. problem with your fingering isn't that it's "incomplete," but that it may not always be the voicing you need. examples: sometimes 1332xx will sound better or maybe just 13x2xx or even simply xxx211. of course, if you finger the F-barre, then most of the voicings/inversions are ready to go, based on the strings you strum/

-=tension & release=-


   
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(@jeffster1)
Reputable Member
Joined: 17 years ago
Posts: 231
Topic starter  

Yeah that's kind of the way I've always figured it. If you need the bass notes, you need the bass notes. It's just one of those things that makes me feel like I'm doing something wrong, like someone in the audience is going to whisper to his buddy "Oh wow did you see that poor man's Fmaj?" Haha :)


   
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(@minotaur)
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Joined: 16 years ago
Posts: 1089
 

like someone in the audience is going to whisper to his buddy "Oh wow did you see that poor man's Fmaj?" Haha :)

Noooo! If people in the audience really did that, I'd say they have bigger problems than how you form your F maj. :wink:

It is difficult to answer when one does not understand the question.


   
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(@moonrider)
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Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 1305
 

like someone in the audience is going to whisper to his buddy "Oh wow did you see that poor man's Fmaj?" Haha :)

Most of the audience isn't going to be paying that close attention except for the odd guitar player or two. Even them, they're more likely to comment on whether that particular voicing works or not.

Like my mentor would say to me, "Sometimes the worst thing you can do is play all six of those strings when you only need two or three of 'em."

Playing guitar and never playing for others is like studying medicine and never working in a clinic.

Moondawgs on Reverbnation


   
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(@anonymous)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 17 years ago
Posts: 8184
 

i have a cheap acoustic where it's hard to fret that low f, probably due to the nut, so i do the same with the f chord. funny enough, i get the same feeling, like i'm being inauthentic. don't have the problem with my electric, since everything's easy on it.


   
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(@vic-lewis-vl)
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Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 10264
 

I was taught to play the F chord as a full barre chord, with the barre across the 1st fret - took me years to figure out it was easier for me, personally, to play it without a barre and by putting my thumb on the F note on the low E string.

At the same time, I was taught to play the D chord with my thumb on the F# note on the bottom E string - and I've never played it any other way.

All I can say is, experiment with chords - find the most comfortable fingering for YOU, and stick with it. The only problem you're going to have with the x33211 fingering is if you need F in the bass while fingerpicking - then you'll have to bring the thumb round, or you'll have to play it on the 3rd fret of the D string.

:D :D :D

Vic

"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)


   
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(@rparker)
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Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 5480
 

I do the easy one unless a full barre is clearly the needed voicing.

Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin


   
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(@dogbite)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 19 years ago
Posts: 6348
 

a full barre F chord does sound fuller and sweeter to my ears. so never give up in working towards the ability to make and play one.
the partial F chord you illustrated is fine. it depends on what you want to hear, for example.
when I make that partial chord I usually place my thumb over the top of the neck and catch the low E; fretting it proper. it sounds good when done right.
there is more than one way to make a chord. know and use all and you will be a better player for the trouble.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=644552
http://www.soundclick.com/couleerockinvaders


   
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(@u2bono269)
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Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 1167
 

i always play it x3321x. I do this for all barre-type chords...I prefer the sound. If I need the bass note I press with my thumb, baseball bat style. i have been criticized for this but frankly i don't care.

http://www.brianbetteridge.com


   
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(@mmoncur)
Estimable Member
Joined: 17 years ago
Posts: 168
 

I'm weird (and I do have large hands) so my experience was different - I could never get the 4-string F to ring out properly, but I picked up the full barre version really quickly. So I'll usually play the full barre, but sometimes the song calls for a different form, or the transition to the previous/next chord is hard, so I'm trying to learn the 4-string version, sometimes with the thumb on the bass note. The full barre is still easier.

The only time I feel like I'm "cheating" is when I play a different way than the original artist. So, for example, I play a couple of KT Tunstall songs, and she doesn't play barre chords, so I feel like I'm cheating when I play the full barres instead of the weird fingerings she uses. Same problem when I play a Hendrix or John Fruciante song with full barres, when I know the original artist would have used the thumb-over version.

I need to get over that too, though. All that matters is the sound.


   
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(@axissupersport)
Eminent Member
Joined: 15 years ago
Posts: 29
 

I always play the full barre chord. It just sounds better to me.


   
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(@tldavis92)
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Joined: 15 years ago
Posts: 34
 

I prefer the full barre chord because it sounds fuller. However, it is also good to know how to play it in case you need the a deep bass note.


   
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(@tinsmith)
Prominent Member
Joined: 19 years ago
Posts: 830
 

75% of the time, I thumb the top string & don't play the bottom.

1-3-3-2-1


   
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(@vic-lewis-vl)
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Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 10264
 

75% of the time, I thumb the top string & don't play the bottom.

1-3-3-2-1

that COULD have been a little clearer, tinsmith.....do you mean you bring the thumb over the BOTTOM E string and don't play the TOP E string.....? and where's the "x" on the string you're NOT playing?

The thick E string (Whether you're a lefty or a righty!) is the bottom E - the thin E string is the top E. On a set of strings like, say, the packet I'm staring at now....

From bottom to top,

E - 42
A - 32
D - 24
G - 16
B - 11
E - 09

:D :D :D

Vic

"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)


   
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