The standard F chord is played on the first four strings of the guitar. It’s an interesting chord. It’s often grouped with the standard open chords, but it technically doesn’t contain any open strings itself. Guitarists often learn it when learning open chords, but it contains a ‘mini-barre’ on the first two strings, which makes it a challenging chord when starting out. The image below contains the musical notation, chord chart, tabs and scale degrees for the F chord.
How to play the first position F chord
- Place your 3rd finger on the 3rd fret of the 4th string.
- Place your 2nd finger on the 2nd fret of the 3rd string.
- Place your 1st finger on the 1st fret of the 2nd and 1st strings.
- Strum the first four strings.
Open F chord info
- This chord is often played with other open chords, as it’s a common chord, which is included in popularly used keys.
- It contains the notes (from the 4th string down) F, A, C and F.
- It contains the 1 (root), 3, 5 and 1 in the key of F.
- It is a Major chord.