F7 Chord on Guitar
F7 F A C E♭ 2 shapes Barre chord
Chord diagrams
How to play F7 on guitar
The F7 chord (F7) is made of F, A, C, E♭ - 1 3 5 b7. On a guitar in standard tuning the easiest way to play it is the E-shape barre at fret 1 (131211). Below are 2 shapes in all, from the lowest on the neck to the highest; the same chord sounds brighter the higher you play it.
A-shape barre, fret 8 x8(10)8(10)8
Strings from the low E (left) to the high E (right). Numbers are fingers: 1 index, 2 middle, 3 ring, 4 little. x = do not play the string, o = open string, a bar = one finger across several strings.
Notes
What notes are in F7?
The F7 chord has 4 different notes: F, A, C, E♭. The major triad plus a minor seventh (10 half steps above F) - the dominant chord that pulls towards the key a fifth below. A guitar chord rarely has as many strings as notes, so shapes double some of them: the e-shape barre, fret 1 sounds all six strings.
| Note | Interval from the root | Half steps |
|---|---|---|
| F | Root | 0 |
| A | Major 3rd | 4 |
| C | Perfect 5th | 7 |
| E♭ | Minor 7th | 10 |
Questions
Frequently asked
How do you play F7 on guitar?
The E-shape shape 131211: low E string fret 1 (finger 1), A string fret 3 (finger 3), D string fret 1 (finger 1), G string fret 2 (finger 2), B string fret 1 (finger 1), high E string fret 1 (finger 1). Your index finger lies flat across fret 1.
What notes are in the F7 chord?
The F7 chord (F7) is made of F, A, C, E♭. Its formula is 1 3 5 b7. On the guitar, some of those notes are played twice on different strings.
Can I play F7 without a barre?
There is no common open shape for F7 in standard tuning, so it is played as a movable shape: e-shape barre, fret 1 (131211) is the lowest on the neck. If a full barre is hard at first, play only the four highest strings of that shape - the root and the third are still there.
Keep playing
Strum F7, then build a song around it
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