F Major Chord on Guitar
F F A C 2 shapes Barre chord
Chord diagrams
How to play F Major on guitar
The F Major chord (F) is made of F, A, C - 1 3 5. On a guitar in standard tuning the easiest way to play it is the E-shape barre at fret 1 (133211). 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)(10)(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 F Major?
The F Major chord has 3 different notes: F, A, C. Root, major third (4 half steps up), perfect fifth (7). 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 |
Chords that go with it
Chords in the key of F major
The seven chords built on the F major scale, with the easiest shape of each. I, IV and V are the three major chords that carry most songs in this key; vi is its relative minor.
A progression to strum
- I - V - vi - IVF - C - Dm - B♭
Songs
Songs with the F chord
Easy songs on this site that use F, with the chords over the lyrics and a guitar that plays along.
Questions
Frequently asked
How do you play F on guitar?
The E-shape shape 133211: low E string fret 1 (finger 1), A string fret 3 (finger 3), D string fret 3 (finger 4), 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 F Major chord?
The F Major chord (F) is made of F, A, C. Its formula is 1 3 5. On the guitar, some of those notes are played twice on different strings.
Can I play F without a barre?
There is no common open shape for F in standard tuning, so it is played as a movable shape: e-shape barre, fret 1 (133211) 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 F, then build a song around it
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