GuitarChords.net

F major guitar chord

F major is the notes F, A, and C played together. Copy the first picture. Where one finger has to hold more than one string at the same time, the list under the picture tells you which finger and which strings.

The second picture on this page is also F major. It skips the two thick strings.

x means muted. 0 means open.

F major

Short code 133211, thickest string first.

Barre fret 1 with the index finger on the low E, B and high E strings.

  1. Low E string: fret 1, index finger, note F, 1st.
  2. A string: fret 3, ring finger, note C, 5th.
  3. D string: fret 3, pinky finger, note F, 1st.
  4. G string: fret 2, middle finger, note A, 3rd.
  5. B string: fret 1, index finger, note C, 5th.
  6. High E string: fret 1, index finger, note F, 1st.

F major uses the notes F, C and A.

This is a beginner grip.

People write "F" for "F major".

The first shape uses a barre.

Another shape on this page uses a barre.

F major is the last of the eight beginner chords.

More F guitar chords.

Also F minor, F dominant 7, F major 7, F minor 7, F suspended 2, F suspended 4, F power chord, F diminished, F augmented.

F major, another shape

Short code xx3211, thickest string first.

Barre fret 1 with the index finger on the B and high E strings.

  1. Low E string: muted, do not play.
  2. A string: muted, do not play.
  3. D string: fret 3, ring finger, note F, 1st.
  4. G string: fret 2, middle finger, note A, 3rd.
  5. B string: fret 1, index finger, note C, 5th.
  6. High E string: fret 1, index finger, note F, 1st.

F major uses the notes F, A and C.

Why is the second F major easier if it still uses a barre?

Both pictures are F, A, and C. That is F major. The first picture is a barre across fret 1 on all six strings: one finger holds the thick E, the B string, and the high E at once. The second picture skips the two thick strings and still uses a small barre, but only on the two thin strings at fret 1. Same three notes. Fewer strings to hold, so it is easier. It is still a barre. Learn the six-string barre when your index finger is stronger.

If the F major in a song sounds smaller than the full six-string picture, the second picture is often what you are hearing. Use that one until the first picture is comfortable.

This site shows the chord. It does not play the recording. Charts often draw the full six-string F when the recording uses the smaller shape, or they skip F by putting a capo (a clamp that raises every string) and playing E shapes. If this grip is right and the track still does not match, check capo and which picture they meant before you blame the barre.

A is the note that makes this chord major instead of minor. On both pictures that A is on the G string, fret 2, middle finger. Play F minor after this F major. On F minor that note is A flat. Listen for A turning into A flat.

Chords that go with F major

The matching minor chord is D minor. Open the D minor page.

This site also has B flat major and C major.

Progressions that start on F major

Play each line in order.

F major, B flat major, C major, F major

This is the campfire loop. F major (F) to B flat major (Bb) to C major (C) and home. Your ear already knows the last chord is coming, and that little click of "yes" is why beginners and church basements and country radio never get tired of it. It feels like a door shutting gently, not slamming.

F major, C major, D minor, B flat major

This loop is why so many pop songs feel like they have a plot. Bright, brighter, then D minor (Dm) makes it personal, then Bb lets you keep going. Country-pop and adult contemporary use it too, not only Top 40. Good for a chorus people can feel on the first listen.

F major, D minor, B flat major, C major

F major to Dm is the first drop in the stomach. Bb and C major walk you back the way a slow dance does. 1950s doo-wop and old love songs wore this path smooth. People hum it in the car before they know the words.

F major, C major, B flat major, F major

No minor chord, so no lump in the throat — only forward. 1970s rock, church-camp songs, anything that wants grit and a grin instead of a sad verse. You stomp. You keep going.

F major, G minor, C major, F major

G minor (Gm) is a quieter color, not a tragedy. C major turns you around. F major is still home; you just took the long way. Jazz standards and softer pop from the 1930s on like that little wait before you land. It feels grown without getting hard.

Songs with F major

Listen for this chord, then use the grip on this page.

Let It Be

F major sits in this Beatles song. The recording is in C major. It also uses C major, G major, and A minor. The verse is C major, G major, A minor, F major.

F major comes after A minor and turns the verse back toward C major.

Let It Be is a C major song. In the verse you play A minor (Am), then F major, then you are on the way back to C major. Am is quieter and sadder. F major is warmer. It is the chord that starts the walk back to C major.

On January 22, 1969, George Harrison brought Billy Preston into the Let It Be sessions. Preston was in London playing organ for Ray Charles. The Beatles had first met him years earlier in Hamburg.

Harrison later said in The Beatles Anthology that when Preston sat down at the electric piano, the feeling in the room got better right away. He said a fifth person cut the ice the four of them had made among themselves.

Billy Preston said Mal Evans, the Beatles’ road manager, told him the band had been low, and that he was glad Billy came because it gave them life. Preston said that in Classic Rock magazine in 2020. Preston plays on the record of Let It Be.

Am is the sad bar. F major is the warmer chord that comes next. That is the session getting easier when Billy sat down. Then the verse goes back to C major.

Purple Rain

F major sits in this Prince and the Revolution song. The recording is in B flat major. It also uses B flat major and G minor. The chords go B flat major, G minor, F major, E flat major.

F major is the catalog chord that turns the loop back toward B flat major.

Purple Rain is a B flat major song. After G minor you play F major. G minor is sadder. F major is warmer. It is the chord that starts the walk back.

On August 3, 1983, they played a benefit at First Avenue, a club in Minneapolis, for the Minnesota Dance Theatre. It was hot and smoky. Prince kept telling the band they were making history that night. They recorded the basic track of this song live. Wendy Melvoin’s first show with the Revolution was that night.

The film’s director, Albert Magnoli, was in the balcony. After the show he told Prince this was the song the movie needed. Prince agreed. He asked if the film itself could also be named Purple Rain. It was.

F major is the warmer chord after G minor. Then you go back toward B flat major.