What are the correct mechanics for a guitar F barre chord

Question

I have been having trouble with the F barre chord and have a question about mechanics. As an experiment I've tried moving the body very far to the right so that my eyes are somewhere over the seventh fret. Completely impractical for playing but I wanted to see what would happen if I could get my forearm almost exactly perpendicular to the neck. In this position it is relatively easy to play the chord.

Now when I move the guitar back to a normal playing position (casual for me), my left forearm instead of being square is now at an angle to the neck (because my left hand has to now reach left to access the first fret). So I find to get proper mechanics i.e. Fingers fairly square to the fretoard, I have to either stick my left elbow out to square my forearm or else twist my wrist at a weird angle so that at least I can square my palm. If I don't square something I can press the strings with some difficulty but my fingers end up side on rather than front on.

What are the proper mechanics for playing this chord?

Answer 1

This comes down to mechanics - what physical positions can you change?

• position of the guitar: you can angle the neck up more, or raise the entire guitar
• position of your elbow: you can move it forwards or sideways away from your body
• position of your wrist: pushing it forwards brings the hand over the fretboard more

The F barre chord at the first fret is one of the more annoying ones, though. It is a strange position that is hard work until your muscles have developed to support it, so don't be disheartened. Sticking your elbow out is what some folks do, and others twist their wrists, and yet others cheat and don't use the barre properly at all :-)

I would suggest that in addition to @Another's answer, you try angling the neck up so you play the guitar similarly to how you would hold a flamenco guitar when seated. As you practice, you can start to lower the neck.

Answer 2

It sounds as though you have the fundementals correct. Bar chords become harder the closer you get to the machine heads due to the change in angles you mention.

The easiest way to attain proficiency is to practice the chord fingering at the most comfortable position on the fingerboard for you. Once you master the chord at this position move the whole hand down 2 frets towards the machine heads, and so on. Remember only move to a harder location when all of the notes of the chord ring like 'bells'.

Practice this in 10 mins blocks, to avoid injury, 10 times a day for a week and you will master it.