Playing All 12 Major Chords Using The Barre F Chord Form

Knowing how to play an Playing all 12 major chords using the Barre F chord form as a barre chord allows you to play every major chord by simply moving up the neck.

Barred F Chord Form.

That's amazing, right?

To determine the name of the chord that you are playing, you simply need to know the name of the note that you are playing on its root string, the 6th string.

For your quick reference about the notes of the 6th string on specific frets, see the figure below:

FRET

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

5th

6th

7th

8th

9th

10th

11th

12th

NOTE

F

F#/Gb

G

G#/Ab

A

A#/Bb

B

C

C#/Db

D

D#/Eb

E

"#" symbol denotes a sharp (F# is read as F-sharp)
"b" symbol denotes a  flat (Ab is read as A-flat)

Your First 3 Chords: A - Family Chords

The chords that belong to the A-family are very popular because they are very easy to play. Also, the A-family of chords contain open strings - the strings that you play without pressing anything. Chords that contain open strings are called open chords or open-position chords.

The A-family of chords consists of the basic chords A, D, and E. These chords are known as major chords. When you see a chord that's named by a letter alone such as A, D, and E, you call it a major chord.

The following figures show the fingering of the chords in the A-family:

A Chord diagram and left-hand fingering: