How to play the F# Minor guitar chord (2024)

CHORDS / Barre Chords

On this page, you’ll learn three ways to play F#m, pronounced F sharp minor, on the guitar.

Below, we’ll talk about how each one works, but feel free to jump straight to:

• The standard barre chord (more advanced)
• A modified version (a little tricky)
• A very easy version (great for beginners)

Why is F#m so difficult?

This is a common chord for beginning players to get stuck on. In fact, it’s one of the most looked up chords on chordbank.com.

Why?

Mostly because the most common way you’ll find to play it has a barre, where you cover more than one string with the same finger.

And barres are hard.

It takes a few weeks of playing and practice to get enough strength in your fingers to make a barre work.

Luckily, there is more than one way to play it, including at least one that doesn’t require a barre at all.

Let’s start with the most difficult, and work our way to the easiest.

F#m, standard version

This one is a little tricky for beginners. If you’re just getting started, consider scrolling down to one of the easier versions below.

Still with us?

OK!

The classic, textbook way to play F#m looks like this:

1. Place the tip of your first finger on the sixth string at the second fret.
2. Flatten your finger and press down to make a barre across to the first string.
3. Put your third finger on the fourth fret of the fifth string.
4. Put your fourth finger on the fourth fret of the fourth string.
5. Strum all six strings.

You’ve got a barre, where you place your first finger across all the strings at the second fret, and then you use your second and third fingers to fret the fourth and fifth strings, at the fourth fret.

These barres can be really challenging, especially for beginners.

Read on below for two ways to make this chord easier to play, or be sure to check out our ultimate guide to barre chords:

An easier, smaller barred version

First, barres are easier to play the smaller they are.

You’ve got six strings, but that doesn’t mean you need to play all of them all the time.

Instead of putting your first finger across all the strings, you can just cover the first three, like this:

1. Place the tip of your first finger on the third string at the second fret.
2. Flatten your finger and press down to make a barre across to the first string.
3. Put your third finger on the fourth fret of the fourth strin
4. Strum only the thinnest four strings.

You might find this easier to play, and you can use this chord to start to feel more comfortable practicing barres and making them sound great too.

No barre at all

The last version we’ll learn doesn’t need any barre at all.

You’ll just be playing the thinnest three strings, all at the second fret. Like this:

1. Put your first finger on the second fret of the third string.
2. Put your second finger on the second fret of the second string.
3. Put your third finger on the second fret of the first string.
4. Strum only the thinnest three strings. Do not play the thickest three strings.

The most important part of this version: do not play the thickest three strings, the ones closest to the ceiling. Only play the thinnest three strings, the ones with your fingers on them.

Lessons

Do barre chords scare you? They don’t have to.

We have an excellent video series by Anna Freitas that will demystify Barre Chords once and for all.

You’ll learn to play the most important barre chord shapes, with tips for finding your way up and down the fretboard, changing chords, and getting rid of that awful fret buzz that plagues beginning players.

Practice Smarter

Here are some direct links to ChordBank’s practice drills and games for beginners learning the F#m chord.

To learn chords, you’ve got to play them, get them stuck in your muscle-memory.

GAMES

Let’s start with some games.

Try playing ChordPOP! or Blackjack while taking your fingers on and off the strings. ChordBank will listen to your iPhone’s microphone, and fire darts, place bets, or deal cards as you play.

Smart Flashcards

Learning to change cleanly between chords as you learn is such an important step on your journey from someone who has a guitar, to someone who plays the guitar.

These flashcards will help you do just that.

Common chords: F#m and A

You couldn’t ask for a better chord to practice F#m with than the A major chord.

You’ll see these two together all the time, so it’s a good one to start with.

Moving on: F#m, A, D, and E

If you’ve already started feeling good about placing your fingers for F#m, try adding in the D and E major chords.