The F Chord

Eric Taylor taught me a new chord, the flying F#m7. Here are some photos of the finger formation in the FGCCDD alternate tuning.  The pointer on the third string third fret, the ring finger on the fourth string fifth fret, and the pinky on the first string fifth fret. You don’t need your middle finger so you just have to flip it off away from the neck.

Depending how you use this chord, it can have a very irreverent tone. It’s one of those in-your-face kind of chords for those "somebody done somebody wrong" kinds of songs.

It’s used in songs you may know like Lynyrd Skynyrd's “Freebird” and “Night Bird Flying” by Jimi Hendrix. It’s also in Cee Lo Green’s recent hit “Forget You.”

The Cowboy Junkies original version one of their hits included this F#m7 chord but it was dropped it to give the song a lighter tone. The original name of the song was “Birds Today.” After dropping the F#m7 chord they considered naming the song “Birds Today (Without The F) WTF .” They ended up naming it “No Birds Today.”

Eric said his grandmother, Memaw, was not a big fan of this chord. She asked Eric if it was really necessary for him to use this chord. Out of respect for Memaw, he does not use this chord in front of her, and now only uses it sparingly in concert.

And there you have it, the F#m7.