There are two areas that need to be worked on when you learn barre chords on the acoustic guitar. First, there is the strength in your left hand. If you have a hard time exerting the necessary pressure to make a barre chord like the F Major at the first fret, it means you are going to need fairly frequent practice in order to get your muscles up to scratch. It’s no big deal, if you feel that you need to work directly on building up strength, then get some kind of exercise tool. You can buy various gizmos for improving grip and dexterity but I really think you are better off just practicing your barre chords.

The other area you need to give some attention to is forming the correct habits in your muscles so that your hands are playing the chords correctly and with the least amount of tension. This is often referred to as muscle memory. The basic idea is that every time you make a movement, your brain records it, and as you practice this movement, your body becomes more ready to set the necessary patterns of tension and relaxation into motion without your mind even thinking about it. This is how we learn all the muscular tasks we need to walk, type, swim, drive a car or play a guitar.

When you first pick up your guitar, play some barre chords until it gets to be really uncomfortable. Keep going till it hurts. Then, take a rest by playing some open chords. Let your hand rest for a bit, and then do more barre chords. Remember you can get some variety in your barre chord practice by changing between the basic chord shapes.

If you are a raw beginner on acoustic guitar at the moment, you should start on your barre chords now. You will not be actually using them at this stage in your playing but if you start working on developing the strength and muscular habits you need, you won’t need to make a big effort later.