Transitioning between chords

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Permalink Reply by Tom Boyles on July 28, 2010 at 11:50am

All I can tell you is practice and it will come along eventually.

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Permalink Reply by Kevin Sumansky on July 28, 2010 at 2:30pm

Yeah, that's what I figured. "Nothing worth doing is easy"? Just gets old practicing and it not sounding like anything.

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Permalink Reply by Nebojsa Bojer on July 28, 2010 at 8:57pm

Start slowly. Make sure you can change chords at a slow pace and gradually increase the tempo.

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Permalink Reply by Roy Roe on July 29, 2010 at 6:03am

I'm in the same position as a Newbie. After watching Tom Emmanuel on utube and listening to his advice it appears repetition is the key. His advice is to practice your piece a million times or until you can play it while watching television and not make a mistake. That's coming from one of the best guitarists in the world. You have to perfect your motor skills before you can put any feeling into the song. It has to be automatic - so practice is the key. He also suggests that you do your practicing away from your family and friends or you will drive them crazy. Hope this helps.

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Permalink Reply by Jim Scanlan on July 29, 2010 at 1:31pm

Hi Kevin..as a guitar instructor I can appreciate your predicament...all my students go through it..Chord changing is a motor skill, eye/hand coordination, what's my right hand doing kinda thing. I have my students practice "Chord jumping"...no right hand involved..total concentration on left hand (or right hand if you're a lefty). take a simple progression like D - A - E - A-D
move between those chords moving the fingers in unison, so that they all make contact with the chord at the same time. you can do this exercise with all the chords you know...but do the practice regimine with a metronome or tapping foot so that you move the chords with a beat ..D,2.3.4.A,2,3,4,E,2,3,4 and so on. after doing the exercise 4 or 5 times without strumming..start again, this time strumming your guitar...using down strokes for the " beat" up strokes for the "and".."muscle memory kicks in after a few hours of practice and you should be able to do the exercise with your eyes closed and make a minimum of mistakes. I hope this helps.
JIm

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Permalink Reply by Kevin Sumansky on July 30, 2010 at 7:43am

sounds good...I'll give it a whirl...thanks

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Permalink Reply by Kevin Sipes on September 4, 2010 at 4:03am

I am a beginner myself, and have been playing for just over two years. What I have learned so far is that you can smooth out your chord transitions by a few methods. Of course, as everyone mentioned, practice will get you there in time, but there are other things to consider as well. For example, you will not necessarily use the same fingering method for the same chord in every song. Just because you play the chord of G one way in one song does not mean it should always be played that way. You will find lots of material online for the various ways to play common chords like C, G, and A, so get creative with them. If a song calls for an A, try using a method for the A chord that you have never used before. It might surprise you.

You will want to look closely at how the particular song goes from one chord to another, and then figure out the fingering technique that will work best for that chord so that it will transition smoothly to the next one. The main thing to remember is that you want to move the least amount of fingers as possible from one chord to the next. Look for an opportunity to use a finger as a pivot that will stay from one chord to the next.

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Permalink Reply by Michael Sassa on November 17, 2010 at 12:13pm

Kevin,
I am now fifty yrs old and learned at 17 but went many years without much playing at all. I got serious with playing about 6 yrs ago and took a refresher group lesson for 4 Saturdays. The instructor basically had us practice Em/D/G/C and went over various strumming patterns etc. He told me one thing that will always stick. " Never stop moving your strumming hand even when you are struggling with chord changes " Bacically your mistakes will be less noticable, but more importantly you will maintain your rhythm. If you continue this method, I felt that it assisted with making the process of smooth transition come along more quickly. If you stop your strumming hand then you basically are shutting the thing down and have to start over. Keep this in mind and see how your outcome improves. It sounds like such obvious advice, but I was guilty of stopping and starting before those classes and the level of frustration was much higher. Good Luck, keep pushin' on, it's worth the work in the end. Michael

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Permalink Reply by Bill Tong on January 2, 2011 at 5:58pm

One of the best playing tips I've ever learned from a guitarist friend (who has over 50 years of performing experience behind him) is to play the A chord with just one finger; and it doesn't have to be the same finger, either.  After putting that playing tip to practice years ago, I can play the A chord with my middle finger, index finger, or ring finger.  It's the only way to develop enough fret hand speed to change chords rapidly.

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Permalink Reply by Brian Fisch on February 4, 2011 at 9:02am

First post for me  Woohoo!   :)

I've  been taking lessons for about 1 1/2 years so far, so I'm still very much a newbie and am still fighting through this as well. 

 

One of the things I've be taught is to really know the chords, understand where your fingers are and where they need to be for the next chord.  If one finger is in the same position for the next chord, use it as your anchor and let the rest of your fingers move to "meet the anchor" where it already is.  Or even if it's only a one string or one fret difference in finger position.  My instruction has drilled into me to find these anchor finger positions when changing the chords and it speeds everything else up. 

 

This doesn't work for every chord transition, but it's helped me speed up my changes from Eminor to C for example.  Or my D to an A or vice versa. 

 

Nothing has helped my C to G transition except practice.   And that's the biggest key I'm finding.  When I'm practicing a lot, my transitions are faster and easier.  When I go a week without touching the guitar it's like I've regressed 6 months in my skills. 

 

And take Jim Scanlan's advice about chord jumping.  My instructor gave me the same direction, to practice my chord changes without strumming.  You can do it while watching "How I Met Your Mother" without annoying anyone else in the room.  I've done this through an entire "chick flick" that I didn't really want to watch, but couldn't talk my way out of the room.  I even had a metronome running through an earbud to help me.  2 hours, I didn't strum once.   And suddenly when the movie was over and I grabbed my pick, my C to G transition was much better than before.  My instructor speaks a lot about muscle memory when it comes to finding the chords and making the transitions quickly.  This chord jumping seems to be one of the best things I've done when it comes to this.

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Permalink Reply by Newbie Dean on February 6, 2011 at 9:10am

One little tidbit a guy gave me a while back is to:  stop thinking about the chord you're already playing...........think about the NEXT one.  Keep It Fun, Dean

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