Hi all,
Anybody fancy discussing the mysterious art of chord changing?
No matter how good you are (and I'm not that good) there's pretty much always another, even harder and weirder chord change ahead that you haven't mastered yet.
So how do you go about learning/practicing them?
(This has been prompted by blowing a G to B7 change several times in a row today, deciding to "go back to basics", and then having to try and recall what that means – if anything… :? )
Here's a few tips that I seem to remember from various books and so on. Anybody want to comment, support, add, or debunk them?
2. Accuracy rules. Concentrate on accuracy not speed. Start V E R Y S L O W and gradually speed up. When you start to lose accuracy go back to slow again. Yes. Slow down Really. (I'm always a tad too impatient... :wink: )
3. Anchors. Look for ‘pivot points' – in other words fingers that can stay on the string and act as anchors while you swing the others around. This can include ones that stay on the same string but slide up or down a fret.
4. Patterns. If there's no anchors then look for patterns. In that G to B7 change, my first two fingers stay in exactly the same pattern, they just move across. The third finger changes orientation, and the pinkie makes a new appearance.
5. Fingerings. If it's still proving to be a stumbling block – see if one or other of the chords can be fingered differently. Many chords can be fingered more than one way. Some patterns make certain changes much easier.
6. Order. If you're having trouble landing all the fingers at once then concentrate on landing whichever notes you need first. With a straight downward strum you can usually land the fingers on the treble strings a fraction later, so long as the bass ones are firm first.
7. Necessity. Check to see if you actually need all the notes to ring. In many cases all the essential notes will be on three or four adjacent strings. As long as you get those right (and only strike those strings) you can often get away with getting the rest sorted out in time for the second bar (if at all… 8) )
All well and good. But slow practice repetitions are still BORING. I'm just not good at doing hours of drills until my fingers learn their lessons.
So I turn every drill into a bit of music. I keep it slow, but I experiment with different rhythms, different numbers of bars between changes, upstrokes, downstrokes, different picking patterns, testing out how different small sections of strings sound, and so on. Anything to avoid the boredom of just going X, chunk... Y chunk... X, chunk... Y, chunk… X, chunk… until my eyeballs roll back in my head... :roll:
What do you reckon? Right? Wrong? Something to add?
Cheers,
Chris
https://www.guitarnoise.com/lessons/improving-your-chord-changes/
This is what helped me.
I started with nothing - and I've still got most of it left.
Did you know that the word "gullible" is not in any dictionary?
Greybeard's Pages
My Articles & Reviews on GN
I just play the song until it is easy. I did the whole ' slowly repeatedly play the change four billion times' which I still believe is the correct way but it's just too boring. Way too boring. What does help for me is use that chord and add one or two others and turn them into a slow song. With some basic fingerpicking it's easy to spice two slow chord changes up to something nice. You're still playing those chords in a slow way but it'll sound like real music instead of a super-slow version of music.
What does help for me is use that chord and add one or two others and turn them into a slow song. With some basic fingerpicking it's easy to spice two slow chord changes up to something nice. You're still playing those chords in a slow way but it'll sound like real music instead of a super-slow version of music.
Good one! :D Adding another chord or two sounds like an entertaining way to keep it interesting. I find that sometimes happens anyway - I keep adding some decoration - any decoration - just to stop it getting dull. Because when it gets dull I stop.
Like you, the challenge for me is to find ways to spice it up so that I can coax myself into doing the dreaded 'practice' without it seeming like a chore. Fortunately, with most practice it usually seems possible to rock it up a bit and still keep the necessary work happening. :wink:
Every practice session is like a little mini song-writing exercise for me, so we may work in similar ways I think. Trouble is I never remember from one day to the next, all those neat little riffs and rhythms that popped up along the way. Must turn the recorder on more often... :)
https://www.guitarnoise.com/lessons/improving-your-chord-changes/
This is what helped me.
Thanks Graham. I liked the visualisation idea. I gather that athletes use the technique quite a bit these days.
I'm now at the stage when I look at the music not the guitar, so a really clear mental image of the shape would be very handy. I'll work on that. :)
Are you still in Germany?
Cheers,
Chris
From the way you describe the G to B7 change, I'm presuming you're using barre chords.....G at the 3rd fret and Bm at the 2nd......you could try moving the G chord up four frets, taking your pinky off along the way.....
E A D G B E
3 5 5 4 3 3 for the G chord,
7 9 7 8 7 7 for the B7.....
of course, it's always a good idea to plan ahead - if your next chord is Em, you can play that at the same fret as the B7 using an Am chord shape.....
:D :D :D
Vic
"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)
Are you still in Germany?
Chris
Yup - for my sins.
I started with nothing - and I've still got most of it left.
Did you know that the word "gullible" is not in any dictionary?
Greybeard's Pages
My Articles & Reviews on GN
From the way you describe the G to B7 change, I'm presuming you're using barre chords.....G at the 3rd fret and Bm at the 2nd......you could try moving the G chord up four frets, taking your pinky off along the way.....
E A D G B E
3 5 5 4 3 3 for the G chord,
7 9 7 8 7 7 for the B7.....
of course, it's always a good idea to plan ahead - if your next chord is Em, you can play that at the same fret as the B7 using an Am chord shape.....
:D :D :D
Vic
I used to get grief from the open versions, 320033 and x21202. They don't look too bad on paper, but there was just something about them that threw me :roll:
Just in case anyone thinks I'll be adding something useful, I don't actually remember how I got through that particular hurdle... sheer bloody-mindedness I suspect :wink:
Hehe, same here. I used Little Brother's lesson (in the outta-site lesson forum) on ' Death don't have no mercy' to learn it.
From the way you describe the G to B7 change, I'm presuming you're using barre chords.....G at the 3rd fret and Bm at the 2nd......you could try moving the G chord up four frets, taking your pinky off along the way.....
E A D G B E
3 5 5 4 3 3 for the G chord,
7 9 7 8 7 7 for the B7.....
Vic
Thanks Vic, I'll try that way. :) I need some bar chord practice.
I guess I was sloppy with my explanation, I should have said that fingers 1 and 2 move "up and across" . I'm doing just an open position change - from 320003 to x21202.
But doing the same change in a completely different way is a great way to mix things up and keep it interesting, while doing the repeats. And I'll be learning several things at once. Excellent. Thanks. :D
Cheers,
Chris
Seems to me like you have all the basic steps. I teach my students to 'land' chords (getting all their fingers down at the same time) because that minimizes motion - and the less motion, the faster you can go. Keep your fingers close to the frets, and keep your 'extra' fingers close too - too many new guitarists get the unused fingers way up in the air... makes you think they're about to sip tea the way those pinkies stick out :)
There's one exception to being able to land a chord before you use it in progressions, and that's in the very advanced stuff. Some of the voicings you'll find in books like Chord Chemistry I still can't 'land', even after 30 years of trying... there's something about the 3-fret stretch between the 2nd and 3rd fingers that gets me every time.
But that doesn't mean I abandon these chords - some are really GREAT voicings! What I do is figure out how I'll move into it - I can often find a voicing that will work as an 'introduction' chord that allows me to use anchor/pivot fingers and minimize the tricky stuff. I'll also adjust the guitar position (neck angle very steep) to help with the physical stresses of those monsters.
Guitar teacher offering lessons in Plainfield IL
Thanks NoteBoat. :)
3 fret stretches between the 2nd and third finger, eh? :shock: I'd be pleased to manage a one fret stretch between those two - without using someone else's finger as well....
Another question.
Speeding Up
Anybody have any comments about the rate at which you speed up?
I've read quite a few comments, from various fields, that suggest that the brain needs to have reasonable spaces between bouts of learning, so that it can absorb what you've been trying to pattern into it.
It's been suggested that beyond a certain point, whether you're practicing guitar or nutting out a problem, you won't make further progress and will actually start to go backwards.
Naturally, I do ten changes, or whatever - think I've 'paid my dues' - and expect to speed up. Not always as patient as I should be... :oops: But is it better to stick to one speed today, sleep on it, and then speed up. Or at least stop, have a rest and try to pick the pace up later in the day, or what?
Anybody got any thoughts or experiences on the most effective way to pace what you do? Has anybody discovered a maximum amount of time (or best amount) that should be spent on a single exercise, or speed, before you put it down and move onto to something else?
Cheers,
Chris
Well... you need to be fast enough to handle what you want to do :)
There are two approaches to metronome work: the first (the one I use) is to advance the tempo until it's uncomfortable, but you don't make mistakes... and practice there. Once it's comfortable, move it up a notch.
The other point of view is that you warm up at a very comfortable tempo, and then you really push it - go 2-3 notches over what you can possibly do. But just do that oncep - then back off a couple of notches. That will put you at, or just above, your current best tempo. But after trying to keep up with the faster pace, it'll seem easier.
I know decent players who've used each approach to speed.
Oh, and one more thing I do with metronome work: I'm not done until it's perfect. If I start at 192, go up to 200, then to 208 (where I fail), I'll drop back to 200. If it's not perfect, I drop back again.... and again... and again if need be. But the last time I play something during a session, it's perfect, even if it's slower than when I started.
Somehow I think that's important - don't let yourself off the hook if you haven't done it right that last time.
Guitar teacher offering lessons in Plainfield IL
Chris I know personally I have gotten aggrivated and just put the guitar down completely for a day or two. When I come back, my mind is clear again and I can usually play better. Or sometimes I just stop the exercise and jam out for a little while and then come back to it. It helps me anyway...
~Mike the Redneck Rocker.
"The only two things in life that make it worth living are guitars that tune good and firm feeling women" - Waylon
Thanks everybody, for all the suggestions and encouragement.
With a bit of luck it might have been a useful read for some other players too.
All I have to do now is stop writing about playing guitar, and reading about playing playing guitar and get on with just playing guitar.... :D
Actually, we got new neighbours across the road this morning and their removals truck managed to rip down our phone line, so I was forced to leave the computer alone and do some work! :shock: Just got the phone back on....
I tried everybody's suggestions out and it was all helpful stuff. So thanks again for taking the time to post. 8)
Cheers,
Chris
too many new guitarists get the unused fingers way up in the air... makes you think they're about to sip tea the way those pinkies stick out :)
It ain't just new guitarists that do that :oops:
