the transition between chords......

hmmmmm i'm interested in some opinions and answers for these questions as well....i too am currently struggling with chord changes....and my teacher does tell me to try and place the fingers on the bass strings first so that the transition is smoother....but what if the transistion is on and upstroke...hmmm....maybe through practice i will be able to finger chords properly with ease so ....none of this would even matter...so i guess practice is just all it takes...

hmm...For your second question, I find it alot easier from going top to bottom than bottom up.
I think its all up to personal preference.

There are a lot of guitarists who use that 'transition strum'... I've also heard it called the 'mystery chord'. In some situations it'll sound ok, and in others it will sound like sloppy guitar work.

The quickest way to change chords will be to move each of your fingers at the same time. Granted, that's a lot easier said than done... and I still (after 30 years) practice this from time to time. You want your fingering to be efficient, meaning you're moving as little as possible to get from one chord to the next. Moving from C to G, that means your G fingering should be done with the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th fingers - your 2nd and 3rd will move as a 'block' to the 5th and 6th strings, and you'll simultaneously place your 4th finger on the high E string and lift your 1st finger. Other fingerings of the open G won't be as efficient in moving to and from open C - although they may work out fine in other keys, so you'll learn more than one way to finger many chords.

When you're starting to learn chords, any way you get to the correct fingering will be fine. Since the goal is to eventually be able to place all the fingers at once, you might even consider doing it both ways - go from the index down one day, and the ring up the next day... but try every day to slam 'em all into place at the same time.

I'll assume you are both beginners. First of all, there is no one “right way” to do anything. Some ways are more efficient but you can get got at using a “wrong way” because you've practiced it a million times. That's why I can flip from G to C and back quickly. Not because I'm anything other than a guy who has done it way too many times. When I started, I'd play 4 strums of G and not get my fretting fingers to the C until the last two strums of the next measure.

I was disgusted at how bad and slow I was. Now I laugh at it and you guys will too.

Okay, take your fretting hand and form a G chord. Move your fretting hand VERY slowly to form a C chord. Do not strum. Practice moving your fingers back and forth between those two chords without strumming and at a snail's pace. Try to see if (after awhile) you can drop your fingers down at approximately the same time. When you have that now start to play very slowly and switch chords.

I'm not sure which fingers I put down first for either chord. But I would imagine it would be “better” to try to drop the fingers closest to the bass notes (strings closest to your eyes). Why? Generally you end measure with an upstroke so your pick is North of the strings so, if you put down fingers closest to that first, your other fingers will have a fraction of a second to get in place before the pick down stroke gets there.

Now, to answer the first question. I've learned that you have to keep your strumming hand going between chord switches. If your hand doesn't make the next chord right away at least your strumming hand is making some noise and keeping time. It's a concept I could not get at first and would stop strumming until I got the chord fretted.

Don't get discouraged with chord changes. I started playing a little over a year ago and had trouble just fingering an open G, but now it's easy. It's almost like magic how you'll learn to finger chords and transition smoothly. I'm just chiming in with encouragement because I know from recent memory how it feels almost impossible at first, but becomes completely natural.

I want to second what Corbind said - just practice moving between the two chords very slowly. Eventually, it becomes automatic. If you practice moving one or two fingers into place, that will become a habit and you'll never be able to switch as quickly, because you'll still have fingers to get in place after you place the first one. You can get them all in place just as quickly as you can get one. Once you get the correct muscle memory, you'll be amazed at how second nature it becomes.

One thing in your favor is that you haven't got any ingrained bad habits to break. That puts you ahead of some of us, including yours truly, who would like to start over again and do it the right way from the start.

I find it helpful to visualise the chord that I'm changing to. Start strumming the G (slowly at first), but stay with it until you have the image of C firmly in your mind. Keep concentrating on C and only C - then when you feel ready, make the change. Do it slowly and move all fingers at once. As you get better, you'll also get faster and need to concentrate less, before changing.

To improve changing, I run through a routine, using a whole "octave" of chords. Say I'm trying to improve changing to and from C, I'll play one bar of each of A-C-B7-C-D-C-E-C-F-C-G-C (B7 because it's far easier than B, which is generally only played as a closed chord, anyway). If I'm having trouble with one change, I revert to concentrating and visualising.

thanks to everyone.........specially corbind....I don't know why I didn't think of that myself...it is a great idea.....I can even practice the fingering in a room while everyone is watching TV and not disturb anyone!!......all fantastic advice.........

again.....thanks! :D :D

Hey Kev, be sure to come on back and let us know your progress over the next few weeks or months. Once again, just try doing the chord changes without strumming so you can concentrate on one hand and get that down good. It will be nice to see when your hands get used to the chord changes.

One thing I do that seems to have some success is to use what I call an "anchor finger". One of my fingers (usually the index but not always) I will pichk as an anchor, and before I change I will locate the position on the fretboard where I want that finger to land. Then when it is time to change, I form all of my fingers into the shape of the chord before I even place any of them down on the fretboard. I then concentrate on just landing the anchor finger in the proper place, and then the other fingers come down pretty much in the right place, with maybe some minor adjustment in positioning before I apply pressure to those fingers on their respective strings. This helps me to get all the fingers in position at fairly close to the same time.

hehehe wow thanks for the advice......just fretting and not strumming really works....hehehe....now im like addicted to switching chords, it gets fun once you learn a few....i learned a few like D7, A7,Dm,Am,C & G.....chords groups help too if ur starting out learning...cuz the finger shapes are pretty similiar..... thanks for all the advice....

I don't know if you've ever seen that "Piano In a Flash" guy on PBS, but my wife gave me a ticket to one of his local lessons. He basically taught the same technique - take the 3 or 4 chords to a song and just move between them back and forth until you've got the muscle memory down. Then go to work on the song. It works for guitar, too.

Kev, I thought I'd like to embarrass myself and tell you something that will make you feel a bit better. I've played or practiced guitar most every day for the past 2 years and 5 months. You'd figure I have most everything down as far as being a rhythm player, right? I'm mean, I'm a chord guy. I don't do leads and just hang in the background strumming to songs.

But I still pretty much suck at playing an open D minor chord. Hmmm. Let's see. The average guitar player who has played for maybe 3 months would smoke me at that and I'd run off in shame. I can do anything else, but that one chord is my “Achilles Heel.” So I have to compensate for that by playing the barred Dm at the 5th fret because I play that one well. Yea, I can play the open Dm well if it has the right chord before it (like Am or F).

Still, doesn't that make you feel better that people have quirks and it is a never-ending quest to be able to play well? I hope so!

Hi Kev and welcome.

This site has been an inspiration to me and it will be to you too, return regularly and use the beginners lessons, these will help you enourmously in my experience.

Anyway just to put my two pennies worth in (or for you guys in USA, 2 cents worth...) the biggest tip I got for changing chords, and beleive it or not it totally changed my playing for the better, was to STOP THINKING too much. All the time you are thinking how to do this, you are detracting from doing it.

The tip was to think "plonk".....just plonk your fingers down quickly where they need to go. To start with you may mess up a bit, but the good thing about plonking is that you will almost certainly hit at least 2 strings right, this will keep the music flowing and no one will notice, you can then quickly adjust anything that's slightly off.

This sounds very basic advice, but it worked for me, just chill into it, and plonk your fingers down and it will be ok, trust me. I taught this to a mate of mine who was really struggling from G to C, and within 2 hours he could do it and wondered why he had ever struggled.

Try it, it might just work for you mate.

Good luck!!!