Say you know 3 chords, G,C,D majors.

How long did it take for you to learn how to switch between them fast and accurately ?

How do you practise?

Any tips to speed up ? I can hold the chords clearly individually but speeding up the switch while also maintaining accuracy, still not so smooth.

practice slowly, then after awhile muscle memory etc will take effect and you can do it faster.

practise makes perfect. practise makes your brain memorize the rhytm. just practise,practise and practise.try to switch the chord random means maybe g to c,then dmaj to c.try enjoy it k.

To be honest, I often cheat and use shortcuts.

practice and more practice...try doing it in different speed...

Yea I did. These 2 days alone I've shown marked improvements switching between just G and C. Still not fast enough for the song but faster than last week !

what's important in building up ur speed (in my opinion and the way i did it) was to start off slowly and make sure the notes u hit are clean...cuz no point playing something fast but not clear...

then u slowly proceed from there, slowly building speed...

Yea,its very important to play clean than fast.There's alot of guitarists(including myself) made mistakes during their process of learning and it takes time to really kill of the bad habits.Don't take shortcuts,perfection takes time.Speed is something you will develop over time but not clean playing.

Don't worry. It took me quite a while to master chord changing. Like everyone said here, practise practise practise. Soon you'll commit to memory.

I don't have a problem switching chords (IF the chords were played on the keyboard)

learning new chords and practising switching smoothly was the biggest frustration in my first few months of guitar playing. And when i mastered that, learning to curl my fingers and play one finger per fret was was the next frustration for the next few months. After that was learning to hold my pick properly, which i still can't up to today. That's one of the reasons why i switched to bass. Which brings a whole bunch of frustration again.

But the thing i found out is, if you have interest, you learn 10 times faster and you will be 10 times more patient and 10 times more disciplined. So you're learning and practising how to be patient and disciplined all at the same time. Which is cool.

So irrelevance aside, i think chord changing is something very basic and cannot really be mastered. In a sense that if you are switching between these complex chords like those maj dim sus add blablabla chords (can't think of any examples, it's 6 am now ). But i guess nobody really needs to switch between such complex chords anyway. But just bear in mind, that it is a continuous learning process. For me anyway.... Oh and when practising pluck the strings separately while holding down the chord. Each string should give a clear buzz free tone. Try not to squeeze the neck too hard until your finger tips all become white. Accuracy is often neglected and replaced by brute strength. Which works most of the time, but....well it's a bad habit i would say. Have fun!

*psst* ur post is posted at 1240pm,not 6am....unless ure in other countries...

well, so far all good advice given. here's quite an obvious one, but still i notice alot of young players still do it. dont lift ur fingers too high off the fretboard when changing chords.

Oh dear I am guilty of cheating meself. Normally substituting G and C for G5 and C2....cos I'm lazy... there I said it.

lol.. i'm still doing that. then there's the bit where your thumb(fretting hand) should be pressing against the back of the neck. but i don't see how i can fret chords properly without applying pressure with my thumb.

well, not necessary need to apply too much pressure (for my case)...just get a firm grip, get comfy, and you're set to go...

well, what echobrainproject had said it just the thing i never do...that why i'm a bit slow when it comes to chord changing...

get your thumb postion right, stretch your fingers alittle..once you master holding on chords and simple chord progression, everything gets easier from there..at least until you decide to play solos

yeah i'm in europe now.

And regarding the pressing hard thing, it is not necessarily 100% a must to play without gripping hard (in music technique i believe nothing is 100% must or 100% correct). For me, i'd consider it a bad habit and rather not do it.

What i do is i practice fretting sometimes without my thumb just to see how much i rely on it. I sort use my right elbow to press and grip the guitar between my elbow and my body to hold it firm in place. Of course i don't play like that, it's just a little practice routine which i consider good in case i break my left thumb in an accident or something. It helps take pressure of my left thumb and that thumb muscle (dont know what it's called). This increases stamina of the left hand and i can play longer in gigs without having to struggle. In fact as a bassist i have problems with my right hand stamina now.

Some pro musicians take this thumb thing pretty seriously while others dismiss it as waste of time. I mean after all the thumb is there, so use it. I would say, give it a try and see for yourself if it's useful.

practice till you don't have to recall how to press those chords. When it's natural for you to press, it'll be fast. practice makes perfect

practise cleans and clear is best

after u get that slowly improve ur speed