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

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT...REMEMBER THAT.. I found out that it is quite hard to change chords at first but after months of practising till the callusus of my fingers turns red n swallows,changing chords is just a simple thing to do even if I play my guitar blindfolded without even looking at the fretboard......

correct practice makes perfect

I do this too, less finger movement coz i'm lazy lol. and I prefer G5, sounds nicer somehow. These chords with work well together with Em and D coz you keep the ring finger as a pedal note. I'll use the regular C if it's the root key however, otherwise it'll sound odd. Even with a D chord progression you can also keep the ring finger as a pedal note when you change to A(use Asus here) and G.
Stuff like these are useful if you are playing in a church worship band, allowing you to concentrate less on your playing.

stefanong: are you sure there's such a thing as G5? It's a G whether or not you add the ring finger in. I don't think adding a 5th would make it a G5 since 5 is in the 1-3-5 triad.

True actually. but... i see many people using the term G5, whack oni lah haha, just use it to describe adding another 5th.

oh...ok...

i just never seen a 5 chord in my life. At least not in the books i have. Is it official?

My bro's chord book shows the G without the additional ring finger as well. I've never seen a chord table calling it a G5 however coz the most common one is without the additional ring finger. It's probably those people who write the chords for the songs that termed it a 5.
EDIT: http://www.8notes.com/guitar_chord_chart/G.asp < got the so called G5 but it's just called a G.

This post has been edited by MetalZone: Oct 11 2006, 11:36 PM

i din read the posts above, but isnt G5 another term for a G power chord?

yea G5, root5 whatever is just another term for power chord.
just the root and 5th note only.

then wads the fuss about?

yea dunno wat fuss.
only fuss is with the 'giant hamster in the sky'

terminology

if you mean keyboard, there is no problem. Juz press the accompany button and it will helps you to play.

But if it is piano, you must know the scales - arpigeos and more (can refer to ABRSM book). Later try to play some easy songs and try. But before that, you must refer to the music score to gain basics.

Keep your fingers light and don't tense up your entire forearm or fingers while holding the chord. It's a bad habit to have whether you're playing chords or running scales as it tenses up the muscles, slowing down overall movement.

Practice this right from the start and observe the amt of pressure you're applying. Was having this problem without realising it for the first 3 yrs of learning. Only when my teacher started getting me to play faster progressions and pieces did I realise that I was having this problem. All in all, relax when you're playing!

This post has been edited by changhao: Dec 12 2006, 07:27 AM

start practising frm slow to fast... use a metronome to keep ur tempo... no use just practising.... when ur timing is not accurate.
practise n get it correct everytime... soon, it will become second nature to u...
all the best.
cheers.

I ithink this web maybe can help with finger technique

http://www.alltabs.com/set_one.php#one

Seriously its all about feeling.
After practicing 4-5 hours.
even u close ur eyes u can noe where it is..
all abt feeling : )

from G to C:

G kod luar (dunno its english name )
some ppl play it with 1st finger, mid and 3rd

but im using mid finger, 3rd and pinky - its take less time to change to C chord, also u can change to G7 easily..

I don't know why, but i got chord switching pretty quick when i first started learning. Only problem i had was with barre chords. Took me around 3 months to get them down whereas the normal chords switching took only 1 month.

Just practice switching each chord slowly, making sure your transition is smooth and articulate. Repeat it at a slow speed for a few times. Then start switching gradually faster. And don't have an order that you switch chords with. Try doing a G-E the first time, then change it randomly to a G-F or something. That makes you more comfortable switching from ANY chord to ANY other. Just keep at it and gradually build speed. If its messy, slow down again and perfect it. You'll nail it within a few weeks. Thats what i did when i first started out. Hope that helps.

my chords are horrible.. except power chords

Yeah, I recall pressing ALT+F4 should work wonders

Hm,changing chord at a short time and accurate?Use cocaine...

This post has been edited by handofblood: Aug 2 2007, 09:28 PM

spider riff FTW!!!!!

if you use cocaine then you'll miss more xD

Yeah, the main thing PRACTISE.

But for me, I chose a song consisting of the chords i've learnt. A song that I know and like. Physchologically, it kinda helps u to improve btter. I think. well, thats for me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgY8hFf8cUo

that helps,most important thing is just practise and ull get the hang of it sooner or later
this guy has other good guitar vids that you can watch

This post has been edited by limjix: Aug 20 2007, 06:01 PM