related post: The Secret to Mastering Barre Chords on Guitar
Open Chords
Learning basic open chords, those that contain some fretted notes and some open strings, is a fun and important early step in every guitar player’s journey. The ring of an open chord is magical, and few instruments create a similar experience. But along with this exciting new experience come inevitable frustrations. The two biggest issues are the unintentional muting of strings, and mastering the correct timing of chord changes.
Play Each Note
When learning chords, it’s important to make sure you are playing them correctly. With several notes being played at the same time, it’s easy for one or two notes to be muted and for you to not even notice. This is because the clear sounding notes are “masking” the muted notes. So apply my “string test”: simply finger the chord, and starting on its lowest string play each string one at a time. Listen for a full, sustained tone that is not muffled or muted in any way.
If instead you hear something funky going on with a note, stop and make the necessary adjustments before going on to the next string. Usually an adjustment involves moving a finger out of the way of a string that it is muting. Another helpful change may be slightly rotating your wrist to ensure that your fingertips are approaching the fretboard from a nearly perpendicular angle. With enough practice, these tiny adjustments will become automatic.
Visualize Changes
To practice a change between two chords, focus on moving your fingers as efficiently as possible as you move from one chord to the next. Keep common fingers in place, keep moving fingers as close to the fretboard as possible, and move each finger directly to its destination. The shortest distance between two points is a straight line so be sure each finger moves in a straight line from its position in one chord to its destination in the next.
To achieve all of this, after you’ve learned to play individual chords, experiment with how to move from one chord to the next. Work with one finger at a time.Once you’ve discovered how you want each of your fingers to move, visualize them moving in these ways, simultaneously, from one chord to the next. Then proceed very slowly to try to make these exact movements. With patience and perseverance, you;ll begin to to see your fingers obey your wishes.
Time It
Timing is a critical factor when learning to change chords. In fact it’s the most crucial element when playing music. If you are playing rhythm guitar at a gig and you muff one of the chords, odds are no one will notice. But if you get the timing wrong on a chord change and come in a beat late, it’s a jarring experience for everyone listening
To master the timing of chord changes, choose a fun tune that you can sing along with that involves only 3 or 4 chords. To begin, play 4 quarter notes for each measure of each of the first four chords in the verse.When you get to the 4th and final quarter note strum of each chord, instead of playing it, remain silent and use that time to switch to the next chord. Then, come in on the next chord on the first beat of the next measure.
Repeat
Repeat for each chord change until you get into a rhythm of picking up your fingers and moving to the next chord. It’s important to practice slowly at first with a metronome, or a drum machine, or a slowed down recording of the song (use apps such as Capo or The Amazing Slowdowner for this). With practice, the time you will need to change chords and still land on the correct beat will get shorter and shorter.
The ability to play any combination of chords effortlessly and at any speed is a highly sought-after skill. And it’s totally attainable, with perseverance and the correct practice. You can do it!
related post: The Secret to Mastering Barre Chords on Guitar
© 2013 Brenna Method
