IMPROVING CHORD CHANGES

Smooth chord changes are a little difficult to execute for most beginning guitar players. If you are struggling in this area, you'll be glad to know there are some things you can do to make this a little easier.

One of the most important aspects of playing guitar is the process of developing muscle memory in your fingers. This simply means that you want to train your fingers to memorize certain movements. You can do this by practicing specific exercises in order to reach an end result, such as improving your ability to make smooth chord changes.

I have my students use an exercise that I like to call "chord bouncing." That's my own phrase, so I doubt if you've ever heard it before. You'll get a better grasp of the concept by simply imagining a bouncing ball. Here's what you do:

Strum a C Major chord

Now lift all your fingers up while still holding the shape of the chord.

Strum the open strings while still holding the C chord shape and hovering slightly above the neck.

Set your fingers back down on the strings and strum the C chord again, then repeat the process.

Your goal is to place your fingers back down exactly where they need to be. Try to set all your fingers down on the strings at the same time. This may take some practice, but keep trying.

At first your fingers will want to relax when you take them off the strings. But you must train them to hold the chord shape off the neck. Think "air" guitar.

Practice strumming this exercise with a count: one (fingers down) two (fingers up) three (fingers down) four (fingers up).

Perhaps it's more like push-ups than a bouncing ball!

This is a great exercise for training your fingers how to memorize a chord shape, so use it whenever you're learning a new chord.

Now, let's use this same type of exercise to get smooth chord changes using a 4/4 count...

• Strum C three times. On the fourth beat strum an open chord.
• Strum F three times. On the fourth beat strum an open chord.
• Strum G three times. On the fourth beat strum an open chord.

Putting it all together: C / / Open F / / Open G7 / / Open C / / /

The goal here is to try and use the open strum to get to the next chord in time to strum on the first beat.

Continue practicing this exercise until you can change smoothly from one chord to the next without losing the shape of the chord or missing a beat. Start slowly and gradually increase speed.

Learn more about chords - dominant, majors, minors, and ninths... Plus how to create a set of strumming patterns, licks, and phrases to create your very own song by clicking here.

Until next time...

Keep practicing!

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