Cheers
Julian
Getting those fingers to work properly
Hi all, any tips to getting the fingers to work properly. I am starting on the easier chords at the moment and it is hard to get it to happen correctly. I suppose keep at it and it will come. Sore fingers I can deal with, but getting everything to work correctly, thats the hard part.
Cheers
Julian
Cheers
Julian
# 1
Hi Julian, it is just about practice and repetition. As Christopher always advocates, make sure you have the mechanics down pat before you try to make music. I've actually had people teach where they say "just keep the rhythm, keep going, no matter how many mistakes you make". This is terrible advice, because if you just try to "force" through sloppy chords, the chords won't magically get better later on. Right now, you're developing muscle memory. Your brain is learning the right position for your fingers, but its all new, and as a result, your fingers don't really "know" where to go yet, and will seem to have a mind of their own, but it will rapidly improve, trust me.
Here's what I do to learn new chord shapes relatively quickly:
I first get my fingers in the right position, one at a time, without even playing any notes. Once I feel I've got my fingers fretting properly in the right places, I strum the chord, very slowly, listening to each individual note. If a note buzzes, doesn't sound right, or doesn't sound at all, I reposition my fingers as necessary to get the note to play correctly, then strum through all the strings again, slowly. I repeat this process until I can remove my hand from the fretboard, replace it, and play through the chord cleanly, every time, feeling comfortable and confident that I'll play the chord correctly. Its only then that I move on to making music with that chord.
If I have two or more chords where the transition from one chord to another is tripping me up, I basically do the same thing. Fret the chord, strum through very slowly, then switch to the other chord, and strum through it slowly. The key here is that I don't worry about timing at all. I don't strum through the chord I've changed to until I feel I've got it right. Eventually, I step it up to make the change in tempo to a slow beat, and then finally work it up to the tempo I want it to be.
Its been my experience that the first part, learning a new chord and/or a new chord change takes the longest time. Once I've got it down cleanly, even if I can only make changes by pausing for a long time, the next part, getting faster, doesn't take that long at all. Its not unusual for me to have to "re-practice" a chord like a B7 sometimes, if I haven't used it in a while, just to clean it up a little.
Because this is physical learning, take lots of breaks. You'll likely progress faster if you do your practices in short stints, like 15 minutes, then take a break and then come back to it, than spending say, a solid 2 hours trying to master a chord.
Hope this helps!
Good Luck!
Here's what I do to learn new chord shapes relatively quickly:
I first get my fingers in the right position, one at a time, without even playing any notes. Once I feel I've got my fingers fretting properly in the right places, I strum the chord, very slowly, listening to each individual note. If a note buzzes, doesn't sound right, or doesn't sound at all, I reposition my fingers as necessary to get the note to play correctly, then strum through all the strings again, slowly. I repeat this process until I can remove my hand from the fretboard, replace it, and play through the chord cleanly, every time, feeling comfortable and confident that I'll play the chord correctly. Its only then that I move on to making music with that chord.
If I have two or more chords where the transition from one chord to another is tripping me up, I basically do the same thing. Fret the chord, strum through very slowly, then switch to the other chord, and strum through it slowly. The key here is that I don't worry about timing at all. I don't strum through the chord I've changed to until I feel I've got it right. Eventually, I step it up to make the change in tempo to a slow beat, and then finally work it up to the tempo I want it to be.
Its been my experience that the first part, learning a new chord and/or a new chord change takes the longest time. Once I've got it down cleanly, even if I can only make changes by pausing for a long time, the next part, getting faster, doesn't take that long at all. Its not unusual for me to have to "re-practice" a chord like a B7 sometimes, if I haven't used it in a while, just to clean it up a little.
Because this is physical learning, take lots of breaks. You'll likely progress faster if you do your practices in short stints, like 15 minutes, then take a break and then come back to it, than spending say, a solid 2 hours trying to master a chord.
Hope this helps!
Good Luck!
# 2
Thanks alot. this advise has really helped. I really appreciate it. I know it it a slow process at first, but then it speeds up. I trust what you are telling me and will keep at it, no matter how long it takes. Its what I want to learn to do. Once again thanks for the great advice.
Cheers
Julian
Cheers
Julian
# 3
Hi Julian,
I posted these links on my Forum for you, but I'll also put them here in case other folks might also be interested.
These are all tutorials aimed at helping your fingers get used to the Big Job of learning guitar!
”SPIDER LEGS” WARM-UP EXERCISES TUTORIAL: http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=621
ACOUSTIC CORE CONCEPTS: HOW TO MAKE FASTER CHORD CHANGES
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=463
ACOUSTIC CORE CONCEPTS: HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR TONE
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=474
I posted these links on my Forum for you, but I'll also put them here in case other folks might also be interested.
These are all tutorials aimed at helping your fingers get used to the Big Job of learning guitar!
”SPIDER LEGS” WARM-UP EXERCISES TUTORIAL: http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=621
ACOUSTIC CORE CONCEPTS: HOW TO MAKE FASTER CHORD CHANGES
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=463
ACOUSTIC CORE CONCEPTS: HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR TONE
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=474
Lisa McCormick, GT Instructor
Acoustic, Folk, Pop, Blues
Full Catalog of Lisa's Guitar Tricks Tutorials
Find Lisa on Facebook!
Acoustic, Folk, Pop, Blues
Full Catalog of Lisa's Guitar Tricks Tutorials
Find Lisa on Facebook!
# 4
Originally Posted by: Julianald1968Hi all, any tips to getting the fingers to work properly. I am starting on the easier chords at the moment and it is hard to get it to happen correctly. I suppose keep at it and it will come. Sore fingers I can deal with, but getting everything to work correctly, thats the hard part.
It comes though. So I suppose this is a 'stick with it' kind of post ;)
You're traing both your muscles and muscle memory in your and and arm(s). It is something to learning to do something and do so with both hands in sync.
Stick with it and you'll be happy you did...and do the things in Lisa's post.
# 5