Practice tips plz.

Hi everyone,

I am new to your site and have a small question for you. I have been holding a guitar for 1 week now and i still am having a heck of a time switching chords. Does anyone have any tips on things I can do during my practice sessions or an order that i should be focusing on to assist with my fingers learning where to go?

Ty for your time.
Dragnum

Hey & welcome to GT!

Originally Posted by: DragnumI am new to your site and have a small question for you. I have been holding a guitar for 1 week now and i still am having a heck of a time switching chords.

Start at GF1 & 2:

http://www.guitartricks.com/course.php?input=1
http://www.guitartricks.com/course.php?input=2

Next, if switching between chords is the problem, then do nothing but switch between chords. Focus on the physical motion required. Don't strum the chords, don't play them in time, don't try to make a song out of them. Don't wander to other things. Just pick a few sets of chords & practice switching between them.

Finally, if you've only been playing for 1 week, then be patient with yourself & try to enjoy the process. Your mind & fingers can only learn & gain physical skill so quickly. Forcing it won't help.

Let us know how it goes & have fun. :)

Thanks for the information.

My suggestion to you is to focus on isolating that specific chord change. Don't worry about playing the rest of the song just yet...

Practice this chord change in stages:

1. Rest your fingers on the first chord, without pressing down on the strings. Without strumming or anything, focus on very slowly moving your hand away from the strings (maybe 2 centimeters) and shifting down to the next chord. Practice this transition back and forth, never pressing very hard on the strings at all! Gradually increase the speed until you've gotten to the desired amount... (make sure your fingers are landing at THE SAME TIME!!! not one after the other.)

2. Now, once you can do that well, practice lightly strumming each time you change chords, but still without applying any pressure on the strings more than how much you would a feather or a breast.

3. Then start pressing down harder on the strings, and you can strum along if you feel comfortable. You will start to see significant improvement here. All you need to do is increase the speed to the desired amount..

That should solve your problem. You can do that with ANY chord transition at any time. The most important thing is this: Do NOT start playing the song from the beginning again if you mess up. Find the spot where you've made a mistake, and practice that piece in isolation. Then slowly add a few notes before and after that point, and gradually "knead" your way to playing the whole song again.

It's like spreading pizza dough. You don't keep spreading the stuff you've already spread. You just work with the pieces that are clumping and aren't complete!