It has been a month since I started learning with an electric guitar. I still find it a bit difficult changing from A to D and back. I practice regularly, but still I cannot go smoothly between these two (less ftom D to G).
Does that mean that I should consider giving up learning guitar? Is it reasonable that it has been a month and I still cannot do that properly?
Hi simpleman9,
Don't give up! G and D are pretty tough to get down. Remember, when you practicing switching between these two chords, you have to do so slowly, to build that muscle memory. Do it as slow as possible, and what you want is to get your fingers on the right spots.
Do this and then speed it up slowly.
Lisa has a great tutorial on this exact topic right here: https://www.guitartricks.com/lesson.php?input=22686&s_id=1870
Hi simpleman9 
How long is a "piece" of string?
Over the month, how frequently is "regularly", for how long per session, and do you actively focus on the lesson objective when practising?
Unless you have a physical disability e.g. arthritis or injury?, there's no reason I can foresee you shouldn't eventually manage it [u]if you want to enough[/u]? However, it does sound like you might like to look to 'sharpen your learning tools', or practise a lot more until it's rote, possibly both.
Here's one tip. For a clean minimum fretting pressure of the G, B & E strings for D, ensure your fingernails are trimmed short.
As for how long it should take. As long as it takes. What's normal? I can only offer my own experience as a guide, and I wouldn't assess myself as other than making average or normal progress.
I had nailed the E-A-D change within a few days, to the point of changes being 120BPM tempo-ish riff/song fluid within the week. I play A using the alternative common anchor fingering mostly, advantaging the various A-D-A-E-A-D-A sequential changes. You can try it here. But, that said, I find the change equally easy using conventional open A fingering as taught on GT by Lisa. I learnt conventional A fingering originally 45 years ago, but hadn't played it, or at all, over the intervening years, so relearning Justin's preferred contemporary fingering came easy. You'll see how alternative fingering's anchor finger relates to conventional E & D fingering facilitating the change between them.
Regardless of the one you choose to use, it's still comes down to repetition forming the chords properly. Slowly at first until the forming becomes motor skill acquired and automated, then speed will build. It's easier on electric than acoustic because of the lower action, and generally lighter string gauge. Is your guitar strung with 9's or 10's? Is the action within spec?
[br]As incentive, a top riff you can play on electric using just A-D-E occasionally throwing in a G-A-G-A (search for the actual song and chords online) is The Troggs "Wild Thing".Crank up the crunch and let rip.
Utilising a riff or song which appeals as motivation to accomplish fluid chord changes I found an effective way to master getting them fluid pretty fast.
Similarly G-D-G changes. I 'fess I found fingering open G - any variant, easy peasy from the start. My fingers/hand just found it a natural feeling chord for me. Could play them shifting to and fro within a typical progression easily within a week. G-Em-C-D-G (or easier change than D, D7) for four bars followed by C-D-G-E, rinse and repeat.
[br]Some chords will present as easier to learn than others to each person.
Or G-Am-C-D for several bars followed by C-Am-C-G, C-Am-Am-D will play you "Love is all Around" (The Troggs '68/Wet Wet Wet '92). I think that took me about a three or four days to nail as the first actual song I learned when I returned to relearn last November.
The full open four finger fretted F is probably the most difficult open chord personally for me to change to and finger rapidly and accurately consistently (due to the required forefinger angle and pressure). Although I can do it faster, better and easier, even the contracted three finger verson dropping the fretting of the A string I still find uncomfortable and unnatural, so have to really focus and work on it all the time. I even find changing to a chord like B7 and barre Bm easier and comfortably faster.
[u]Keep at it[/u]. You can get there. Just review your application in how you are practising, and try to analyse what your particular impediment to progress with that chord/skill is. Having identified it, you can take the necessary corrective action to deal with it. Remember, obstacles are part of the fun of the journey. It wouldn't be any fun at all if it was without them or easy.
[br]Good luck.
Dont give up i've been trying for 10 years (on and off way more off then on;) to play guitar and still cant change chords.
Recently i started the Esentials 1 and improving at lightspeed compared to what i did all these years Youtube etc.
Lisa is a super good teacher.
Originally Posted by: simpleman9It has been a month since I started learning with an electric guitar. I still find it a bit difficult changing from A to D and back. I practice regularly, but still I cannot go smoothly between these two (less ftom D to G).
Does that mean that I should consider giving up learning guitar? Is it reasonable that it has been a month and I still cannot do that properly?
I want you to think about this for a minute, to change from an Am to an Open D, you have six different locations for your fingers to be. You have two seperate strum patterns (the A requires you to strum from the 5th string down and the D from the 4th string down). In the simplest terms, that means that you are managing eight things at one time. Eight!
The point here is not to intimidate you but for you to realize that since you're about a month in, you're asking yourself to be ahead of probably where it is reasonable for you to be.
Some good advice in this thread. Any chord change you make requires a little practice and some times a lot. The thing I add is not how fast you do it, but how clean you do it at a speed that allows you to strum cleanly. Even if it seems silly slow, don't worry about it. What's the hurry? All you're doing is getting used to something.
If I handed you a baseball right now, do you think you could throw a 70MPH fastball in the strikezone? (unless you're actually a pticher..in which case....hehe).
Point being is that it takes time to get there. You'll hear this a lot in your journey playing guitar. As a matter of fact; I'd suggest that the most important skill for a guitar player is patience. You will always need it no matter how good you get!
Lately I've been on a jag of just learning various tunes just for fun but also because these aren't exactly the meat-n-potatos A-G-D-E open chord songs (I've been playing for decades so, ya know....). The latest installment is Fleetwood Mac's Rhiannon. The opening/verse riff is pretty funky. Mostly because the actual melody riff is played by Buckingham at the same time his thumb is playing a counterpoint base riff in what seems to be a different time signature. Patience? Yes! Heck, even the melody riff is not exactly in a normal time.
So, you know...give yourself some time.
