Originally Posted by: JeffS65

Originally Posted by: Joe Newinski

I find that when I'm changing chords on my electric guitar it makes a funny noise as I'm lefting my fingers up to place them on the new chord position. What am I doing wrong?

Am I hurrying the new chord positions too much? Meaning I haven't really stopped struming on the first chord and, without knowing it, I'm already moving my fingers for the second chord.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

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First, my apologies to all the great players in this thread but I kinda think there is a bit of overdiagnosing. Here's why:

[quote=Joe Newinski][br]Am I hurrying the new chord positions too much? Meaning I haven't really stopped struming on the first chord and, without knowing it, I'm already moving my fingers for the second chord.

To me, the answer is simply timing. I don't want to over-assume but I'd guess you're newer to the instrument. Nothing wrong with that! Welcome to the club!

But, in guitar, timing is everything. Moreover, when you play a chord pattern, you're doing a number of complex things; you have three to four fingers needing to find their correct home on a selection of 6 string and within a range of 20+ frets. All the while, strumming a pattern in time and striking the correct strings for said chord. Then, you have to move your hand to the next chord and do it all over again...and do it cleanly...again.

Think about all those variables that have to be right in order to execute it all correctly.

So the main point is to not be too hard on yourself. Take your time. You're learning a process that can be deceptively complex. Give yourself a break. It's not so hard that you can't overcome it. Not by a long shot. That does mean that perfection is something in your future...to be honest, we're all still trying to get to perfection though!

Think incrementally; the next time it'll be a little bit better than the last. Not perfect, just a little better.

Baseball pitchers don't throw 100MPH heaters in Little League. It takes time to build up that skill.

Thank you. I think you're right. As is many things in life, timing is everything. :-)