Beginner finding it difficult to change chords seamlessly

Hi All

I am a beginner and am going through the Basics course 1. I am stuck in the lesson https://www.guitartricks.com/lesson/31286 and the next one https://www.guitartricks.com/lesson/31287 where am not able to seamlessly change the chord from Em to C. C to Am works fine, Am to Em works fine. Is there a backing track for me which I can use to practice this change (or any for that matter)? Replaying the lesson from a specific point seems not to be working. 

Regards

Sabari

Found the loop function in the Video which seems to be working. Now it is time to practice. Any other suggestions for the practice?

It sounds like you need to spend practice time solely focusing on the physical motions of the chord change. Until you can do it effectively & efficiently you won't be able to play them in time & thus play a song.

During part of each practice session, don't try to strum in time, don't try to play a song. Just focus on getting your chord changes solid. Do focused practice on chord changes. Take the 2 chords you mention (or any series of chords).

Form & play an E minor chord. Strum it once to make sure it sounds good.  Stop.

Form & play a C major chord. Strum it once to make sure it sounds good.  Stop.

Repeat many times.  

Incorporate all the other open chords into this routine as you are able. Just focus on getting the chord changes right until they are automated, as if they are second nature. If you try to mix in strumming, learning a song, and other things before you can do the basic physical motions of chord changes you are just going to get frustrated. 

Be patient with yourself!

Once you gradually get the basic physical motions down, you can try to play along with the lesson.  If necessary you can use the video player speed control to slow down the speed until you can match it (mouse over the player & look on the left side).  Then gradually speed it up as you make progress.  You can also use the metronome if that helps.

https://www.guitartricks.com/toolbox

Hope that helps!

Hi Sabari,

It may help to take a look at how/where your left hand is placed while making chords.  I initially had a lot of problems with barre chords because my left wrist (for me) needed to be further “under” the neck rather than “behind” and a bit “forward” as well

Go back, watch the video and pay particular attention to the instructor’s left hand positions.  It’ll be a bit different for every instructor but that may give you something to model as you find what suits you the best.

Hope that helps.  Don’t get discouraged.  Follow Christopher’s advice above and you’ll progress nicely.

Rumble

I've been struggling mentally with my ineptitude to change chords on time. It helped a lot when I've accepted it's okay and focused more on keeping the rythm with my strumming hand. Maintaining the rhythm makes slow chord switching much more bearable, so much so that even missing first half of a bar isn't a deal breaker anymore. And at that point,  just by having a relaxed mentality about being slow, I've found that my speed has improved. Hope this helps.

Thanks all for the suggestions. Will continue to follow the instructions provided and hope will improve eventually. Is there a tool where I can create a Jam track for the chord progression? Say for chord change from C to Em, any 8 bar beat with chord accompaniment which would make my practice interesting? The metronome seems to be too dull

Band In A Box is a relatively easy program to create basic backing tracks.

https://www.pgmusic.com/

You can also use the speed controls on the video of Anders playing.  Hope that helps!

Hi

I just wanted to add to what has already been said. I can't say how many times I have thought "this is impossible!" But fortunately for me, what I lack in talent is more than made up for in sheer stupidity and stubbornness. So I persist. And then, all of a sudden I just play a song I thought I would never be able to play.

This is such a difficult instrument, patience and persistence are your best friends. 

Good luck.

Way back in the day, I would just practice switching between the chords that were giving me trouble. I left my right hand completely out of it, so I could focus on just the chord switch. I know some people say to finger the chord, then strum it once to make sure it sounds good then move to the next chord. Don’t worry about the strum, you’re concerned with smooth transition, so just leave the right hand out of it and practice your transitions, this will probably help you speed the improvement up.

here is a great video for beginners 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBz-Jyr23M4&ab_channel=AndyGuitar
Look it!

The chord progression for Pachelbel's Canon in D, I – V – VI – iii– IV – I – IV – V, is surprisingly common in rock music.[br][br]The chords in a major scale are:[br]I 1st chord: major.[br]ii 2nd chord: minor.[br]iii 3rd chord: minor.[br]IV 4th chord: major.[br]V 5th chord: major.