How long did it take you to get clean chord changes?

I’ve been working on my basic open chords and I’m finding that the chords themselves are getting easier, but changing between them smoothly is still pretty slow.

For example, I can play G, C, D, and Em individually without too much trouble, but when I try to change between them while keeping a steady strumming pattern, I tend to pause or hit a muted string.

For those of you who started as complete beginners, how long did it take before your chord changes started feeling natural? Did you spend more time practicing the chord shapes individually, or did you mostly practice changing between two chords over and over?

paper io

Hi coeddie11.11,

It can definitely get tricky to keep the rhythm and all the details in place when practicing chords changes! 

I would recommend an approach you mentioned yourself, which is practicing the chords in pairs. Two chords, back and forth, over and over.

Try to notice if the two chords share anything in common. Maybe a same note? Maybe a finger stays in the same fret for each of the chords, even while switching strings? Maybe a finger stays on the same string while switching chords, even while changing frets?

All of these little “mapping it out” techniques can be super helpful in getting your hands to flow from one chord to the next with a minimum of fuss. 

There is a whole segment in my Guitar Fundamentals Course where we do just that : set a rhythm, and then practice going back and forth from, say, C to Em, over and over. And in each exercise,  I offer tips about how to ‘think’ about the chord-change, so as to get it to happen more and more smoothly.

I hope this helps a little! Have fun! 

- Lisa

Hello, 

I agree it can be pretty difficult. I am very new to guitar (only playing 2 months now) and I learned D, A, E, Em, Dm using a different program and that system had you practice switching between chords as many times as you could in 30 seconds not worrying about if it sounded good or not as long as g as finger placement was correct. It was frustrating because I do want to gain speed, but I would rather play slow and have it sound nice than fast and sound bad. 

long story short I switched to Guitar Tricks and what helped me the most was doing the chord family lesson in fundlemental 1. Learning to practice with playing a song has really helped me a lot. I have to slow down when I play but I do see myself improving. 

Forwhat ever reason though going from G to C is really difficult for me. Seems like it should be simple change but my brain goes blank when I switch. 

best of luck. 

It's definitely a process.  I'm somewhere around "advanced beginner" to "intermediate" in my skills.  I knew music when I started but had never played a guitar.  Not to mention I'm left handed and decided to learn guitar right handed.  These tips are how I went about it:

1. Start with two easy chords that are similar - requires moving or just lifting 1 finger.  Like E to Em or A to A7 requires lifting one finger.  Or C to Am requires moving only one finger so the others to can stay in place like an anchor or reference point.


2. Proceed just like the instructors advise.  Slow tempo (like 60bpm, that's 1 beat per second).  Play the chord on beat one and then use beats 2, 3, and 4 to change (gives you 3 seconds) and be ready to play the next chord on the next beat 1.  Repeat the process to change back.


3. You may need to adjust the tempo a little faster or slower (too slow for me and my brain would wander and I mess up, too fast and my hands and fingers wouldn't sync up).


4. I progressed by playing the same chord on beats 1 and 3 and then change for the next measure.  Then I played on 1, 2, and 3.  Beat 4 gave me the rest to make the change.  I was still around 60bpm.


5. I did this just a few minutes of my practice session so I wouldn't get bored.


6. As I got comfortable I experimented with increasing the tempo by 5bpm.  Then I would try a new chord or chord combination.


7. I still do this as part of my warm up.


8. I'm working on barre chords now with this same method.  I can't change barre chord shapes yet, but I'm improving at moving one shape up and down the neck.


9. I use the metronome to help tell me how I am improving.


10. As you continue, some changes will come easy.  Others like C to G may take longer to get comfortable and good.

I hope some of this helps.

To directly answer you question of "how long does it take" is there isn't a good definitive answer.  Everyone is unique and it depends largely on your practice routine and determination.

I don't recall now how long it took me to be able to play all of the open chords.  I can change most of them smoothly but there are still a couple that trip me up.  But I'm much better now than when I started and you are too!

Keep practicing and keep reaching out when you get stuck!