Guitar Tricks Online Guitar Lessons

Learn & Play Song: Flick The Switch

 

I hope this tutorial has given a solid idea of how to practice switching between the different chords. It's completely natural that we all want to get really good as quickly as possible and therefore we want to work on a thousand different things at once.

But what really ends up making a difference is taking something extremely common, like these chord changes, and practicing each of the transitions with great attention to detail. Not only will you be switching between these chords all the time when you're playing actual songs, you're also practicing your fretting technique, finger dexterity and your left and right hand coordination. You're never just working on one thing, even if it looks like it! Have fun with it!

Anders Mouridsen
Instructor Anders Mouridsen
Tutorial:
Switching Between Chords
Styles:
Any Style
Difficulty:
print notation download lesson open guitar tuner
Learn & Play Song: Flick The Switch song notation
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Learn & Play Song: Flick The Switch By Anders Mouridsen

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Questions & Answers

1 month ago
Hi, I just wanted to signal that the notations at the middle of the video are inverted between the part with the open strums and the one without.
Mike Olekshy 3 weeks ago

Great catch - thanks so much!! I've forwarded this to our editing team for a fix.

3 months ago
Hi. Just wondering after we go through the lesson if we should practice that specific lesson for a few days or a week before moving onto the next lesson. I guess this is a general question for all of the lessons. :)
Mike Olekshy 2 months ago

Hello - thanks so much for the question! Stick with that lesson until you feel you fully understand the material presented and that you can mostly play the example. It's not necessary to stick with it for weeks, but don't skip over it either. Be sure you understand the concepts and spend time practicing the example until you can at least play through it slowly and (mostly) accurately before moving on to the next. Hope this helps!

3 months ago
My question is about the thumb position on my left hand when playing these (or any) chords. Should the thumb extend over the neck, or should it be lower down behind the neck? Or is this something that I shouldn't really worry about at all, as long as I can play the chords cleanly & my other fingers are properly positioned and rounded? Thanks!
Mike Olekshy 2 months ago

Hello Dave, thanks so much for your question! There is no correct single way to position the thumb behind the neck. Find the position that is most comfortable to acheive what you are trying to do. So yes, don't worry too much about it, as long as you can play the chords cleanly!

4 months ago
You didn't mention or play the dotted half notes and quarter notes in the notation. Maybe a little advanced for this juncture, I'm guessing. (I played trumpet 100 years ago.) :0) Thanks and have a great day.
Mike Olekshy 2 months ago

Hello and thanks so much for the comment! Yes, Anders didn't really explain the subdivisions in this lesson as it might be a bit advanced. He's trying to keep it simple for now, and just get you playing!! Cheers!

6 months ago
An observation: I think the open strum while switching between 2 chords helps more for some changes than others. When there are common fingers involved, for example the C to Am change, it's easier to keep the common fingers just pressed down and not lift them up for the open strum. But for say the Em to C, change where you need to lift all fingers up anyway, the open strum helps a lot :)
Mike Olekshy 6 months ago

Hello - thanks for your tip! That's a great example with the C to Am that you don't need to lift all your fingers off the strings to make the change. Thank you!

11 months ago
I find it is hard to add the open chord to the transition of chords. My fingers can’t move so fast….
Josh Workman 11 months ago

Hi, just like Anders said, don't stress about it. This is just something that naturally happens on its own and gives you a beat to switch chords. The more comfortable you get switching chords and gradually increase the tempo, it will just naturally happen.