Smooth chord changing

[DarknessFury]

What I mean is that what should you do to ensure smooth chord changing...sometimes when I change chords, you can clearly hear a milisecond of stoppage...how to prevent that?

 

[thor666]

for starters, use lots of Em11 chords. Which is:

E-0--
B-0--
G-0--
D-0--
A-0--
E-0--

So when you change from G to Em, just fret nothing and play "through", before fretting the Em chord.

for other non-open chords changing, play slowly with a metronome to let your psychomotor skills remember when to change, and how fast to change.

 

[blueprintstudios]

change chords a super-milisecond right before you strum for the next chord.which means your hands have to be fast and you gotta know your chords well..
dude your guitar playing needs alot alot alot of recording discipline.

P.S : I'm not a guitar player. but i believe it's like that.

 

[blueprintstudios]

err yeah. listen to thor666. he seems to make more sense.

 

[DarknessFury]

Yea...I'm a beginner...=D I need the pros' help!

 

[tany]

when switching chords, form the shape of the chord as u change. m

 

[strats]

practice slowly lah... try easy chord changes like from G to Cadd9 or E to C first.. then err move to others? or play the barred form?

 

[ShredCow]

Hmmm... i would disagree with you, strats... i think you should go for harder changes. Like quick but accurate changes of G, D , G, D, G so on so forth.

 

[strats]

ahhh. maybe that's why my changing of chords isn't that fast and smooth. then again i dunno all the chords.

 

[ShredCow]

Just a differing opinion.

I think a good (difficult) progression to work on would be this...

E / F#m (2nd position, barred) / E/G# (open chord, big stretch) / Aadd9

E maj
0
0
1
2
2
0

F#m
2
2
2
4
4
2

E/G# (E maj with G# bass)
0
5
4
2
x
4

Aadd9
0
2
4
2
0
x

Did I get the E/G# chord correct? Hehehe... its hard typing out chords.

 

[lppier]

You just gotta practice... For beginners, don't play chord shapes that are too far away from each other. It'll come with time, don't worry.

Pier.

 

[DarknessFury]

Wah, Shredcow...I can play only E major...the others...very hard to position finger and my hands are quite small also...lol...I'm so accustomed to play power chords...

lppier, what do you mean by chord shapes too far away from each other?

 

[ShredCow]

...I'm so accustomed to play power chords...

Time to learn more then?

 

[DarknessFury]

Well, yea...learn more...I'm trying to do F#M now...but I just can't get my fingers to put it right...and when I put it right, the side of my palm always touches to last 2 strings...how irritating...

 

[ShredCow]

Do learn more... it adds a lot of colour to your rhythm work. Let me give you some fun power chord variations.

All are E power chords, 7th position.

E5 (yeah, the whole thing is an E5)
0
0
9
9
7
0

E5/B (E power chord with B bass, basically an inversion of E5, sounds HEAVIER and fuller, but not as crisp)
x
x
9
9
7
7


E5add9 (nice for well.. sort of "complex-er" sounding power chord)
x
x
11
9
7
x

Emaj7 (no 3rd) (a nice chord to end a song)
x
x
8
9
7
x

E7 (no 3rd)
x
x
7
9
7
x

So with those chords, try playing something like this...
E5 (let ring) / E5add9 / Emaj7 (no 3rd) / E7 (no 3rd) / E5/B

Here are some power chord-ish major and minor chordings... For lazy people P) or people who want more colour than what the typical power chord offers.

Em
x
x
x
5
7
x

E major
x
x
x
6
7
x

Heh. Some stuff to help you get started... now I better get back to work!

 

[Phil]

Well Marty said in his instruction video to visualise the next chord that you are going to play when you are playing the previous one.
Basically, have in mind a clear picture of what you are going to do next before even doing it.
Fundamental, but sensible and useful nonetheless.

 

[tany]

when u want to play a song or a chord progression, bear in mind not to let the tempo go off! slow down ur playing by dunno how many times, until it's very comfortable for u to change smoothly without changing the tempo. so in this way u wont play a song, then when u strum nice nice, then chord change, u pause for an obvious amount of time, which doesnt sound good! and always remember what's the next chord and quickly form the shape of it as u release ur fingers from the previous chord.

 

[DarknessFury]

Thanks for the awesome suggestions, guys...am practising a lot more now...=D

 

[fenderrules]

hmmm maybe you would like to specify further what chords do you find hard to change??

just keep practicing though. i also had this problem a lot of times learning chords alone. but its all worth it in the end when i practiced 2 hours on my classical since ive picked it up.

you like punkrock right? well, listen and observe how billie joe from green day strums and swicthes chords on the acoustic. he's one of my favourite guitarists in punkrock. listen to the song time of your life and notice how he manages to play smoothly in the key of G.

cheers

 

[DarknessFury]

fenderrules, when I'm changing chords, you can hear a milisecond of a stop...that's what I want to erase.