Originally Posted by: vanrooy.gertHELP!
Been trying for 8 months. No luck.
Any tips please?? I can form the F and have it ring out perfectly, even the Fm, no prob. Changing fluently, on the other hand, from anywhere to F, is just no go.
Frustrated
Something that's not often said is that timing is everything in chord changes. I was teaching my wife a C to G (open) chord change and at that moment, in her mind, the change should be instantaneous. It's not. It's within a rhythm or pattern. Listen to songs and you'll notice small breaks in rhythms that allow for chord changes. Often you'll notice this in 'bar' structure. Like a G chord for one measure (for instance a measure of four notes) and then a chord change to the C chord on the second measure. Between those two measures is a small rhytmic gap.
Like:
G G G G -and- C C C C -and- G G G G -and- C C C C
1 2 3 4 -and- 1 2 3 4 -and- 1 2 3 4 -and- 1 2 3 4
That 'and' is that breif moment between chords is a small gap wherein the chord change happens. This is because nobody can really make chord changes instantly. Listen to strummed acoustic songs. An example us America-Sister Golden Hair. That is a textbook example of a clean and clear chord change that requires a space for the next chord.
The point to you is not to be dejected on your perceived failure to quickly change chords but to understand those chord change gaps and also, slowing down your rhythm speed when practicing to do the change more slowly but accurately. Once you get that groove down, you can start speeding up.
Early on, speed is not your friend. Patience and repetition is. Take your time and get the changes down.
I've said this in other threads but after playing for decades, patterns I'm not used to, I still do this. This is a tool of all skilled guitarists. The ability to slow down and drill on something is a tool you will always use. I certainly do...though I catch myself even getting cranky, like 'Hey, I should be doing this faster'...then checking myself. I mean, don't we all!
Good luck!
