Originally Posted by: rsienrukos

Hi, Beginner here. I'm up to the "Metronome Song" in the beginner lessons with Anders. C chord is the toughest. I can get there, but I place 1 finger at a time and this method takes just too long to keep up. Will the "1 finger at a time" motion just go away as I practice each day? Or must I just rip the bandaid off and start taking a shot a dropping all fingers at once? Em is easy and I can drop right on and it feels great. Can't wait until I can do this with D, Am and C.

Hello and welcome,

One of the tips I had read and heard from the instructors is to minimize the amount of finger acrobatics as possible. In other words, when chords share the same notes you only have to move one or two fingers at a time anyway. I took a look at that lesson and the good news for you is Am to C does exactly that. Coming from Am keep your index finger on the first fret B string. Your middle finger should be on the 2nd fret of the D string. Your ring finger should be on the 2nd fret G string. Keeping index and middle right where they are just lift up and bring the ring finger to 3rd fret of the A string. There is your base C note of the chord. Practice just moving that finger back and forth until it's burned into muscle memory (sorry Nicolai, I'm in laymans mode here. lol). You don't even have to strum at first. Watch how Anders does it in the video of the lesson. He only moves his middle finger slightly closer to the fret but doesn't pick up the first two fingers. Try to incorporate this strategy into all of your chord transitions, though keep in mind there will be times this method won't apply as you change positions on the fretboard but don't worry about that for now.

And yes practice will make things a lot easier. Just keep it slow and steady for now and you will see the progress later on and don't focus on keeping up with the instructor. There is a way to slow the video playback down, but I usually don't even play with the lesson or backing track until I got something down at least to a resonable level on my own before trying to play along and even then I can never match the speed and tonality of the instructors.

Good Luck with your lessons,

Moe

(Cm7b5 ) geesh Draconus just reading that would make a beginner run and hide