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Kids Guitar -- Rhythm 4 - Hints on Switching Chords By Professor Bruno Noteworthy of profbruno.com Okay! We've talked about the whole note, the half note and the quarter note. And... We've done some exercises. Before learning another note type, I wanna talk to you guys about switching between chords and how to make that a bit easier. All songs have what are called "chord progressions" - which is just a fancy schmancy way of saying "a bunch of chords". Almost always, what a new player will do after playing one chord in a progression, is to take his or her fingers waaaayyy off the neck of the guitar before putting the fingers down for the next chord. It's kinda like watching someone play with a bow and arrow... shoot! reload... shoot! reload... shoot! reload... WRONG!!! You will never be able to switch chords quickly enough by doing this. But unlax... there's some simple stuff that you can do to fix this. Remember that your fingers are already loaded, guys -- and they stay loaded. Here's the stuff... First of all -- RULE NUMERO UNO (that's number 1) -- When switching chords NEVER remove a finger from the fretboard unless you have to. When you are playing a chord, and are about to switch to another chord, think about the fingering of that next chord. Are there any places where a finger or fingers can stay where they are? Here's an example. Let's say that you are playing an "A" chord. (See picture below.). Now let's say that your next chord is gonna be the "D" chord. (Again, see picture.) Now, see where your first finger is on the "A" chord? See where the first finger is on the "D" chord? They are exactly in the same place! Ain't that cool? What this means is that, first of all, your first finger can STAY WHERE IT IS. DO NOT REMOVE FROM THE NECK. UNDER PENALTY OF.... never mind... But keep the finger down! Then just move your other fingers around (this is what's called a pivot) to the places they need to be for the "D" chord. Try it! See how easy that was? No more "shoot! reload... shoot! reload..." at least between those two chords. Whenever you switch between any two chords, look for this kinda thing. Here's another way that you can use this rule: Let's go back to our friend the "A" chord. Now look at the picture for the "E" chord. There is no common fingering here, but notice the first finger again for both chords. All ya gotta do to get from the "A" to the "E" is to slide that first finger down from the second fret to the first fret, then pivot (there's that word again) the rest of your fingers to where they belong for the "E" chord. Get the picture here? Keep your fingers close to the neck when switching and look for ways to keep your fingers ON the neck whenever possible. RULE NUMBER TWO...Look for common fingering "shapes". Huh? Okay, okay... Look at the "E" chord picture. Now look at the "Am" chord picture. OH MY GOSH THEY HAVE THE SAME SHAPE!!! The only difference between the two chords is which strings are being fingered. So all ya gotta do do here is to move the shape to the different strings. Live for this kinda stuff. There's another way of saying all of this. It's called "economy of movement". Do what ya gotta do to get that next chord in the progression down, but do it with as little movement from your hand as possible. No more bow and arrow type stuff... Have fun! Professor Bruno Noteworthy

External Links

Articles on Music and the Guitar

Images

A chord [ 0 0 2 2 2 0 ]

D Chord [ x 0 0 2 3 2 ]

E Chord [ 0 2 2 1 0 0 ]

Am Chord [ x 0 2 2 1 0 ]

C Chord [ x 3 2 0 1 0 ]

G Chord [ 3 2 0 0 0 3 ]

Em Chord [ 0 2 2 0 0 0 ]

Dm Chord [ x 0 0 2 3 1 ]

Dog

Contributed by James Emery Vigh on May 17, 2010, at 8:25 PM UTC.

PLEASE VISIT THE CONTRIBUTOR'S WEBSITE

Professor Bruno Noteworthy - Toon Music Professor for Kids Musical instrument lessons for kids www.profbruno.com

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Vegetable Oil liked this intel. Apr 3, 2012

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Another well written and knowledgeable intel

June Campbell May 18, 2010 10:40

CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY

Hi James, I have been playing guitar for many years and I remember right in the very beginning I was struggling with cord changes because of this very reason then a friend told me this very same info, I never looked back. The cord changes have never been much of a problem since I just wish I could play them well as well as change them, this is a very good tip for beginners, Thanks.

tedbotting Jun 14, 2010 20:40

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This intel was contributed by James Emery Vigh James Emery Vigh

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