Every beginner guitarist, at one point or another, struggles with switching from one chord to another. There always seems to be a pause as you move from one chord to another, right? It probably takes you a beat or two to switch chords, and by that time, you already find yourself out of beat to the song you were trying to play.

Yes, it can get frustrating sometimes, especially when you are really trying to hard to rock out to a song you really like. Changing chords quickly but accurately is important if you want to be able to play the guitar well. But the question is, how are you going to do that?

Here is a simple exercise that you can do to help you with your chord changes. It’s a simple exercise that will help build muscle memory, because that is what playing these chords is mostly about – your hand muscles memorizing the “shape” of the chords and being able to form these “shapes” quickly and accurately, and of course, in time to the beat.

Step 1: Set aside a particular time everyday, for about 10 to 15 minutes where you can just sit back and play around with your guitar.

Step 2: When you are relaxing, or sitting down to watch television or chatting with family or your friends, get your guitar and do the muscle memory exercises. For example, for the next couple of weeks, you wish to master switching between the major open chords. So let’s say on Monday, you start with the C and D chords. What you do is simply form the C chord on your guitar, and press down on the appropriate strings, without strumming. Hold it down for about 10 seconds, and then lift up your fret hand, stretch it for a bit, and then resume forming the C chord. Repeat this for about five to seven times.

Step 3: When you have finished the repetitions for the C chord, move on to forming the D chord, and repeat the same procedure as above. Form the D chord, press down on the appropriate strings without strumming. Hold it down, and then lift those fingers, and then resume. Repeat for five to seven times, as well.

Step 4: Once you are done with the repetitions for the individual chords, you can now practice switching between the two chords. Form the C chord, press down on the strings, and then after a few beats, switch to D. Practice switching from these two chords, repeat for about ten times.

Step 5: Once you are confident with switching between the chords, add a strumming pattern. Make sure that you are able to switch chords within the timing of the strumming pattern, while still being able to make those chords sound clear.

Step 6: When you feel like you have mastered switching between C and D, add another chord, and repeat the same steps as above, only this time, with the additional chord. Master the switching with the additional chord.

Step 7: Keep adding additional chords slowly. Add an additional chord only when you have mastered switching between those chords you were previously studying. As long as you have not yet gotten the hang of what you were studying, do not add another chord. But give yourself a deadline, however, so that there will be a bit of challenge for you, too.

Don’t Know How To Play Guitar Chords?

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