Reviewing Chord Changes (Guitar Lesson)

Chapter 1: (05:47) Changing from D to A

Review
- Warm-up the hands.
- Stretch the wrists.
- Play the major and minor open chords.
- Warm up your strumming muscles by relaxing the wrists and letting the pick flow over the strings.
- Play the E major chord in the “new” way and play the type 1 barre chords.
- Play the A major chord in the “new” way and play the type 2 barre chords.
- Practice the “slanting A” technique.
- Practice the type 1 minor barre chords.
- Practice the type 2 minor barre Chords.
- Play all of the type 1 mini-barre chords.
- Play all of the type 2 mini-barre chords.
- Review and practice quantitative and qualitative techniques.
- Review last week’s exercises.

Ready?

We’ve received a number of requests for some simpler exercises involving easier chord changes for those of you who want to refresh your skills. I’ll give you some chords as well as a particular strum pattern for each exercise. Feel free to add in your own creative input as well. Also, don’t forget to do the warm-up exercises before you get started!

I’m assuming at this point you are familiar with the open chords, particularly A, C, D, E, Fmaj7, and G. The reason I skipped B is because it is most commonly played as a barre chord. Fmaj7 is also a simpler and more unique chord compared to an F major triad. These exercises are strictly for you to tighten up your chording skills and help you understand some of the ways to make playing simpler. If you feel that you really have strong skills when it comes to playing and changing between chords, you still may want to skim through these exercises. You just might find some insightful wisdom that could help you with other aspects of playing.

Let’s start with a couple of simple chords. How about D and A?:

D
E_2_
B_3_
G_2_
D_0_
A_X_
E_X_

A
E_0_
B_2_
G_2_
D_2_
A_0_
E_X_

Using the strum or "down, down-up, down-up" and changing between chords after each set, use the concept of finger glue to facilitate your chord changes. Pull your hand off of the fretboard to make sure that you have a clear picture, both mentally and physically, of what the chord should feel like. Notice that when you change from D to A that your first and second fingers move from being slightly spread apart (on the D) to being pressed together (on the A). To facilitate this change, focus on planting your first and second fingers on the D and G strings first. Then, plant your third finger on the B string shortly thereafter. If you are finding that you are making the change smoothly already, then you may not need to use this shortcut. Just remember to use the concept of finger glue. Make sure that you have a firm visual image of each chord's shape as well. Chapter 2: (04:54) Changing from D to C Next, let’s use the chords D and C:

C
E_0_
B_1_
G_0_
D_2_
A_3_
E_X_

Using the strum or "down, down-up-down" and changing chords between each set of strums in our rhythm, use the concept of finger glue to facilitate your chord changes. Again, practice making chord changes “in the air” as well as on the fretboard of the guitar to make sure that you have a clear picture of what the chord should look and feel like. Do you notice that your second and third fingers are actually staying in the same structure in both chords despite the fact that they are moving to different strings? In essence, you are merely changing the position of your first finger (from G-string 2nd fret to B-string 1st fret) and moving the second and third fingers from the B and high E-strings to the A and D-strings. Moving just the second and third fingers, try to make this move by itself without concerning yourself with the first finger (for now). Move back and forth until you feel very comfortable with the change. Now, move just the first finger from its position on the G-string (in the D chord) to the B-string (in the A chord). Another potentially important point is to pay attention to the fact that your hand needs to change its structure from the D to the C in order to make a smooth transition. Watch me for more on this in the video. Chapter 3: (04:58) Changing from C to G Next, let’s play the chords C and G.
G major
E_3_
B_0_
G_0_
D_0_
A_2_
E_3_

Using the strum or "down, down-up" and changing between the chords in each set, use the idea of finger glue to get a better grasp of the chords at hand. Again, notice that your second and third fingers are simply moving from the A and D strings respectively to the E and A strings while maintaining the same structure. Practice moving these two fingers between the two positions before continuing on. Once again, pull your fingers rom the fretboard and try the change in the air. Now, once you’ve mastered the “air guitar” portion of the exercise, simply remove your first finger from the B string (when playing the C chord) and place your pinky on the high E-string to make the G chord. Is your pinky somewhere in the vicinity of the high E string while playing the C chord? It should be! The pinky should usually be hanging out somewhere in that area so it is prepared to make the chord change.

Okay, are you with me so far? I know some of you are saying “Yeah Mark, we’ve already done all of this! Move on already!” Yes, I know we’ve done all of this, but I want to make sure that all of you are rock solid on chord changes and are familiar with all of the helpful tricks. It never hurts to go back and review some of the little tricks that make changing chords easier, faster, and more fun. Chapter 4: (06:36) Changing from E, A, and D E major
E_0_
B_0_
G_1_
D_2_
A_2_
E_0_

Let’s play these chords with just a simple or "snap strum." Play the three chords in the order E, A, and D. Practice your finger “gluing” (no real adhesive products should be used in this process please!) on each of the chords while paying attention to how your hand feels in each chord position. Notice that the change from E to A allows the player to keep the second and third fingers together, and a simple move from the A and the D strings respectively to the G and the B strings is all that is necessary for the majority of the chord. You can “glue” or hold your second and third fingers together to easily transfer them from the A and D strings to the G and B strings. Practice this portion of the chord change before continuing on to the next step. Do you feel completely comfortable with this part? Alright, let’s go on then! You can see that your first finger needs to go from the G-string 1st fret to the D-string 2nd fret in order to change from an E to an A chord, right? Once you’ve made the simple step of changing over your second and third fingers, the final step of moving your first finger should be simple. Now, all you have to do is make the change from the A to the D chord, which we already discussed at the beginning of the lesson.

Changing from an Fmaj7 to a C chord is perhaps one of the most simple changes of all:

Fmaj7
E_0_
B_1_
G_2_
D_3_
A_x_
E_x_

Go through the same process that we’ve used thus far to get a feel for the Fmaj7 and C chords. Use the strum or "down, down-up, up, down." (Remember that when I hyphenate between the strums like "down-up," I'm indicating that you should play those strums together as a snap-strum). Notice that your second and third fingers stay in the same position and can be easily moved from the D and G-strings in the Fmaj7 chord to the A and D-strings in the C chord. Isolate and practice this portion of the chord change to get a feel for it. Now, once you’ve got a handle on this portion, just go ahead and play the two chords since your first finger doesn’t move when changing between these two chords. Simple, huh?

Exercise 1

Since this lesson is basically all one big exercise, I decided to just throw in one little extra bit of homework. Can you guess what it is? You got it! Pick and play through each and every combination of the chords that we’ve discussed today while paying attention to how your fingers can be “glued” and how you may be able to save steps when changing between chords. Also, try to practice parts of the changes that may be a little more difficult for you before attempting to make the complete chord change. Who of us doesn’t have a lame finger that doesn’t seem to want to go where we would like it to go? This is where practicing the changes in pieces can help. Working one area of your hand can strengthen fingers and help make them go where you would like them to go.

*Important Note: Maybe this is an unnecessary disclaimer for most of you, but nevertheless, finger gluing is not a literal expression and does not imply actually using glue to make your fingers stick together. It is simply the idea that your fingers can be trained to “stick” together to facilitate chord changes and make you a better guitar player over time. Please don’t use any type of adhesives on your hands as this could possibly do irreparable damage to the epidermis. Thanks! M.L.

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