Switching between chords

[abri19rainey]

Hi all, I just started playing guitar, and when practicing playing chords, I struggle with rapidly switching between them. I have to pause and look at where I'm placing my fingers on the fretboard to make sure they're correct before playing the next chord. Is there anything that could help me memorize where my fingers need to go, or is this just something that comes with practice?

 

[carlosmqr]

It comes with practice, is just muscle memory, the more you practice the more your fingers will know where to go!
But theres some exercises that help to get there faster, check the school lessons I'm sure you'll find a lot of help!

 

[Dominik Gräber]

It definetly comes with practice, it's called muscle memory as @carlosmqr already said

But I also highly suggest watching the CAGED Lessons and learning how to play chords in different positions. Sometimes it's benefitial to keep the same finger position and just shift around the fretboard

 

[William B.]

Practicing switching between them in twos helps, mixing them up too, after getting comfortable with them.

 

[Christian Schulze]

I agree with all the mentioned above, a nice tool that can speed up that muscle memory process is implementing a forced change.

So for instance, get used to swithing between two chords, and after a while try to force yourself to switch between the chords by using a metronome for instance. Set it at a challenging yet not too challenging speed, just enough that it forces you to move quick, but just quickly enough where you still play the chord corretly. This forced change it very beneficial. Its forcing you to act.

Hope this helps!

 

[hades]

I am very new myself, and suck pretty bad at changing chords but something that has helped make a noticeable difference is using a metronome. I started out at 60 bpm and strummed 4 quarter notes for 1 chord then switched. Then when I was comfortable I switched to 2 quarter notes for each chord change, and eventually worked my way to a chord for each quarter note and from then on it was just upping the bpm. I’m still not super fast but I can switch between them much better than prior to using the metronome.

Switching between the open C and G chord has been the most difficult for me and it helped quite a bit with getting the muscle memory between them.

 

[Calvin Phillips]

As any other muscle in your body you need to work it out and gain muscle strength. This only comes with repetition.