By Hodaka Hashi
Getting the hang of new chords is a very long and hard process that some, if not most of you will find extremely frustrating. Having said that, it’s just like with anything in life. It’s just about practice and keeping motivated. Let’s discuss how to get the hang of new chords.
When you start trying to play a new chord, you may find that you either can’t get your fingers to reach the frets, or that you can’t construct the chord quickly enough. If your problem is the prior, it’s all about practicing and allowing your fingers to become more flexible.
It should however be noted that you should do this gradually and with care, as forcing your fingers to spread more than they should could result in injury.
If you find that you can’t construct the chord quickly enough to play the song at the normal tempo, you should try playing the song at a slower speed and gradually increase the tempo. This should ideally be done using a metronome, as this’ll encourage a systematic approach and will allow you to monitor your progress. If you don’t have a metronome, you can either purchase one or you can use our free online metronome.
If you’re having trouble with one chord in particular, try practicing just that chord change. By this I mean play the chord that is before the chord you’re having trouble with, and then change to the problematic one. Repeat this until you get hang of the chord change. It’ll gradually become easier as your muscles learn the new finger formation.
Another pointer which may help you improve your chord playing is to look at the fingering of the chord. There are usually numbers at the top of chord charts, which indicate which fingers to use for each fret within the chord. These indicate the conventional way of fingering the chords, and usually should be followed. However if you’re really struggling, it may be worth trying a different fingering pattern. Try forming the chord and switching fingers around until you find one that is comfortable for you.
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These lessons have been written by me, a guitar enthuthiast. I've written them to the best of my abilities, but I'm no guitar teacher!
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