3 AMAZING Tips - How To Improve Rhythm While Changing Chords On Guitar

Hey, guitar enthusiasts, welcome back. In this video, I'm going to be answering the question, how do you get your chords to match up with the timing of your strumming hand? So I have a couple tips on this for you guys. So let's get into the video.

Real quick. Before we jump into lesson video, I just want to thank a couple of my YouTube supporters. James Kreider, Eric Moser, Joan Milligan, Lawrence Walsh, thank you guys so much for your donations. Truly, truly appreciate you supporting the YouTube channel. Let's get into the lesson. So this was the question that was actually asked by one of my course students, and I wanted to share it here on YouTube with you guys, which is a common question I get of. How do I get my chord changes to change faster with my rhythm? And most people have the bad habit of starting, stopping their rhythm hand while they wait for the chord change to happen. So this is usually what happens. And let's say we're doing a strumming pattern like 1, 2 and 3 and 4. And okay, I'm plugging into a G chord to, say a C chord, which tends to be a very tricky chord change for a lot of people. So we have a C chord, 1.

2 and 3 and.

Or, sorry, G chord, 1, 2 and 3and 4.

And 1, 2 and 3 and 4.

And so most people, this is what happens.

One, two and three and four, and.

1, 2 and 3 and 4, and.

1. Look familiar? So the rhythm is great, the timing is great, but the change between the chords is really choppy, and that's not what we want. That doesn't sound like music. So what I tell people to do is, is to force your fretting hand to catch up with your rhythm hand. Because the problem usually isn't with the rhythm hand. It's with the fretting hand. So this is what I tell people to do. Do not stop. Do not stop your rhythm hand. So if this is your strumming pattern. 1, 2 and 3 and 4. And that's your rhythm hand. Now watch my fretting hand.

1, 2 and 3 and 4 and 1, 1, 2 and 3 and 4. And 1, 2 and 3 and 4. And 1, 2 and 3 and four and 1, 2 and 3.

Did you notice? I don't know if you're watching my Freddy hand. Did you notice how the strumming kept going? And even though I didn't have the entire chord, I kind of made the chords one finger at a time because that's how a lot of people start in the beginning, you'll notice how it sounded much more musical because I kept the rhythm hand going. So now what I'm doing is I'm forcing this hand to catch up to this hand instead of having this strumming hand stop for the chord changes. So that's one tip. Strum through the chord changes. Alright, so that's tip number one. Hey guys, I hope you're enjoying this video. Don't forget to subscribe to my channel. This way you'll get to see more videos just like this one. Let's get into the next tip. The next thing I want to talk about is an exercise. It's called the up and down exercise. I actually have a whole video on this. So I'll put a link to that up here so you guys can go watch that video. But I want to talk to you guys about what's slowing your cord changes down. So in general, our third finger is the toughest finger to move. So I have this exercise where we isolate the fingers. I kind of call them finger push ups. Although someone gave me the title Finger Burpees and I really like that because they are a little torturous. But we need to work on getting our fingers to move independently. Because like I said and I showed you in that first example, most people, they start by doing one finger at a time. And a recommendation I have on the C chord because a lot of people start from the first finger and they leave the third finger last. The third finger is the hardest finger to move just because the way the tendons are. Watch when I bend my third finger. See, all the other fingers have to go with it. So, so the third finger, there's a lot of tendons that are connected. Place the third finger first on the C chord. It's much easier. It's way easier to move a first finger than it is the third finger. But that's what I tell people. We need an exercise. And I'll put that exercise up there. The link before is we need an exercise that's going to help us start training finger independence. Because the goal, the goal will be that you can form. I can form a C chord in the ear. I can form a G chord. I can do an A, E minor or an A minor, whatever you want in the, in the ear. So that these fingers land almost simultaneously, almost even on my G chord. My third finger still hits first on my G chord before my other fingers, but it's so fast that it doesn't matter. But these two fingers are usually hitting pretty simultaneously. So what I tell people to do, once we start Working on this finger independence exercise, you can't do this unless you have a little bit of independence starting to change the cords in the air. Okay. And if you're having a difficult time with this, what I would ask you to do is make the cord and take it off the strings just a little bit. I'm talking like, maybe like an eighth of an inch. And then place them down again. Okay. So we're just lifting the fingers up like an eighth of an inch off the chords. And we're just pressing. So I have a G chord. Lift the fingers, press them at the same time. Lift the fingers, press, Press them at the same time. Lift the fingers, press them at the same time. And do that with all your chords. It'll start building some of that working togetherness, which usually, because that's what slows people down, is that they're doing one finger at a time. And it takes time to do that. That's why I gave you tip number one. Strum through that until we get all these chords working together. The third tip that I want to talk to you guys, that really helps a lot of my students with getting their chord changes up to speed. So stop watching your hand. Now, in guitar, we all come down to muscle memory at some point. So I can close my eyes and I can play pretty much any chord in that open position that I want to.

Without needing to look at my hand. And after you've practiced chord changes for a while, you usually start developing some muscle memory. So what I do with studio is I tell you to either pick two chords. So if we're talking about C and G, pick two chords. Close your eyes first. Do with your eyes open. Watch the chord change. Watch the chord change first. Okay? And do that maybe, you know, five or six times each chord. And then what I want you to do is close your eyes. This is also good ear training because you'll hear if the chord sounds good or if the chord sounds bad. Another positive to this is to start trusting your fingers more. Alright? Take the eyes off. Start trusting your fingers more that they know where to go. So start by doing this with your best chord. So say E minor is your best chord. And you find going from E minor to D very simple. Start there. Okay? You got to build trust. You got to build trust first. So E minor D, E minor D. And if you screw up, stop, check it. Start with your eyes open and then close your eyes again. After a few changes. We want to start building muscle memory into the system. So those are three tips for you guys to help you get this chord changing, this fretting hand up to speed a little bit more, particularly with your rhythm hand. But. But tip number one is the most important. Just don't stop the rhythm for the chord change. Keep things going and your playing will sound more musical. Overall, I hope you guys enjoyed this video. Make sure to leave a comment below with maybe a question you have about playing the guitar. Maybe I'll make a video for you and answer your question. YouTube's going to pop up a couple more videos over here. Go and check those out. And finally, don't forget to give me a thumbs up on this video. Don't to forget because it helps people just like you. See more of my YouTube videos. Thanks so much guys and I'll see you in another lesson. Video.