Learning guitar chords and transitioning smoothly between them is a common hurdle for beginner guitarists. The frustration of halting between chords disrupts the flow of music, turning potential songs into disjointed sounds.
This article presents a specialized 5-minute guitar practice routine to accelerate chord memorization and enhance smooth transitions. By incorporating these four guitar exercises, you’ll rapidly improve your chord clarity and strumming fluidity.
Focused beginner guitar player practices chords for guitar on an acoustic guitar
The Common Roadblock for Guitar Chord Memorization
The issue isn’t what to learn, but how to learn. Many resources offer chord diagrams but lack effective learning strategies. Beginners often spend considerable time positioning fingers for each chord, strumming once, then repeating for the next chord. This process can take several minutes to cycle through a few chords, making practice inefficient.
Imagine a gym workout with single reps at different stations – ineffective, right? Chord practice needs to be like a workout: numerous repetitions within a focused timeframe.
Quick Note: For those who prefer visual learning, video excerpts from the “How To Quickly Memorise Chords & Master Smooth Chord Changes: My Simple 5-Minute Routine” video on my YouTube Channel are included throughout this article.
The Finger Pushup: Your Best Exercise for Memorizing Guitar Chords
To maximize practice efficiency, I developed “Finger Pushups.” This exercise builds muscle memory for chord shapes, ensuring you retain them effectively.
Here’s how to perform Finger Pushups:
- Position your fingers on the correct frets for a chosen chord.
- Firmly press down the chord shape for half a second.
- Relax your finger pressure, without lifting them from the strings.
- Press down again for another half-second squeeze.
- Repeat this sequence at least 10 times for each chord.
After ten repetitions, move to the next chord you’re practicing.
This technique is highly efficient because you’re refining the chord shape repeatedly without fully resetting between each attempt, saving valuable practice time and maximizing repetitions.
Crucially, you don’t strum during Finger Pushups. This keeps your focus solely on your fretting hand, reinforcing the chord shape into your long-term memory.
See Finger Pushups In Action
Strum/Mute/Lift: Enhancing Your Guitar Chord Sound
Building on Finger Pushups, the “Strum/Mute/Lift” technique adds a strumming element to refine your chord sound.
Execute the Strum/Mute/Lift exercise as follows:
- Form the chord shape, pressing down firmly on the strings.
- Strum all strings of the chord, listening for clear notes and identifying any muted or buzzing strings.
- Mute the strings immediately with your strumming hand.
- Slightly lift your fretting fingers (about 1-2cm) while maintaining the chord shape.
- Return your fingers to the fretboard, adjusting any inaccuracies, and repeat.
Perform this routine for at least 10 repetitions per chord. Focus on improving each repetition by listening for mistakes and making corrections. Rushing through without attention reinforces bad habits.
Consistent practice with Strum/Mute/Lift will quickly lead to cleaner, better-sounding guitar chords.
Strum Mute Lift Exercise In Action
Mastering Beginner Guitar Chords and Beyond
These two exercises, Finger Pushups and Strum/Mute/Lift, are foundational for learning and practicing guitar chords effectively. Incorporate them into your regular guitar practice.
While ideal for beginner guitar players learning basic guitar chords, these techniques are beneficial for all levels. I personally use them for learning any new chord shape, regardless of complexity.
These exercises are applicable to a wide range of chords:
- Open Chords
- Suspended Chords
- Power Chords
- Bar Chords
- Triads
- Extended Chords
- Altered Chords
Therefore, whether you are just starting with beginner guitar chords or are an experienced player, these techniques will enhance your practice routine. Now, let’s focus on smooth chord changes.
Moonwalks: Achieving Smooth Guitar Chord Changes
A primary frustration for guitarists is pausing to reposition fingers during chord changes. Often, practice involves placing fingers sequentially, which translates to hesitant chord changes when playing music.
While the previous exercises help, “Moonwalks” are designed specifically for smoother transitions. Named “Moonwalks” for the slow, deliberate movements, this exercise focuses on synchronizing finger movements.
To practice Moonwalks:
- Choose two chords you want to practice changing between.
- In slow motion, bring your fingers towards the fretboard above the first chord position.
- Place all fingers down simultaneously, forming the chord shape.
- Relax your hand and lift your fingers.
- Slowly transition to the second chord shape, forming it above the frets.
- Bring all fingers down together again, landing on the frets of the new chord at the same instant.
The goal is synchronized finger movement, arriving at the new chord shape simultaneously. Practice as slowly as needed to achieve this coordination. As with previous exercises, focus solely on your fretting hand during Moonwalks, without strumming.
See the Moonwalk exercise in action
Rapid Fire Changes: Overcoming Chord Change Delays
The final technique, “Rapid Fire Changes,” is crucial when struggling with timely chord changes. This exercise addresses mental blocks that often hinder quick transitions.
Often, players wait for their fretting hand to perfectly form the chord before strumming, leading to pauses and breaks in rhythm. Rapid Fire Changes flips this approach by prioritizing the strumming hand.
Here’s how to practice Rapid Fire Changes:
- Select two chords to alternate between. Strum each chord four times, aiming for an immediate switch without pausing the strumming pattern.
- Change to the second chord instantly on the fifth beat, even if your fretting fingers aren’t perfectly positioned yet.
- Continue strumming, correcting any finger placements as you go.
The results are often surprisingly quick. By forcing immediate changes while maintaining rhythm, you train your fretting hand to catch up.
Step-by-step Rapid Fire Changes:
- Form the first chord.
- Strum it four times.
- Immediately switch to the second chord and strum four more times.
- Adjust any misplaced fingers during these four strums.
- Switch back to the first chord and repeat.
Start slowly to give yourself more transition time, but never stop strumming. Force your fretting hand to keep pace with your rhythmic strumming hand.
Mastering Your Guitar Chord Changes
This article has introduced four exercises for mastering guitar chords:
- Finger Pushups: For memorizing chord shapes.
- Strum Mute Lifts: For improving chord sound.
- Moonwalks: For smoother chord transitions.
- Rapid Fire Changes: For overcoming delays in chord changes.
Utilize Finger Pushups and Strum/Mute/Lifts to learn and refine individual chords. Employ Moonwalks and Rapid Fire Changes to develop fluid chord transitions within songs or chord progressions.
These exercises are effective because they eliminate wasted time between chord changes, making practice far more efficient. Focus your practice on areas needing improvement, dedicating 80% of your time to challenging chords and transitions, for rapid progress.
Lessons From A Top Guitar Teacher in Melbourne
Michael Gumley, owner and head teacher at Melbourne Guitar Academy, guitar teacher in Essendon.
Michael Gumley is a Melbourne-based professional guitarist, music educator, and entrepreneur. He founded Melbourne Guitar Academy, authored the Guitar Ninjas Curriculum, and leads the guitar program at Topmusic Pro. Michael aims to improve global music education by providing teachers and students with superior guitar learning resources, helping them avoid the difficult learning path he experienced.
Melbourne Guitar Academy is Australia’s top-rated guitar school, boasting a 5-star average from over 100 Google reviews. For those seeking the best guitar lessons in Melbourne to elevate their guitar skills, Melbourne Guitar Academy offers exceptional instruction.
Click Here to book a FREE guitar lesson with our expert guitar instructors.
Explore More Beginner Guitar Lessons
For further beginner guitar lessons, explore these articles:
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The Beginner’s Guide To Finding Your Sound & Creating Your Guitar Rig
The Three Phases Of Guitar Practice
