Effective Chord Changing When Strumming

We're using the following progressions for this exercise in hand coordination when strumming rhythms:

C /// G /// D /// G ///
E /// A /// D /// A ///

These are standard open chords so as long as you can play them, I hope you'll find this video lesson useful:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Comments

[KG6_Steven]

Nice lesson for beginners. This technique can really make your playing sound much better. It doesn't always apply, though. Just have to know when to use it and when not to.

[jinsu2301]

I would recommend to play the open G a bit different, with middle and ring finger on A and E string (instead of index and middle finger) and your pinky on the high e string. that makes the change from C to G much easier and gives you the option to play a G4 with your index on c on the b string

[Coda Guitar]

Hi thanks for viewing and for the constructive comments guys.
@KG6_Steven - you're right sometimes it's easier to keep fingers in place if there are common notes between 2 chords, so this lesson won't be ideal for every change. As a teacher I find a lot of beginners are pretty tense in their fretting hands, so the approach taken in the video can help people to relax and to use their wrists more, taking the tension out of their fingers.
@jinsu2301 - good point, it's possible to play a G chord in several different ways. I personally like to try and play songs in the same way as the original guitarist, so I find your suggestion of using fingers 2,3 and 4, is great for some tunes and using fingers 1,2 and 3 is better for others. I've tried the intro to Paradise City (GnR) before and the easiest way to play it is using your method. Other tracks such as Time of Your Life (Greenday) use a 4 finger G chord shape, which is more similar to the one I've used in the video.

Have you guys been playing for a long time, you seem to know what you're talking about?

[g.k]

Please do Amin Fmaj and Cmaj

[Coda Guitar]

Hi this is a general exercise which is aimed at helping beginners loosen up their fretting hands, by looking at ways to changing between contrasting chord shapes.

You can check out this video which has a few other chord changes in it - looking mainly at changes between chords with common notes and notes on the same string:

There are loads of other free videos you can check out on the website too - great for beginners:
http://www.codaguitar.com

[KerNeL_KLuTcH]

changes to Fmaj should be included.

[Coda Guitar]

Hi, like I said above it's a general exercise to help people loosen up their fretting hands when playing and changing between chords. Fmaj could be a good one to use although if you're thinking of the barre chord Fmaj it's possibly a bit tricky to include with beginner open chord sequences. I teach quite a few people to play and find a lot of guitarists struggle with F chords at first - I sometimes suggest people use Fmaj7 chords instead (leaving the top E - open string 1 - ringing out.

There are other videos which use F chords in beginner sequences and in songs on the website listed above

[Jon Bawn]

Very useful indeed- cheers!

[Alexbrycebryce]

I found this insightful and think that Codaguitar.com is a really useful resource!

[gordonbass]

The lesson is well presented.The website has some really good stuff too.