25 Jul 2012
Practising Tips
A great way to practise a difficult left hand chord change which includes a change in postion (eg from 1st position to 5th) is to separate it into 2 distinct moves. I advise practising each step carefully before moving on to the next one.
- Change from the 1st chord shape to the 2nd, staying in the same postion (eg stay in 1st position for both chord shapes). This may sound very strange as the 2nd chord may sound terrible without the change in position (especially if open strings are involved), but it makes you very aware of exactly what each finger needs to do to make the change.
- When the change becomes more fluent, change the chord (again in the same position) and then ‘slide’ the fingers into the new postion. This involves 2 steps. Change chords 1st – then slide to the new postion.
- When you have tried this a few times it becomes a simple step to rearrange the fingers simultaneously AS you change position on the guitar.
I can guarantee that after a few of days practising this way, the change will become fluent!