How To Play Chords Easier And Faster
Click on the video to play chords faster
By the end of this article, you’ll know how to both visualize chords and know how to play them more accurately and have smooth transitions from one to another.Learn How To Visualize Your Chords Before You Actually Play Them
Visualization - creating chords in your head - will help you memorize chords much easier. In fact, you can use this skill to practice guitar chords, even if you don’t have a guitar in your hand. The first step is to make a list of chords you know how to play, and think about how to place your fingers on the guitar to play that chord. The idea behind this training is to get you ready and remember the chord pattern on your hand. This way you can play chords much faster without having to think about where your hand and fingers go when you’re changing chords on your acoustic guitar.Example of visualization for D chord:
- The fourth string is open
- Your first finger goes on the third string, second fret
- Your ring finger goes on the second string, third fret
- Your middle finger goes on the at the second fret

A Simple Trick: Make Your Hand “Remember” Chord Shapes
Remember, visualization is key. When you can “see” chords in your head, and remember where all your fingers are supposed to go, you’re ready to start making your hands and fingers “remember” the chord shapes with muscle memory. Grab your guitar, tune it up, and make a chord with your hand. It doesn’t matter which one. Place all your fingers in the right spot (scroll up and review how to play D if you want), and press down on the strings. When everything’s ready, strum the strings. Don’t get discouraged if there’s a string or two that doesn’t ring out-right. Just relax (don’t get stressed!), and adjust your fingers until you can play the chord. Remember… relax! It’s OK if your fingers don’t know where to go yet. :-) Now, once you’ve got the chord sounding “right” when you strum it, lift ALL your fingers straight up from the fretboard… but hold the chord shape with your fingers. Now, holding that same shape - pretend your fingers are super-glued together in that shape - set your fingers down on the guitar exactly where they were before.
Comments
Hi all. I'm having a problem getting clean cords. Always 1 or 2 not sounding. Also, the radar in my picking hand doesn't zero in yet. I'll hit the wrong string on occasion.. How can I fix this? Thanks in advance. Jerry
Jerry, The key to making clean chords (and hitting the right strings) is muscle memory. And unfortunately, muscle memory is not something you can develop overnight. But, there are easy exercises to help you develop muscle memory, and you can do them every time you pick up your guitar. Here's a video that talks more about the "bouncing" technique for playing chords more cleanly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWkQWcFN1LI&list=PLXsgqaRTz85UKYMpBp174esSOL8aQd0zL&index=15 With picking, it's the same basic idea: you have to "train" your picking hand to zero in on those strings. A good way to do that is simple repetition. If there's a part of a song where you always seem to miss the string you're trying to pick, play through that part a few extra times. The most important thing to remember is that you may not see results immediately, but if you keep doing playing and you keep doing these exercises, you *will* see results. Because every time you pick up your guitar and play it, you're developing muscle memory. Here's another video... this one gives tips on how to alternate pick across strings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bS0cQstd6UA Hope this helps! -- GuitarZoom Staff
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