How to Play Chords Like a Rock Star

How fast is your switching between chords when working the frets? Your ability to change chords with speed, and total confidence, is the basis to learning how to play the guitar, as well as creating and being able to play music with this instrument.

As with any complicated human skill, in order to learn to play any instrument you have to develop the brain to muscle coordination, also known as muscle memory, that is required for playing the instrument. This is similar to how a basketball player needs to develop good hand-to-eye coordination to be able to successfully bring up the ball, get set, aim, and shoot the ball through the basket. Practice, experience and skill teach the muscles of the arms, wrists, and hands the proper movements and strength that must be used to make a basket. To achieve this goal takes continual practice to train and condition his brain, eyes, and body to remember the same routine when he shoots the ball.

The same thing is true when learning how to play the guitar. You need to train your arms, wrists, and fingers to play the chords correctly and with the needed speed, as well as train the eyes, ears, and brain to work together to play the music you read on the score. When you need to change a chord, your reflexes will kick in and you will adjust your hand.

When playing guitar chords, you have to first memorize all chords needed to play the song you want to play. Then you have to visualize how the fingers on the fretting hand needs to move in order to play the right chords. Barre chords need to focus on the index finger, as that will create the "bar" that the rest of the fingers work from.

That index finger should be the first one that is placed on the fret, so that the rest of the fingers can follow suit and create the rest of the chord. Any time you are playing a broken or simple chord, the index finger is usually the primary finger you need to be concerned about.

It is the index finger and the thumb that create the anchor for your and along the guitar neck as your other fingers press the other strings needed to make the chord. With a simple chord, you'll put the index finger on the highest string, which is the easiest to reach for that finger; once it's established, you can then use the other fingers to reach the remaining frets.

When you are trying to play a song, if you want to keep time with the music,you have to be able to foresee what the next cord will be, as well as when you have to play it. You might want to slow down if you're practicing a new song and you're new to guitar playing, just to get the chord placement and timing down. Once a student plays the whole song this way, without any chord errors, then it's time to start increasing the speed to the song's correct tempo.

The most difficult chord changes that need to be made are changes from simple chords to barre chords, changes from barre chords to simple chords, and changes in chords that require you to move your fingers quite a distance from the last chord. All it takes is a lot of practice in order to master it. If you still have trouble at the slower tempo, just skip the last beat of the last chord and employ the extra time to put your fret hand in the correct position for the next fret.

You need to continue practicing your chord changes until you can play the difficult sections the music without errors. Once you master it, you'll be able to play the whole song without fail. You can switch between frantic strumming and plucking individual strings to achieve certain moods and effects with the music; you can even speed up and slow down your strumming to emphasize certain song sections or lead up to the chorus.

Once you have a good idea of chord progression and a greater grasp of the guitar, you can then move on to exact tabs which dictate exactly how the song is supposed to be played. You can improvise along with this, in order to make the song your own.