24 Guitar Chord Change Tips

Guitar chord changes are an important part of any guitarists arsenal of skills which is why it's important to develop good strategies to practice them. Good chord practice will make you a better guitar player and these 24 tips will help you develop your daily routine to practice chord changes.

1. Work slowly; give yourself time to make the movements correctly.

2. Know where you fingers are going; be clear in your mind exactly where each finger goes and how it gets there.

3. Work chords in pairs; practice changes back and forth for a few minutes and then move to another pair.



4. Identify a guide finger for each chord that moves into place first and acts as the guide for the other fingers to form around.

5. Find paths of least movement from one chord to another; slow practice is especially good for this.

6. The best place for your thumb is centred behind the neck for most chord playing.

7. Keep your arm and shoulders relaxed.

8. Check your arm is in a good position, not too close to your body.

9. Lift you guitar neck higher; the classical position with the guitar neck tilted up near your head makes fingering chords easier.

10. Plan chord changes in advance; memorize the pieces you play so you know in advance when chord changes are coming.

11. Practice different fingerings for each chord to find which are easiest for you.

12. When you know several fingerings choose the one that makes the next chord easiest to play.

13. Practice "grabbing" chord shapes with your fingers in the air before they touch the guitar strings then place all the fingers at once.

14. Practice often and in small bursts; frequent repetition reinforces your muscle memory and short sessions don't tire your muscles so much.

15. Don't sweat the small stuff; occasional string scrapes, buzzes or muffled notes are not the end of the world.

16. Don't stop if you muff a chord, adjust if you can to eliminate wrong notes or string buzzes but keep playing.

17. Always finger the whole chord shape even when playing only a couple of notes. If you accidentally strike the other strings the chord will still sound OK.

18. Learn one new chord shape at a time. Don't make things hard on yourself by learning a song with four unknown chords.

19. Build your chord vocabulary all the time, have one new chord in progress at all times.

20. Break things down to solve one problem at at time, e.g. get one finger in place, then two...

21. Separate practice of chord changes from strumming or picking; work each hand separately.

22. Use a metronome to set a comfortable practice tempo and to gradually train for more speed.

23. Don't try to go too fast; accept that it takes time to learn new chords and let your fingers technique develop at its own pace.

24. Look for nearby chord voicings to reduce movements.

Chord skills are vital to any guitar player and it's important to know how to practice chord changes to grow as a player. To build a powerful routine to practice chord changes print out these 24 tips and keep them handy to find solutions to your chord practice needs.

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Guitar Chords - A Hard Time Getting Your Fingers In The Right Position?

Do you have a hard time getting your fingers in the right position when making guitar chords? If you do then don't despair, it doesn't mean you're no good at guitar. Many of us have trouble with chord fingerings from time to time, here's a list of common reasons for this problem and some solutions for each.

1. You don't really know the chord position
2. You haven't trained your fingers sufficiently yet
3. The chord is beyond your current ability
4. You're not sure where you're going next
5. You're too tense

Let's take a look at each of these problems in turn and identify some potential solutions you could apply for each of them.

You Don't Really Know The Chord Position

You could experience this problem because your mind isn't really clear where your fingers should be and how they get there.

The solution for this problem is to fix all the details of the chord position in your mind. Study each finger's place, what string and what fret it goes on, and how it gets there. Create a vivid picture in your mind exactly where all the fingers go and how they get there for each chord.

You Haven't Trained Your Fingers Sufficiently Yet

You might know the chord position, but that isn't enough for your fingers to play it. You'll need to train them to perform the desired movements fluently.

If this is your problem then you probably need a combination a good training system and more time to develop your finger skills. A good place to look for more information on finger training for the guitar is the Guitar Principles book from Jamie Andreas.

You're Not Sure Where You're Going Next

You might know the chord and even be able to play it, but you can get into trouble if you don't anticipate changes and prepare for them ahead of time. A hurried chord change makes it harder to get your fingers into position.

You must know exactly where you are and what's coming next as you play. Counting beats and bars is one way to do this but it's quite easy to get lost. An easier and more reliable solution is to learn to sing the words and recognize where the chord changes occur relative to them.

You're Too Tense

You might know that the chord change is coming, but if it's a chord that you have trouble with the chances are you tense up in anticipation of all the bad things that could happen.

Learn to spot tensions and consciously release them as you practice, ask what parts of your body have tension when you play the chord change? It can also help to let go of perfectionist desires - if you attach too much importance to perfect chord changes you'll cause more harmful tension.

The Chord Is Beyond Your Current Ability

The chord you're trying might simply be too difficult for you right now. Your fingers need time to develop the strength, agility and stretch some chord positions require. If you've tried the previous solutions already and still can't make the chord then you should probably put it aside for a while until your fingers are more developed.

Don't force things, you could injure yourself or end up bored and frustrated because songs take too long to learn. Find some easier songs more or look for an easier way to play the song you're trying. Remember, chords can often be simplified.

Let's summarize the problems and solutions we've reviewed now.

1. You don't really know the chord position, create a clear picture in your mind
2. You haven't trained your fingers sufficiently yet, learn how to develop muscle control
3. You're not sure where you're going next, memorize the songs you play
4. You're too tense, identify and eliminate tension
5. The chord is beyond your current ability, put it back on the shelf and pick another

Now you have solutions to five common problems that can give you a hard time getting fingers in right position when making chords. Remember to apply them during your guitar practice sessions.

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Fretnotes - Print Free Tab/Staff Sheets

With Fretnotes create your own tab sheets or music staff for noting lessons or exercises. Select your page options below and print your sheets.



Bookmark this page to come back and print more whenever you need it.

Fretnotes is created by Dan Comerchero.

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3 Tips to Practice Guitar Chord Changes Effectively

The obvious way to learn a new song is to simply practice chord changes in the order of the song. But the chords of most songs were not designed to help you become better at playing and simply following along is not the most effective way to practice.

Changing chords on the guitar is a complex process that involves a large number of fine muscle movements. If you use specific exercises to practice chord changes you will make much more effective use of your practice time and achieve better chord changes faster.

Let's take a look at three effective strategies you can use to practice chord changes instead of simply trying to play along to songs.

1. Keep it Simple

Keep things simple by focusing on learning one chord change at a time. If you set out to work on a song or a passage with three or four difficult chord changes you will make very slow progress.

The difficulty of each change merits its own special attention so break down the problem to work on only one chord change at a time. Forget the rhythm, the duration and order of the chords. Concentrate on learning the finger movements needed to make that one chord change smoothly.

2. Work Slowly

To figure out the best way to move your fingers and hand you must practice chord changes slowly. Don't try to play them in rhythm and tempo until you've got a very good idea of where your fingers are going and know how to get them there. If you play too fast you will make mistakes, repetition of this process will teach your fingers to make more of those mistakes.

When you practice slow moves from one chord to the next look for ways to shorten the paths taken by your fingers and hand. Aim to get your movements as accurate as possible. Only then should you think about gradually speeding up - little by little, keeping your movements clean, accurate and minimal - until you reach a normal playing speed.

3. Build and Integrate

When you simplify the problem and work slowly you'll already improve your ability to practice chord changes, but there is one more important step that will help you to go further still.

Whenever you learn a new chord remember to take the time to integrate it with those you know already. Learn to change the new chord to and from each of the chords you know already. This way you will improve your finger skills and be ready to play more songs with the chord changes you have learned.

By applying these three principles when you practice chord changes you will develop better chord change technique in less time. You will find your ability to change chords quickly, without errors and avoiding noises and muffled notes increases.

Remember to keep things simple - work on one problem at a time, start slow - aim for accuracy before speed, and lastly don't forget to integrate new chords you learn with what you know already.

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Guitar Holidays 2010 - Sea, Strums and Sun?

If you are on the look out for a solution to give your guitar practice motivation a boost, then a guitar holiday could be just the thing you need. A guitar holiday will give you a concentrated burst of guitar learning away from the distractions of daily life.

A short workshop could be the ideal way to start to learn guitar, get over a learning bump, or simply find a new direction and fresh ideas to practice. In only a few days you can get enough ideas and material to fill your practice schedule for several months.

There are plenty of guitar holiday workshop offers where you can learn or perfect your guitar technique in a wide variety of styles. Here's a list of a few places where you might find your ideal guitar holiday.

In the USA

National Guitar Workshop offers comprehensive music education programs for guitarists, bassists, keyboardists, drummers and vocalists at several campuses across the U.S.A.

SummerKeys offers courses for all levels in an old fishing village of Lubec on the Maine coast.

In the UK

Guitar Retreats offers weekend retreats in North Cornwall for guitarists of all levels. Themed weekends focused on one playing style. Out of season - no summer hols?

Guitar Weekends offers exactly what it says in a charming country house in the Lake District, Cumbria. Weekends for different levels from "strugglers" to confirmed players in rock, blues and jazz styles.

Guitar Getaways offer week long intensive guitar study in Cornwall. You can participate in a class or take individual lessons in the topics of your choice.

Cambridge Guitar Holidays offers two hours of individual tuition each weekday morning. There are holidays for beginners and improvers covering skills from chords and strums to more advanced techniques, sight reading, music theory, scales and arpeggios.

International Guitar Foundation offers summer schools in all styles of guitar playing at Cheltenham in south west England. They also offer courses for younger players in London, Bath and Gateshead.

Elsewhere in Europe

Creative Vacances offers guitar holidays in France covering acoustic blues guitar, electric blues guitar and fiddle and guitar. Courses are run by english speaking tutors in the Charente Maritime area of western France.

Mountain Cortijo Holiday Guitar Tuition could suit those looking for warmer holidays. Based in Andalucia, southern Spain, it offers one to one and small group tuition in a mountain farmhouse. Classical, flamenco, blues, rock and jazz guitar styles are all covered.

Conclusion

A guitar holiday is a great way to get in some intensive lessons. If you don't have a regular teacher then it's a great occasion to launch yourself into a new project or finally realize that dream and start to learn to play guitar.

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Learn Guitar - 7 Reasons to be Thankful

If you learn guitar then maybe like many of us you have a lot of frustrations - we wish we played better, had better equipment, progressed more, had longer/shorter/thinner/fatter fingers... If we're not careful we can easily lose sight of all the great learning aids we can be thankful for.

In the past those who wanted to learn guitar had a much harder time. Not so very long ago you had practically no chance to learn to play guitar unless your uncle was a friend of Robert Johnson himself. But now, just about anybody from anyplace can learn to be a great guitarist, all you need is the desire to learn.

Yes, in these modern times those of us who learn guitar have many things to be thankful for, things that make it easier to learn. Here's my list of seven great things that make it a great time for us to learn guitar.

1. Instruction books

First up I think we can give thanks to the publishers of all the wonderful guitar methods. There is a wide choice of books offering step by step programmes so you can learn almost any style wherever you live.

2. Multi-media

Instruction books are great, but coupled with audio or video presentation they are even better. Just about any self-respecting guitar method comes with it's CD or DVD these days giving you a complete presentation of the material. This really makes it easier to decrypt all those musical symbols in the tab or score.

3. You Tube

Who hasn't enjoyed a guitar lesson on You Tube? If not then you're really missing out on some great stuff - and it's all free. You can pick up a favourite song or brush up on the playing tricks of the great players with a huge variety of teachers to choose from.

4. Tab files

Many of us still use tab sheets to learn new songs and there are literally tens of thousands of songs tabbed out on sites around the Internet. Thanks to these you don't need to have perfect pitch to figure out all those songs you want to play.

5. Backing tracks

Backing tracks let you play in a band wherever you live and whatever your level of playing. You can jam with any style of band: blues on Monday, rock on Wednesday, and funk on Friday. That is a great way to build your skills and confidence until you're ready for a real band, or is a great alternative if you don't have the time, or the inclination, to commit to a band.

6. Slow down software

When you work with backing tracks the chances are you will find that sometimes things go just too fast for you. But thanks to slow-down software this is no problem. You can slow down the music to a tempo that's comfortable for you and gradually build up to full speed.

7. Great guitars

Of course, none of the rest would be possible without a guitar to play on, and it's never been easier to acquire a quality guitar relatively inexpensively. There is something for everyone and you can even own and try several different types of guitar if you want.

That's my list of 7 reasons to be thankful if you're learning to play guitar. What else would you put on your list?

Learn acoustic guitar with 153 step by step video lessons, acoustic jam tracks, ear training and music reading software. From beginner through to advanced player with Jamorama Acoustic complete learning system.

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Learn Guitar - Are You Paralyzed By Fear?

Over the last few years I have learned to play guitar and performed in different situations. From the start I've had many fears about what I did. Will I be able to learn this? What will people think? Will they appreciate it? Will they make fun of me? I feared what the people that listened to me play guitar would say to me or think about me and my music.

The good news is that despite this fear I have learned to play over 50 songs and received appreciative feedback for many performances.

So what does this have to do with you as you learn guitar? A lot. We all experience fear at some point whether we're just starting to learn guitar or already play and are scared to move forward and do something new. If you let this fear control you then you are not going to realize your dreams.

The question is not whether or not you will experience fear as you learn guitar. The question is how will you react to it.

Imagine you are standing on the slopes of a mountain when a large rock comes rolling down towards you, what would you do? The right reaction is of course to get out of the way as fast as you can before the rock hits you. This little exercise illustrates that it's OK to feel fear, but you musn't allow your fear to paralyze you where you stand now.

So, there is a right and a wrong reaction to fear. Fear is a natural part of life, it is your reaction to it that determines how well you will do.

The right way to deal with fear is to recognize what it is you fear and take action to move forward anyway.

The wrong way to deal with fear is to let it paralyze you. Don't confront it, don't move forward.

A lot of people have the equipment they need to learn guitar, they have the books, videos or teacher but never move forward. They have access to all the training needed to learn to play guitar but they never do anything with it because of fear.

New experiences are always a bit scary. And challenging yourself to progress and learn to play better guitar will introduce an element of fear. But to move forward you have to overcome the fear and take the necessary actions to learn anyway.

So, what are the fears stopping you from playing better guitar? Can you identify them? Will you confront them and move forward anyway? Or will you avoid them and not try new things, skip practice, or give up learning guitar altogether?

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Photo by Jimee, Jackie, Tom & Asha.

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Learn Guitar - How NOT To Get Discouraged

You choose a long road for yourself when you start to learn guitar. Playing the guitar is a process and as players we evolve constantly. We don’t become good overnight. There are lots of bumps along the way and many times (perhaps even every day?) you may want to abandon the journey. Here are 5 things to remember when you hit those bumps. Discouragement may be inevitable, but here’s how to beat it so it doesn't get the best of you:

1. Assume that what you’re working on will take longer than you think it should. We're always in a hurry to finish pieces, learn new skills, but any project you tackle is likely to expand beyond what you think (or hope?). Allow yourself more time than you may need and enjoy the process more.

2. Allow yourself to play badly. Often times we paralyze ourselves by our fear of mistakes. But mistakes are a necessary part of the learning process and without them we cannot grow and improve as players. All good players play badly at some time, that's how they end up with better skills further on, and eventually with fantastic playing. Get those mistakes out and don't judge them too harshly, if at all, they're a sign you're challenging yourself. So take a few deep breaths, roll up your sleeves, and get stuck in...

3. Finish something quickly. Get it out. You can always go back and improve it later. This is similar to allowing yourself to play badly, but the focus is on speed. Sometimes it helps to just get to the end of something quickly without worrying too much about each note, each chord. Just do whatever it takes to get to the other side: the end. Finishing something is half the battle, once you're at the end you'll have confidence to keep going, you can go back and work out the rough parts, polish the details.

4. Give your guitar some air, get out into the world, show your work to a friend. Don't get trapped in your home and your own problems, sometimes what we need most is perspective. After days of practice living with the same notes over and over again things can begin to feel a little funny. New eyes (and ears) will help us view our work differently. Fresh air is good, too! Take a walk, meet a friend, and allow others to cheer you on.

5. Put the song you're working on away. You don't have to put it away forever, just for a day or two, a week, or longer. Sometimes the best thing to do is allow things to breath. I once asked a teacher what my playing needed, he said "Time." Coming back afresh to a piece can be one of the most productive things you can do. And sometimes, we're simply not ready for what we wanted to do. We don't have to give up completely then, we can simply put it aside for a while. One day you'll feel inspired to move forward when your playing and you are ready.

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Learn Guitar - How NOT To Get Discouraged
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Learn Guitar - How to Keep Motivated

This week Not Playing Guitar is all about how to keep yourself motivated and full of enthusiasm as you learn guitar. I'm convinced that anybody who wants to is able to learn to play guitar and get plenty of satisfaction and enjoyment out of it. The trick is that you simply have to keep going. But many of us run into difficulties along the way, as this excerpt from tomorrow's article puts it:

You choose a long road for yourself when you start to learn guitar. Playing the guitar is a process and as players we evolve constantly. We don’t become good overnight. There are lots of bumps along the way and many times (perhaps even every day?) you may want to abandon the journey.

Now, nobody can remove the bumps from the road as you learn to play, they're part of the process. But this week's articles are going to encourage you and offer ideas to help you avoid demotivation or giving up learning and playing.

Remember, the difference between those who play guitar and those who don't is that the former don't give up. Use the ideas in these articles to become one of them and enjoy playing guitar.

Learn Guitar - How NOT To Get Discouraged
Learn Guitar - Are You Paralyzed By Fear?
Learn Guitar - 7 Reasons To Be Thankful
Guitar Holidays - Sea, Strums and Sun

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Photo by Nono Fara.

Acoustic Guitar Song - Wake Me Up When September Ends

Here's a video lesson showing a fun song to play on acoustic guitar. Greenday's Wake Me Up When September Ends is a great rock song and presents some nice challenges for the beginner going on intermediate guitarist.
The descending arpeggio during the verse sounds great and is not so hard to play with a little practice - pay attention to your picking hand to pick the right strings and keep in time. After that the main difficulty is in smoothly joining the chord passages and arpeggio sequences during the verses and choruses of the song.

The video lessons below show you how to play each part of the song. Once you've mastered them listen to the original to work out how to chain them together to form the complete song.

Intro & Verse



Chorus



Marty Schwartz Lesson

Finally, here's an alternative lesson from Marty Schwartz that shows how to simplify the verse part if you can't play bar chords.



I hope you have as much fun with this song as I do.

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5 Acoustic Guitar Songs for Beginners

Are you looking for some easy acoustic guitar songs for beginners? Here are five songs everybody is sure to know that can be played with just two chords.

1. Oh My Darlin' Clementine

Anybody who watched the Huckleberry Hound cartoons as a kid will know the song "Oh My Darlin' Clementine". Huckleberry sang this song, an American western folk ballad that tells the story of a bereaved lover who lost his darling in the 1849 California Gold Rush.

You can play this song with the D and A7 chords and use a 3/4 strum pattern. It sounds nice too with a bass strum, pick the fourth string on beat one of the D chords then strum twice, pick the fifth string on beat one of A7 chords and strum twice.

2. Hush Little Baby

Hush Little Baby is a another well-known song that's easy to play. A traditional lullaby in question and answer format, the lyrics promise all kinds of rewards to the child if he or she is quiet. To play this song use the C and G chords and a 4/4 up and down strum pattern.

3. Eleanor Rigby

It's not just traditional songs that you can play with two-chords, even the Beatles used this form in a couple of their famous songs. Eleanor Rigby is a haunting song about loneliness from their 1966 album Revolver. Despite its simple structure the song ranked 137 in Rolling Stone magazine's 2004 list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.

You can play this song on guitar with just the two chords C and Em.

4. Paperback Writer

According to Wikipedia Paul McCartney aimed to create a song with a melody backed by only a single chord and just missed his goal with Paperback Writer. Paperback Writer was the Beatle's eleventh single in 1966 and went to number one in several countries.

McCartney may have missed his goal but he still left us a lively and dynamic acoustic guitar song beginners to enjoy. The verse is played on a single G7 chord through until the ending on a C.

5. Born In The USA

A more recent hit, "Born in the U.S.A." is one of Bruce Springsteen's best known singles. Widely thought of as a patriotic anthem the song in fact tells of the effects of the Vietnam War from the point of view of a veteran. The song ranked 275th on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

The song is in 4/4 time, alternate B chords and then E chords for two lines each during the verses. For the chorus play B for two "Born in the U.S.A.'s", then E for the third and finally B for the last.

What could make for easier acoustic guitar songs for beginners than these simple two-chord songs? With a simple structure these are all real songs that are sure to be popular with any audience. Why not learn one today?

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Guitar Pro 6 Is Launched

Guitar Pro 6 is the sixth version of one of the best guitarists tabbing tools around. The new version makes big improvements to the user interface making it much slicker and easier to use. It also introduces a new sound engine that provides for a much better playback sound.

The new sound engine includes hundreds of electric, acoustic and bass guitar sounds as well as a complete effects chain for individual tracks and the master mix. You can choose from 11 guitar amps, 3 bass amps, 14 distortion pedals, 12 modulation effects, 2 compressors, 2 pitch shifters, 11 filters/EQs/wah, or 3 delay/reverb stomp boxes, all based on famous gear like Cry Baby, Tube Screamer, etc.

Add to this the thousands of existing Guitar Pro tabs you can download from the Internet and you have a great tool for guitar practice. To get an overview of the new look and sounds view the video below from the recent NAMM festival.



Check out Guitar Pro 6 today (if you are already a Guitar Pro 4 or 5 user you can get a discount on the upgrade to Guitar Pro 6).


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Guitar Practice - Rituals to Get Started

We all experience highs and lows in our guitar practice motivation. Sometimes it's easy to get started, we just can't wait to try out a new technique or learn a new song. But other times we seem to find a thousand excuses to avoid starting practice.

Often, when I avoid practice it's because I have doubts, doubts about a difficult piece I have to work on, or doubts about my ability to play guitar in general. I have found a good solution is to develop a ritual that gets me into the mood to practice guitar.

If you can associate something pleasant and easy action with your guitar practice it will become easier to start. Each time you perform the action you'll shed distractions and doubts and move into focus on guitar practice.

It's quite easy to create rituals, to help you find yours here are five approaches that I've found useful.

1) Free Write

If you are plagued by doubts about your playing then letting it all out on a sheet of paper can work wonders. Take a blank sheet and simply let yourself rant about your fears and doubts, or you can write about how much you look forward to guitar practice. Write for five minutes and then stop and pick up your guitar.

2) Breathing

A few minutes of deep breathing is a great way to focus your attention and bring on a calm mood ready to tackle guitar practice.

3) Visualize

One way I like to prepare is to picture myself as I step through a door into an imaginary place where I can sit and practice: a beautiful landscape, or onto a stage to perform, or an intimate little studio with all the best equipment for my needs.

If visualization is not your thing then you can use some real pictures instead. Look at a picture of your dream guitar, a guitar hero, or a scene you enjoy to create a happy and relaxed feeling that you can carry over into your practice session.

4) Read

A short and inspiring read from your favourite book, the words of a song or even a little motivational statement you write for yourself is another good ritual. You might also simply read the previous day's practice notes to put your projects back in your mind or spark new ideas.

5) Listen to Music

Why not listen to a favourite piece of music to get myself into the mood to play? You could listen to one of your guitar inspirations or simply your latest favourite track. A voice recording of a motivational or relaxing message might be another useful way to get into the mood.

Take one of these ideas and adapt it for your own guitar practice ritual. Almost any simple activity that helps you feel good and takes only a few minutes will work. As you can see from my list, it can also be useful to have several rituals so you can change from time to time.

Develop a link from the ritual to guitar practice by starting every practice with it for at least three weeks. Your mind will form an association and then whenever you perform your ritual you will have a natural urge to follow it up with guitar practice.

Learn acoustic guitar with 153 step by step video lessons, acoustic jam tracks, ear training and music reading software. From beginner through to advanced player with Jamorama Acoustic complete learning system.

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Slow Guitar Practice - Is It Useful?

Do you use slow guitar practice in your training sessions? In a recent debate on slow guitar practice on the classical guitar blog it seems there are some differences of opinion on how useful it is.

The first post, Rethinking Slow Practice argues that a more effective technique is to practice very short passages - a few beats - at normal tempo. But slow practice is not dismissed completely, it is suggested as an exercise to do after normal tempo practice. Mainly as a way to reinforce the things learned playing at normal tempo.

But this view was followed up with a different opinion in Rethinking Slow Practice - A 2nd Perspective which emphasises the benefits of slow practice. The two main benefits listed are related to listening and technique.

Slow practice lets you listen to each note and get to grips with all that's going on in the piece. It also helps you to resolve technical issues by training your hands and fingers to move correctly.

The Benefits Of Slow Practice

In my opinion slow practice has plenty of benefits for your guitar playing. Here are some of the things you can use it for.

1. Learn the fingerings of new chords, scales or passages
2. Show if your mind and fingers really know where they're going next
3. Identify weaknesses in your finger movements and technique
4. Practice optimal movements from one position to another
5. Memorise a series of chords and notes to learn a piece of music by heart
6. Notice things around the chords or notes you play, e.g. see how musical elements relate to one another

Of course, if you only practice slowly then you won't develop the ability to play at normal speed. Obviously you need to spend some of your time to practice at faster speeds too. But just because slow practice doesn't solve every problem doesn't mean it doesn't have its place.

What's Your Experience?

Have you tried slow practice as you learned to play guitar? What was your experience, do you think it helped you or not? I'd love to learn about your experiences, please share them as a comment...


Learn acoustic guitar with 153 step by step video lessons, acoustic jam tracks, ear training and music reading software. From beginner through to advanced player with Jamorama Acoustic complete learning system.

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Learn How to Build Blues Guitar Solos

Here's a beginner's blues guitar solo lesson from Marty Schwartz of GuitarJamz.com that shows you step by step how to build a solo.

In this lesson you'll learn how to use blues timing to play triplet runs and put it into action with three simple licks. Best of all you'll learn how to use the licks to create whole blues guitar solos and jam to your heart's content.




If you enjoyed the video visit Marty's GuitarJamz site for more.

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