Six Strings
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Beginner · step 2 · Not started

Changing chords without stopping

The secret isn’t speed—it’s never breaking the beat. Goal: move from one chord to the next in time, even if the chord isn’t perfect yet.

Time
15 minutes
Before you start
Your first 4 chords
You’ll be able to
Change chords in time

Why you stop

At first, your strumming hand waits until your fretting hand is perfectly in place before it strums. The result: a gap at every change, and the song falls apart.

You need to flip the roles: your strumming hand never stops, and your fretting hand keeps up as best it can. A slightly messy chord in time sounds better than a perfect chord that’s late.

Four tricks

  1. Put your fingers down all at once. Not one finger after another: shape the whole chord in the air, then drop it onto the strings in one go. Practice lifting and placing the C shape ten times in a row, without strumming.
  2. See the next chord before you get there. While you’re strumming one chord, already think about the next one: where your ring finger goes, which string not to play.
  3. Let go of the chord a little early. On the last strum before the change, lift your fingers and strum the open strings. That “open” strum buys you time to get there, and at normal tempo nobody notices it.
  4. Keep your fingers close to the strings. The farther your fingers move from the neck, the longer the trip. Lift them just enough to clear the strings.

Exercise 1: just two chords

Start with pairs. Strum once per beat and change when the orange dot comes back around. If you can’t make it, lower the tempo: at 40, anyone can do it.

Em
G

Exercise 2: all four chords, two beats each

Same progression as the last lesson, but twice as many changes. This is where the open-strum trick really pays off.

Em

The one-minute challenge

Pick two chords, say C and G. Set a timer for one minute and count how many times you switch from one to the other, strumming once each time you land. Write down your score, and do it again every day with the same pair.

For the first few days, 15 or 20 changes is normal. Aim for 30, then 60: by then, the change has become automatic.

You’ve got it when…