BC-115 • 1 Minute Changes

[stitch101]

How do I stop that while still being confident that I am pressing the strings hard enough for my chord?

You only need to press hard enough for the notes to play cleanly.
Set your fingers on the fret board like your going to play a chord but with very little pressure.
Strum the chord and slowly increase the pressure until the note ring out cleanly. That's all the pressure
you need. If you have a decent guitar and it is set up properly you won't need a lot of pressure. 

 

[bakajin]

I've always been a full throttle, or not at all sort of person,  Is there any technique I can use to practice not using as much pressure?  I'm not sure I know how to do "just hard enough" when I try slowly increasing the pressure, it feels awkward and when I try the one minute changes, I think excitement has me grip harder. 

Should I practice the 1 minute changes while leaving my thumb suspended in the middle of the air? 
that would prevent gripping the fretboard, but might lead to bad habits.

[stitch101]

Just slow down and concentrate on doing it right. Practicing bad habit only make them harder to break.
 

[Drubbing]

Going full throttle with guitar, you'll simply choke yourself. It's about being smooth and relaxed and that's something that generally comes over time, as you get comfortable with the shapes and changing them. But you'll make that process harder if you try and wring the guitar neck.

You need the thumb to provide a stable backstop, The guitar resting against you and your strumming arm does provide some neck stability, but you will need the thumb to mute top strings later, so it's a good idea to get used to it being on the back

[bradt]

Yeah, I wouldn't worry about two weeks. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if you are still working on that 6 months from now.

There comes a point though, that you will find that you are just not fast enough. That is where you will see the need for a light touch more than anything.

For now, Grab it like you mean it. Once you get it down, you'll start developing a feel for the touch. You'll naturally start to lighten the touch as you try to increase speed. As you start learning songs it will develop even more.

[ejohnson1226]

I'm on my 2nd week of the beginners' course, and I just watched/learned this lesson last night. (I work a full time job and have 3 young kids at home, so finding time to play is not that easy =]) Anyhow, I'm finally comfortable in my knowledge of the first 3 chords we've learned, so I decided it was time to move on. Counting each individual chord change as "1," I got 8, 12, and 10 chord changes for D -> A, D -> E, and A -> E, respectively. Is this average? Or should I be doing better?

[Drubbing]

You're 2 weeks in, it is what it is. Keep going til you can hit 60 changes per minute.

[Carlo Von Sexron]

Hello All,

Not been here for quite some time. Years ago there was a simple website that someone created that helped with one minute changes. Basically you selected which chords you wanted to practice and a couple of other parameters and the chords would randomly appear on screen for a set time/amount. You then play the chord on screen and then change to the next one when it pops up.

Is anything like that still around? I've tried searching but the search function isn't that helpful and there doesn't seem to be posts pre-2011.

Thanks for any help you can offer

[Metallica_1981]

Hey guys,
I started playing the guitar like 5 days ago.. and today I started with my 1 minute changes.
D to A I hit like  46 times (23). They are not all perfect, but not bad too. I wanted to ask you is that normal?

[TheCasual]

Hey guys,
I started playing the guitar like 5 days ago.. and today I started with my 1 minute changes.
D to A I hit like  46 times (23). They are not all perfect, but not bad too. I wanted to ask you is that normal?

Sounds about right that. Just keep doing the changes until you reach about 60 ish. Make sure you're practicing chords on there own. Strum, pick, strum though.

[stitch101]

Hey guys,
I started playing the guitar like 5 days ago.. and today I started with my 1 minute changes.
D to A I hit like  46 times (23). They are not all perfect, but not bad too. I wanted to ask you is that normal?

Don't get fixated on how many chord changes a minute you can do. 10 perfect changes a minute is far
better than 46 sloppy changes.

They are not all perfect, but not bad too.

Don't practice mistakes, that is a waste of time.
The biggest mistake beginners make is they thinking that more is better so they practice sloppy changes
so they can hit 60 changes a minute. Practice perfect changes then try it again and if you only hit 20
perfect changes your doing better that 46 not perfect changes.

[bradt]

Practice perfect changes then try it again and if you only hit 20
perfect changes your doing better that 46 not perfect changes.

Yes! Also, practice smooth, even changes. I started out racing to get the numbers high, and neglected that aspect of it, and boy did I regret it. Turns out that what your fingers do while they are in the air is just as important as what they do on the strings.

[farmgirl]

Ok I have been playing for around a month or so, I have 3 kids 6,4, and 6 months so my practice time is kinda broken up through out the day. What I work on in the time I get is, (keep in mind that some times I get only 5 to 10 mins at a time)

Doing all chords I know, as in finger placement and strumming the right strings only, C,D,E,Am,Dm,Em,G, and C.
When doing that I make sure they all ring out right.
Then I do chord changes for a bit, no timing it though I only check that 1x a week. I concentrate on making sure they ring out right or I don't count the change.
Then I until today I only did chord change exercises for A,D,E.
I think I am doing pretty good here are todays numbers,
D to E-30
A to A-34
D to A-30, (getting better with this one, this one has been a real thorn in my side)
Now for the 1st time I did these
Am to E-23
Am to DM-14
E to D-28
Em to D-24
Now is there a trick I am missing in the switch between Am to Dm, or is it going to be like with the D to A, and just going to have to plow through it?

Thanks,
 Brandi

[stitch101]

Now is there a trick I am missing in the switch between Am to Dm, or is it going to be like with the D to A, and just going to have to plow through it?

A lot of people have trouble with the Dm it's a weird chord compared to the other chords you know.
Just practice slow and really concentrate on doing them correctly and out of the blue you'll be nailing it
every time with out even trying.
The numbers you posted for one minute changes are really good, even better if every chord is ringing out
like it should.

As for your practice time being broken up 5 minutes of good concentrated practice time is better than an
hour of just fooling around so keep putting in those 5 and 10 minute sessions they add up to hours in no
time. 

[bradt]

Now is there a trick I am missing in the switch between Am to Dm, or is it going to be like with the D to A, and just going to have to plow through it?

Thanks,
 Brandi

Something that helped me in this change was to do it really slowly. Just put your fingers down on Am then lift them straight up and move them all very slowly and simultaneously to their position on Dm. Really pay attention to what you are doing when you do it. There is a sort of pattern there to it, and once you get that, it becomes a very easy change to make.

Give it a go. I'm sure you'll see it. It took me a while to notice it.

Hint: it's almost as easy as E to Am.

[KSanders]

So I'm really just a beginner, doing my fourth round of chord changes between ADE now, second day of this exercise for me.

I did find out that one thing that's holding back a lot of the speed is that after strumming the chord I tend to wait a little bit for the chord to "sing" for a moment. When I tried to focus on not doing that but just going straight on to the next one after strumming my chord, it took my score from 21 to 28 (single chords, not sets). Possibly this might be something others tend to do as well so I figured I'd post it.

Note that when Justin shows the exercise in his video, he also lifts his left fingers up straight after strumming.

[chronophasia]

I have seen great improvement with this exercise. The chords are 100% perfect and I still have a bad habit of looking where my strumming hand is landing(the strings and frets don't seem to be as bad). Although I have learned Am,Em, and Dm, I still feel like I should stick with the major chords first. Should I incorporate these into the routine now? I've been averaging about 30 switches lately. It'll probably take a while for me to get to 60 though.

[Charlatan30]

Hi, I've been practicing for around 3 months now and checking these forums every now and again.  I found it slightly frustrating to keep reading comments along the lines of 'don't worry it'll just happen' but it is SO true!  I've just had my eureka moment tonight and moved from around 40 strums a minute to over 60.  So I would encourage everyone to stick at it, because it will happen!

[Lucky_Luke]

I manage to do 17-20 chord changes from D-A in a minute, what slows me down is that I need to look at my picking hand too to see if picking the right strings. I haven't figured out picking the strings without looking at them yet. I look at the fretting hand to get the finger placements on the strings correct and then I look at the picking hand to see if I'm picking the right strings. Is there a technique to learn picking the right strings without looking at them. Should I have learnt picking without looking when I was learning the chords? When I was learning the chords D,A & E , my focus was on the fingers and making the chords sound right. I never bothered about being able to pick without looking at the strings.

[stitch101]

Lucky_Luke  try practicing playing the bass note then strumming the chord with out looking.
When playing the A chord pluck the A string only then play the chord with out looking. If you hit the wrong
string don't play the chord and start over. Do it slowly for a few minutes every day and with in a couple
of days you will have it down. Do the same with the D chord. D string first then the chord. Use your ears
and not your eyes. You should also try not looking at your fretting hand let your ears tell you when your
doing it right or wrong.

[Dmon1Unlimited]

So far it has been taking me some time to complete this exercise...

In order to play a chord adequately, i need to see what i am doing i.e. look at my fret hand when going into position and look at my strum hand. I end up with about 40 chord changes.

however, i can meet my target of 60 if i ignore my strum hand and focus on my fret hand (i.e. keep looking at my fretting hand when positioning my hand, and randomly strum)

[stitch101]

(i.e. keep looking at my fretting hand when positioning my hand, and randomly strum)

The more you rely on your eyes the longer it will take to learn anything on guitar. Use your ears not your
eyes. Read the four posts above your post.

[Dmon1Unlimited]

Lucky_Luke  try practicing playing the bass note then strumming the chord with out looking.
When playing the A chord pluck the A string only then play the chord with out looking. If you hit the wrong
string don't play the chord and start over. Do it slowly for a few minutes every day and with in a couple
of days you will have it down. Do the same with the D chord. D string first then the chord. Use your ears
and not your eyes. You should also try not looking at your fretting hand let your ears tell you when your
doing it right or wrong.

erm, just to clarify what i should be doing:
first learn the string names: http://guitar.about.com/od/freebeginnerlessons/ss/guitar_lesson_two_3.htm
then:

1)hold the guitar, dont touch any strings
2)strum A string without looking
3) look at string that was strummed
      3a)if correct string is strummed, then position fret hand to play A chord without looking
               3ai)strum chord
               3aii)check if correct strings were pressed down with fret hand
               3aiii)repeat step 1 onwards again
      3b)if wrong, repeat step 1 onwards again

[countryguy87]

Just got done with my first week of playing guitar.  I have practiced every day from anywhere between 1-2 hours each day split into 15-30 min. sessions.  Currently at 82 from D to A, 83 from A to E, and 60 from E to D.  I've pretty much been solely practicing chord changes during each practice session.

[stitch101]

erm, just to clarify what i should be doing:
first learn the string names: http://guitar.about.com/od/freebeginnerlessons/ss/guitar_lesson_two_3.htm
then:

1)hold the guitar, dont touch any strings
2)strum A string without looking
3) look at string that was strummed
      3a)if correct string is strummed, then position fret hand to play A chord without looking
               3ai)strum chord
               3aii)check if correct strings were pressed down with fret hand
               3aiii)repeat step 1 onwards again
      3b)if wrong, repeat step 1 onwards again

Your making it more complicated than it need to be. Let's use the A chord as and example.
Fret the A chord. If you need to look then look. Now that your fingering is correct look away from the
strings. Play the A string with out looking. If you've played the A string correctly strum the whole chord.
If you played the E or D string find the A string and play it. If you can do all this with out looking move
on to the D chord. This will help with your accuracy and your Ears will learn what the notes sound like.
You may have to look to make sure you are doing it right but the less you look the faster you'll improve.