Tips for Smoother Chord Changes
Learning to change chords can be quite challenging - especially for a beginner. In this post, we’ll learn a few strategies to help you find easier transitions from chord to chord.
The Slide
Probably the easiest chord change is the “slide”. We’ll go to the C-Chord Family to illustrate this chord change from C to G7. We used the slide in our Uke Camp lesson song, “Jambalaya”. Here is a reminder of how that slide worked:
Start with the ring finger on the C chord (1st string, third fret).
Slide on the 1st string from the 3rd fret to the 2nd fret.
Then place the other two fingers into position (index on the 2nd string at the 1st fret and the middle finger on the 3rd string at the 2nd fret - making the triangle shape)
Common Finger
This chord change strategy finds the common finger(s) between two chords. Let’s look at this with the F and Dm:
Start with the F chord (index finger on the 2nd string at the 1st fret and middle finger on the 4th string at the 2nd fret)
Place the ring finger on the 3rd string at the 2nd fret to form the Dm.
What just happened? The common fingers in this case are the index and middle fingers. All you need to do is to add the ring finger and the change is made! You can change back from Dm to F by simply picking up the ring finger from the 3rd string. This same strategy works for the change between Am and F. Start with the Am (2nd finger on the 4th string at the 2nd fret) and add the index finger to the 2nd string at the 1st fret. The common finger is the middle on the 4th string at the 2nd fret. And, you can change back from F to Am by simply picking up the index finger.
The Anchor
This change strategy is for chord changes that don’t have a common finger position or that you can slide into. Instead, you find the finger that helps you form the 2nd chord in the change pair and get that finger moved first. The other fingers simply “follow” and are placed on their appropriate strings. This is a little more difficult, but as you practice this slowly, you’ll find it helps your changes get more accurate. Let’s look at the example of moving from Am to G (that’s a big jump):
Start in the Am position (middle finger on the 4th string at the 2nd fret).
Make the move to G by leading with the middle finger and placing it on the first string at the second fret. then place the index and ring fingers. The middle finger is your “anchor” and sets your hand for moving the other two fingers.
It is a good idea to watch your fingers as you form a chord - which finger do you put down first? The index finger tends to be strongest, so if you can “anchor” with the index you may feel a bit more confident in the change. The change from C to F is similar. The index can lead the change and “anchor” the hand as the middle finger moves to the 4th string at the 2nd fret.
Alternate Fingering
This strategy uses an alternate fingering for one chord to make the change to the next chord easier. Let’s look at how that works with the C to the Am:
Make the C chord with the pinky instead of the ring finger.
As the C chord is ringing, start the move to place the middle finger on 4th string at the 2nd fret. (If it feels like too much of a stretch, try using the index finger for the Am in the beginning, and then just keep working at stretching to use the middle finger.)
This strategy using the pinky for the C chord is good when changing from the C to many other chords since all the fingers are “free” to move.
Leaving Early
This is not so much a separate technique but an option for speeding up chord changes. When you are making chord changes, sometimes you can move either one finger or all of them before the chord stops ringing. “Leaving Early” works best when you’re strumming a chord that does not have a finger on the A string. That open string can ring out while you move to the next chord. Let’s look at an example of moving from an Am to a G.
We saw in the Anchor strategy that by moving the index finger first, we could anchor the hand and the remaining fingers “pulled” into position.
Since the Am does not have any fingers on the A string, as soon as you strum down you can move that index finger and go on to the next chord.
Moving from Chord to Chord in a Song
Changing chords can be a bit intimidating in the beginning. But, as we read above, there are a few strategies to help you make smoother, faster chord changes. Give each one a try next time you’re struggling with a chord change to see which will help you make a faster and smoother chord change.
