Some Trick To Change Chords Smoothly

As a beginner, changing chords efficiently can be the hardest challenge. It is one of those barriers that you will have to overcome to be able to strum along to your favorite songs. In today’s post, I would like to share a simple trick that you can use to make your chord changes sounds smooth and efficient.

The trick is to use the open strings to our advantage by playing it right before changing chords. Here’s an example on how to do this:

Consider a very basic strumming pattern with 4 strum per chord. We would keep our fingers down on the strings (P) for the first 3 strum on the ‘Em’ chord, and lift it up (O) on the fourth strum before changing to the ‘C’ chord. Simply repeat the same process when changing to the ‘G’ and ‘D’ chord.

Quarter Note Strum:

| Em      | C         | G        | D         |

1_2_3_4_1_2_3_4_1_2_3_4_1_2_3_4_

P_P_P_O_…etc

P= Press down

O= Open

Here's another example with the open strings played on the '&' of the 4th beat.

Eight Note strum: 

| Em         | C           | G           | D           |
_1&2&3&4&_1&2&3&4&_1&2&3&4&_1&2&3&4&_ 
_P..........O...etc

P = Press down
O = Open

By playing the open strings on every last moment before changing chord as in the examples above, we are giving our fingers enough time to form the next chord that’s coming. The open strings also provides the cover to fill in the gap for the brief moment that we let go of the chord, and the result is a smoother transition between chords. Give it a try..:)