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Am/G to F transition question
So been working on full F transitions.. and struggling a bit with extending my index and putting pressure on in time..
If I am doing a simple DUDUDUDU pattern, the C/F transition am able to get into the F in time, but in the Am and G to F, I am able to get the E shape down in time, but the extension of the index finger and getting it down isn’t happening until the 2nd down strum, and once in a while before the 1st up.
Basically my hand won’t extend the index and put it down until after the E shape is in place… I am trying to get the index to start extending before the E shape is down, but can’t seem to get this all to work….
I know , practice practice practice, but is there some exercise or something I can do to help with this? Even if I skip the last upstrum of the open chord, I still find myself taking until around the 2nd downstrum of the F to have the Barre in place.
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This discussion was modified 3 years, 8 months ago by
speckpgh.
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This discussion was modified 3 years, 8 months ago by
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3 Replies
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Hi @speckpgh , On page 2 of the Skills courses there is a course called “Your Next 6 Chords”(very last course listed). I believe an answer for you might be there🤔
Best of luck👍
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Hello @speckpgh ,
For myself, I have been playing a song for a long time, 3 years in fact, where I trasition from a D to a Bm (same finger positions moved toward the floor one string). I finger pick it, so I can’t cheat and hit a partial strum, which you could do in the scenario you are talking about. Just change you stronger, fuller strum to the 2nd beat, which would give you a neat rhythmic change.
Anyway, I have experimented with what Tony shows in one of his lessons. He moves his index to the bass note first, and then moves his other fingers in place. I simply can not do that. Yeah, yeah; practice, time, more time, practice slowly, be patient, practice some more, give it more time. I’ve been trying to do this for 3 years. I can’t do it.
What I have learned is that I can play my last few notes or strums open. You hardly hear the difference in the notes, it’s the rhythm that’s important. So I start my hand movement, or chord transition, whenever is necessary to get to the chord. I focus on the one beat. My hand knows when it needs to move to get there on time. And my strumming/picking hand just keeps going. It doesn’t care that my other hand has bailed and isn’t holding the chord anymore.
Now one more thing: make sure you are holding only the strings necessary with your index barre. For years, I have been barring all 6 or 5 strings even though I have 3 strings fretted by my other fingers. Now I am able to change my hand position because my index only has the 5th string and the 1st string on some chords. And 6 string chords, there are different options when you use the thumb over technique. So there are lots of different options. Use an open mind and experiment.
MG 😀
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Hi @speckpgh , lots of good advice above. I am also remembering an exercise for chord transitions where Tony did a five count and the idea was to bring your hand from your lap to a successfully fingered chord. Once 5 seconds seems like a lot of time you go to 4, then to 3, 2 and 1. Perhaps something lime this might work however instead of from you lap go from the previous chord.
They other thing I do, which actually seems a bit crazy to write, is mentally picture the next chord shape or finger position I want to hit while I am playing away on the current position. For this to work for me I need to have spent some real time on the song. The crazy notion I am using here is to “go where the puck will be” rather than where it is or was. (I know I am about to get hammered by hockey fans for this). As I said earlier – it sounds even more insane now having read what I just typed! 😜
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