Changing chord problem positions?

[gmhendersonme-com]

None of the open chords seem to be a huge problem, unless it’s a little used chord that I have to think about. I don’t play that much to use every open chord that often. While the barre chords can be difficult, I do find that trying to get to the Bm chord more difficult than the F barre, perhaps because I’m still within the first 3 frets with it, but have to move beyond that to get to the Bm. I am trying to use my middle finger as the scout to find the position first, then get my ring and pinky and barre down 2nd. It seems to help speed up the transition rather than trying to get the barre down first.

[jorgemac]

I think of the Bm chord in a couple of different Keys. Mainly D and G, A and F# Minor. I would first practice making a 1st position Am chord using the pinky on the A note/2nd fret of the G string and get used to making that Am chord in that position. Strum it for awhile and then walk it a fret down(toward the guitar bridge 1 fret(B flat minor) and get used to playing the B.G.D and A strings. finger pick them for awhile using all 4 notes. Then slide that pinky led formation down 1 more fret to the B minor and get used to adding index finger to the D/2 fret.

I would also make the C#m on the 6th fret and the Dm/7th fret and the Em/9th fret.

Do that for a week or two until it is very comfortable. That would be something I would practice in my before practice practice, which is usually 10 -15 minutes before practice that I work on 1 or 2 things that I’m stuck on and all of my usual Barre chord walk downs, including this just explained Minor chord neck walk down, just to try to keep them comfortable to use.

[gmhendersonme-com]

I don’t find I have that much trouble with the formation of the chord itself, but rather making the transition smooth. I find if I place my middle finger down first, the barre and the ring / pinky combo just naturally go to the right strings and frets. ( My ring and pinky work better together than separately). What I was always trying to do before was get the barre in place and then lay down the Am shape ( or even the E shape for the F chord). This lead to some clunky strums as I would sometimes miss the placement. I guess it’s just how my fingers are wired that the middle take the lead in the transition and the other fingers follow.

[jorgemac]

Interesting chord progression in the key of D,F# minor and D that includes the Bm chord.

A – index finger on 2nd fret of the B,G and D Strings

F# minor – add the ring finger to D string 4th fret, 2 strums or more

D – add the middle finger to 3rd fret B string. Strum a couple of times and

B minor – add pinky to G string 4th fret.

very simple and economical chord changes in the D, F# Minor or key of A. key. All made from the stationary Index finger A chord.

I usually add the 4 string g chord and the 5th fret C major 7 chord into this progression also. But the first 4 chords are all made out of that A chord shape back on the 2nd fret.

Once you learn the chord shapes you can mix and match anyway you want.

o

[jorgemac]

Forgot also good in the key of A.