Smooth Moves: 6 Steps to Seamless Chord Switching

BY GP EDITORS
December 1, 2015

No matter what style you play, you must be able to switch smoothly between
chords while keeping steady time and staying in the groove.

Whether you’re strumming basic open-position chords at a relaxed tempo

or attempting to nail complex barre chords at breakneck tempos, it’s
important for your chord-to-chord movement to be fluid.

In this lesson, we’ll give you six fundamental chord-switching techniques

that are applicable to all styles of music and all situations. As you’re playing
these figures, it will be helpful to think ahead at all times—that is, to
visualize the forthcoming chord before fretting it.

Now, bust out your guitar, get it in tune and get ready to switch things up.

1. OPEN-STRING STRUMMING

Let’s start out with some cowboy chords. In FIGURE 1, there’s an open-
string strum on each upbeat preceding a chord change. This might seem
weird, but since the open strings are mostly consonant with the key
signature, there’s no clash in harmony. Plus, strumming the open strings
will buy you some time between chords during which you can form the
fingerings “in the air,” as it were. Note that similar shapes, such as the open
E and Am chords—which are played with the same fingering but on
different string sets—tend to facilitate smooth switching.
2. DISSONANT TRANSITIONS
In FIGURE 2, the open-string technique is applied to six- and five-note barre
chords. In this case, the open strings are not consonant with the key
signature, Eb major. They do, however, create an interesting dissonance
throughout the figure. When switching between chords that have the same
fingering—like the Bb and Ab chords in bar 2,—keep your fret-hand fingers
locked in the shape. Also, as you play through the progression, be sure to
maintain a steady 16th-note strumming motion with your pick hand.

3. PIVOT NOTES

Effective chord switching also benefits from an economy of motion. FIGURE

3 uses a single common tone, or pivot note, for three different chords: C,
Am and F/C. Keep your 1st finger depressed on the 2nd string’s 1st-fret C
throughout. In bar 4, for the Am–C move, there are two pivot notes: the C
and the 4th string’s 2nd-fret E. Try to find other chords that could share
pivot notes,even if they require nonstandard-fingerings.
4. BARRING TECHNIQUES

In FIGURE 4, the 1st finger is used to barre all six strings at the 8th fret for
the C and F chords in bar 1, and at the 10th fret for the D and G chords in
bar 2. This approach allows you to change smoothly from a 6th-string-
rooted barre chord to a 5th-string-rooted one: with your 1st finger in place,
simply roll over your 3rd finger to barre strings 4–2. (If necessary, omit the
1st-string note.) This is a more efficient method for changing between barre
chords than, say, going between two 6th-string-rooted voicing, such as an
8th-fret C chord and a 1st-fret F chord.

5. ARPEGGIATED APPROACHES

Efficient switching techniques are useful for playing arpeggiated chords,

too. In FIGURE 5, since there’s no strumming involved, you can use the open
strings for even more time to switch between chords. Though it’s best too
have each chord shape depressed throughout its duration so that it can ring
out fully, you have the option here to lay down each chord one note at a
time. When playing the G/D chord in bar 4, use your 4th finger for the 3rd-
fret G, leaving your 3rd finger free to grab the root of the C chord on the
repeat.

6. STOPS AND MUTES

FIGURES 6A–C have some power chords, which means “Turn on the
distortion!” In FIGURE 6A, the quarter-note rests make for a cool rhythmic
effect while giving you extra time to move down the neck from the E5 chord
to the C5 chord. To nail the percussive mutes in FIGURE 6B, hold the chord
shape lightly over the intended frets and strike the strings before pressing
down on the chord. FIGURE 6C has some metal-approved muted open-E
gallops. To keep everything tight, be sure to completely release each chord
as soon as you start playing the open low E string.
7. ALL TOGETHER NOW

FIGURE 7 neatly sums up the concepts covered in this lesson. In bar 1, barre
the 1st finger at the 10th fret and keep it down when switching to the Dm
and Gm chords. In bars 3 and 4, the same progression is colored with some
power-punk palm mutes, which create a cool textural effect and give you
extra time to change chords. For a full workout, modulate the progression to
all keys. To do it in E major, for example, simply move each chord down by
one fret.

http://www.guitarplayer.com/lessons/1014/smooth-moves-6-ways-to-change-chords-
smoothly/55341