Many
people begin to play the guitar by learning
the guitar chords to their favorite song,
and trying to change them. In fact, I
learned this way. There are many things
to be aware of while doing this. There
are things to know and do that can make
it easier, and guarantee you will have
success. There are also many things that
can go wrong, and guarantee trouble.
You should first understand that often
the term "simple chords" is
very misleading. Most "simple chords"
for guitar require quite complex movements
of the fingers, in order for them to get
into the final "form" of the
chord. In the following essay, I am going
to analyze one of the most common chord
changes, and one of the most misunderstood
in terms of its actual difficulty. I am
referring to the chords G and C.
Let's look at this chord change from the
viewpoint of the ideas outlined in "The
Principles of Correct Practice For Guitar".
And I am also going to use a real life
example of a student of mine named Kathy.
You will see many things in her story
that will be true for you also, and the
principles will apply to all chord changes,
not just G and C.
Kathy's Situation
When Kathy came for lessons with me, she
had already been trying to learn the guitar
for about 2 years, with a few different
teachers, and with no success. She could
struggle her way into a few chords, but
watching her try to change them fast enough
to do a song was an exercise in agony,
for me and for her. Her case is a good
example of how bad things can get when
there is no understanding of the mechanics
of playing and practicing, right from
the beginning.
First of all, I needed to make her aware
of how tensed up her left shoulder was
as soon as she began to raise her left
hand to the neck. This made her whole
arm tense, right down to the fingers.
As she tried to get in to the first chord,
the fingers tensed up even more, and started
leaning and pressing against one another,
instead of having the proper space between
them.
This tension of the fingers immediately
began to cause a reaction in the rest
of the arm, tensing up the large muscles
of the arm and shoulder. All of this created
a great feeling of discomfort, that Kathy
had assumed is "just the way it feels
to do a G chord."
How To Avoid "Lockup"
This is a situation that happens all the
time to beginners, and even to advanced
players to varying degrees. I call this
buildup of tension as the arm is raised
and the fingers about to move lockup.
That is, the fingers, hand and arm "lockup"
with tension, and usually the unfortunate
player continues to try to get them in
position by working through the tension,
trying to make the fingers perform while
they are "locked up".
The thing to do is stop, go back into
the position you were coming from, and
begin to move very slowly, examining the
fingers closely as soon as they release
the first chord, and focus on staying
relaxed from the shoulder down to the
fingers, and staying that way as the fingers
move to their new positions.
Now, you have to look at the whole situation
the hand is in. For Kathy, her thumb was
wrapped around the neck in such a way
that there was no space between her hand
and the guitar, so her fingers had a difficult
time, not being free and relaxed, or having
the room to move. By the time she got
in to the G chord, she was holding on
to it for dear life! Not exactly in a
position to easily change to the C chord,
which is even harder.
Then, as she began to pry her fingers
off the G chord and go for the C, she
did what many people do, she led with
the strong finger, the first finger, that
is, and smashed it down on it's note,
on the second string, first fret. Now,
she was holding on to that for dear life,
with the whole arm, from finger tip to
shoulder, knotted up with tension.
Next came the attempt to get fingers 2
and 3 into position, which was very difficult
for her to do, and me to watch, as those
poor, stressed out fingers did their best
to do her will. By the time she got them
in to position, somewhat, they weren't
standing straight enough to allow the
adjacent strings to ring clearly, one
of the difficulties of the C chord.
So the net result of all this effort was
the inability to change chords smoothly,
and the inability to get the notes of
the C chord out clearly once she got there.
My Solution for Kathy
Here are the steps I used to undo the
knots of tension that Kathy had unknowingly
created and allowed, that were preventing
her from performing actions on the guitar
which anyone should be able to do, if
they approach them properly.
1. I explained the concepts
of muscle memory, and how disastrous muscle
tension is, and how difficult it can be
to become aware of it.
2. I explained the practice
tools outlined in my book, Posing, and
No Tempo Practice, used for becoming aware
of, and eliminating excessive muscle tension.
3. I explained how to
bring the left hand to the neck, with
the fingers in a relaxed curl as she approached
the strings.
4. I had her begin practice
of Left Hand Exercise #1, using Posing,
No Tempo Practice, and the Basic Practice
Approach.
5. As a few weeks went
by, she developed the ability to have
relaxed fingers come to the neck and strings,
and also to have them stretch out from
one another in a relaxed way, while the
arm and shoulder stayed relatively relaxed.
6. Then we applied this
way of moving to the chord changes, G
to C. She learned how to keep everything
relaxed, and how to keep a good space
between the hand and the guitar as the
hand turned, as it must in going from
a G to a C.
7. I had her place the
2nd finger down lightly on the 4th string,
for the C chord first, not the first finger.
As she placed the 3rd finger next, she
kept the hand out, and the 1st finger
poised over the 2nd string, first fret.
8. Finally, she placed
the first finger down, still keeping it
curled, and going down on the tip, but
with the fingertip leaning slightly toward
the headstock, and the hand still out,
so that there was enough space between
the hand and the guitar at the index finger
that you could stick your finger in between
the hand and guitar.
9. I had her stop and
Pose at random times, when the tension
would build, so she could learn to be
relaxed in these positions.
10. After repeated
No Tempo Practice of this, we began to
work up speed using the Basic Practice
Approach. And she started to be able to
do it faster and faster. Now, I am happy
to say, she is playing many songs well,
using these and other chords.
I really believe that without this approach,
she would never have unlocked the tensions
that were preventing her from being able
to do these chord changes. This approach
will work for anybody, and any chords.
Try it, with these chords, or any other
changes that give you trouble, or that
you would like to improve.
