Learning how to change chords smoothly is one of the most challenging aspects of playing the guitar. Here’s my method for getting unfamiliar changes under my fingers. It’s particularly useful when you encounter a chart with a chord you don’t often play, or where you need to play a chord you already know in a different position to make the voice leading smooth.

• Write out the chord progression you are trying to master (if it’s not already written out).
• Practice going from the first chord to the second chord, as follows:
• Finger the notes of the first chord. Check to make sure all your fingers are in the right place and all the notes sound clean.
• Do the same with the second chord.
• Analyze the left hand movements one finger at a time. Here’s how.
• Look at what the first finger (index) does when you change from the first chord to the second chord. Does it stay in the same place or move somewhere? What string or fret does it go to? Describe the motion to yourself (e.g., “the first finger goes from the second fret on the A string to the third fret on the G string”).
• If it doesn’t move when you change chords, say to yourself “the first finger doesn’t move.” If this is the case, go to the second finger and repeat the procedure. If not, keep going to the next step.
• Leaving the other fingers in place on the first chord, move JUST THE FIRST FINGER to where it is supposed to go. Sometimes one of the other fingers in the first chord is already there, or the formation of the other fingers blocks it from getting there. This is OK. If this happens, remove as many fingers as you have to until you can put the first finger in its position in the second chord. Repeat this until you can accurately and smoothly make the first finger go where it needs to five times in a row.
• Now do the same thing with the second finger, third finger, and fourth finger in succession.
• Now summarize the movements. For example, say to yourself, “first finger goes from here to here, second finger goes from here to here, third finger doesn’t move, fourth finger goes from here to here” or whatever the marching orders are. Then say how many fingers you have to move in total, e.g., “I have to move my first and third fingers to change from chord A to chord B.”
• If you have to move more than one finger simultaneously, practice this by just putting the two (or more) fingers that have to move simultaneously in position for the first chord. Leave the other finger(s) off for now. Now just practice moving those two fingers to their correct positions. Go back and forth, chord A to B, chord B to A, over and over. Sound the two notes to make sure you are fretting them cleanly. When you can do this correctly five times in a row, add the remaining fingers.
• The chord change should be very easy to execute now.
• Repeat this method with each chord in the progression. Once you can play the first and second chords, practice the second and third chords, and so on.
• When all chord changes are smooth, make sure you can do it correctly in reverse order. Start with the last chord and practice going back and forth with the next to last chord. Continue all the way through to the first chord. This should take much less time, as you’ve already done the work. It’s just a check to make sure there aren’t any lingering trouble spots.
• If you’re really a fanatic, start with the first chord and make sure you can change directly from it to the third chord and back, the fourth chord and back, and so on. Then do the same with the second chord, and continue all the way through the progression.

Notes:

• Your mind is much quicker than your muscles. Be patient. Your muscles have to actually do the work; intellectual comprehension alone is not sufficient.
• Although it’s tempting, DO NOT SKIP the verbal analysis of the finger movements. For some reason this is extremely helpful to the process.
• Also do not skip working on chord changes you think you can play already. This will ensure that every chord change you need to play is smooth. Sometimes bad habits lurk in what we think we already know.
• In the vast majority of cases, the cause of a fumbled chord change is one finger that doesn’t automatically know what it’s supposed to do. Isolating each finger ensures that you find out where the problem is.
• This may seem like a lot to read and remember. But once you assimilate the process you can go through it quickly, and you can use it any time you want to master a new chord or two.
• You do want to sound good, right? Me too!! If you do the work, you’ll get the results.