Need help going from D to F#

[mrtak]

I am playing a song that has the chord progression
A D F# Bm

The song is in the key of D

I find the transition awkward and it slows me down(it's a moderately fast piece) when I accompany singers.

How would you play this?

[funkymonk#9]

I would play it any possible way so as to fit into the timing of the song. Maybe you just play the top 3 strings.

[HHP]

If you give up the low bass, it would be pretty easy using open chords.

[mrtak]

Can you give me fingerings? I am playing the F# as a full bar chord right now.
So I am going from open D to a barred F#

I should mention that the F# and Bm are each only one measure, so it's a quick movement.

[HHP]

Originally Posted by mrtak

Can you give me fingerings? I am playing the F# as a full bar chord right now.
So I am going from open D to a barred F#

I should mention that the F# and Bm are each only one measure, so it's a quick movement.

From low to high I'd play the F# as XX4322 and the Bm as XX4432. All you'd do is shift the F# over by 1 string and add the F# note on the 4th string

[jseth]

Are you CERTAIN that the F# is a major chord? You didn't specify, which usually means a major chord/sound, but it makes more sense harmonically to have the F# be a minor or minor 7th chord... just wondering...

Anyway, if you want the bass note to be pronounced on the F# chord, try "hammering on" from the low open E to that F# on the second fret, 6th string... the bass note alone may be enough as a reference, if you are changing to a Bmin chord quickly; of course, the B note is 2nd fret, 5th string, so it could make an easy transition, both for your fingers and for the tune... a jazzy way to play that Bmin7 would be 2-3-2-x-2-x, if it fits the harmonic context of the song...

Hope this helps!

[Ceabeceabe]

Can also try:

Start by barre high e - d strings on 2nd fret with first (pointer) finger

For D: middle finger pressing on b string 3rd fret + ring finger pressing on d string 4th fret.

For F#: start with D fingering above and move middle finger from b string to g string, 3rd fret.

For Bm: Start with F# fingering above and move middle finger from g string back to b string, 3rd fret and put pinky on g string 4th fret.

This will admittedly change the texture of the chords a bit, but I think it rates pretty high on the economy of movement spectrum.

The other way to do it would be to dispense with the barre and don't play the high e that you are leaving open. Not playing the high e string puts the focus on b through d strings with things still possibly sounding different enough.

Good luck, good voicing !!

[mrtak]

Thanks for all the awesome help! I will try a few of these suggestions and see how it sounds.

[stanron]

Originally Posted by mrtak

I am playing a song that has the chord progression
A D F# Bm

The song is in the key of D

I find the transition awkward and it slows me down(it's a moderately fast piece) when I accompany singers.

How would you play this?

Have you tried this?

A

x 0 2 2 2 x

try a first finger barre at the second fret, either muting or just not playing the first string.

D

x x 0 2 3 2

try using a three string barre with the first finger and the second finger on the second string.

F#

2 4 4 3 2 2

Bm

x 2 4 4 3 2

The x on the sixth string could be played at the bar. The other fingers just move together across one string.

[LeftArm]

Would it be cheating to capo at the second fret?
Then you get to play in the key of C:
A>>G
D>>C
F#>E
Bm>Am

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by mrtak

I am playing a song that has the chord progression
A D F# Bm

The song is in the key of D

I find the transition awkward and it slows me down(it's a moderately fast piece) when I accompany singers.

How would you play this?

If the F# is major, I'd say the key was more likely B minor, but it kind of depends how the rest of the song goes. (Does it end on D or Bm at the end?)

Anyway, the easy answer here is as LeftArm says: capo fret 2 and play G C E Am. No reason to play barres if you don't have to, and if it's difficult.
The other capo option would be fret 7, and play D-G-B7-Em shapes.

[jpjr50]

A game changer for me in practicing has been a metronome.

I have a free app on my phone, I wear headphones to hear the metronome and practice hard chord changes (mostly bar chords).

I bet it will help guaranteed.

[mrtak]

Very interesting about the metronome

The song ends on D

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by mrtak

The song ends on D

Is that following the A chord or the Bm? Or is there another section to the song?
Does the song start on the A?
Do you have a link to the song?
(Sorry I'm just curious )

[LouieAtienza]

Nothing complicated about this one... I don't find a problem moving from D to F#m, but if you do...

You can play the A as a barre of strings 2, 3, 4. Then play the D as a barre of strings 1, 2, and 3 with the middle finger playing D on the second string. Then on the F#m you can slide the barre to cover all 6 strings and use your ring and pinkie on strings 4 and 5 for F#m. F#m to Bm should be pretty simple as you already have the barre on the second fret.