Quote:
Originally Posted by Whitey#1
You got it. All three. Fingering, sounding clean, changing quickly.
Having said this, I am a lot better than I was when I started 10 days ago. The other poster said about a week. I am thinking it will be at least a month before I get even halfway good at playing the C & G Chords correctly.
Yes everybody, you read that right - a month. Is that bad? Am I doomed?
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Not doomed at all! 10 days is just barely getting started :-) First, as you're getting the fingerings down, play the chords slowly, listening closely to each string. If any don't sound clean then figure out why. Could be not pressing the string enough or too close the the far fret instead of being at least halfway to the front fret, or you may be muting the string by touching it a little with one of your other fingers. In any case, work through each string to get it clean.
Once you've got it clean, then work on being able to consistently get back to it cleanly. You can hold the chord for a few seconds, then slightly lift all fingers up just slightly, then bring them back down and see if you get it clean. If so, continue by rasing your fingers higher off the fretboard and bringing them all down at the same time to form the chord. This will get the "muscle memory" thing going and make switching chords easier. What you're aiming for here is to get the fingers down all at the same time, not individually. Try to remember how your fingers are shaped for a chord, and get them in that shape before they come down on the fretboard.
In a nutshell:
1) Learn the fingerings/shapes
2) Work through them by slowly strumming and fixing any muted strings
3) Work on the muscle memory aspect the enable getting to the chords quickly
I hope this helps! You're not experiencing anything most of us haven't faced, even if it's been so long ago that we don't remember it well (or just don't want to admit it). Most of all, don't stress - Have Fun with it!