Chord fingers and muscle memory

[Evan]

I'm trying to improve muscle memory in my fretting hand. I want my fingers to fall on the strings at the same time. I can do this better with some chords (especially if the notes are tightly clustered and my fingers are all close together).

But for most chords, my fingers 'stack' onto the chord one note at a time (usually from highest string to lowest). I can usually 'stack' my fingers onto the notes reasonably smoothly and without too much delay but I'm afraid that I'm forming bad habits and I definitely could stand to improve on fluidity, smoothness, and speed on any chord form (and on the transitions from one chord form to another).

On occasion, I do suffer from nervous fingers, but I've noticed that by slowing down I can reduce that considerably, though i suspect that this is probably more a symptom of undeveloped muscle memory.

I won't bother asking anything specific, but I would really appreciate hearing your stories, advice, exercises, links, etc. I really want to improve and avoid forming bad habits.

[TH]

I always visualize the root, that finger generally gets the job of locating the position of the chord. Then the shape follows with an awareness of the individual voices. Practice with similar chord shapes, the minor/major, 7th/dominant, 13th versions, so your hands can get the feel of space and the consequence that feel has when you change it. Try diatonic progressions, then larger interval progressions. And lots of practice! SLOW and deliberate. If you practice awareness it'll be followed by kinesthetic memory, but if you do it the other way around you enforce potentially bad habits.
That's my take on it. You'll probably get better advice from everyone else.
David

[smokinguit]

Play the chord you're learn up and down the neck chromatically. Play it going through cycle of 5ths. If you do that every day for a few days it should become muscle memory. That's what I do for every new chord.

[Drumbler]

I'm trying to improve muscle memory in my fretting hand. I want my fingers to fall on the strings at the same time. I can do this better with some chords (especially if the notes are tightly clustered and my fingers are all close together).

But for most chords, my fingers 'stack' onto the chord one note at a time (usually from highest string to lowest). I can usually 'stack' my fingers onto the notes reasonably smoothly and without too much delay but I'm afraid that I'm forming bad habits and I definitely could stand to improve on fluidity, smoothness, and speed on any chord form (and on the transitions from one chord form to another).

On occasion, I do suffer from nervous fingers, but I've noticed that by slowing down I can reduce that considerably, though i suspect that this is probably more a symptom of undeveloped muscle memory.

I won't bother asking anything specific, but I would really appreciate hearing your stories, advice, exercises, links, etc. I really want to improve and avoid forming bad habits.

What you are experiencing is perfectly normal.

I suggest getting a metronome, set it as slowly as necessary.

Select two chords you want to learn and alternate from one to the other for a few minutes. Then select two other chords and do the same, only two chords at a time. Do this everyday and gradually you will learn to play them smoothly.

It takes much practice in the beginning. Patience! Enjoy the practicing.

[Help!I'maRock!]

Play the chord you're learn up and down the neck chromatically. Play it going through cycle of 5ths. If you do that every day for a few days it should become muscle memory. That's what I do for every new chord.

this is a great idea. thanks for the suggestion.

[mr. beaumont]

Anybody else not believe in "muscle memory?"

The muscles, tendons, and ligaments can be trained to become more comfortable with certain movements, but they cannot "remember" anything...any instant recall has to come from synapses firing...so in other words, you have to practice consciously and think a bit about what you're doing for it to stick...repetition alone is not enough....

[Evan]

Anybody else not believe in "muscle memory?"

The muscles, tendons, and ligaments can be trained to become more comfortable with certain movements, but they cannot "remember" anything...any instant recall has to come from synapses firing...so in other words, you have to practice consciously and think a bit about what you're doing for it to stick...repetition alone is not enough....

Agreed. No sd card slot in my fingers. Barring cyborg upgrades...

Can you describe what would go though your head as you start practicing a new chord form?

If I'm being really careful I try to watch my fingers approach the fretboard. I try to make all my fingers begin to move in formation at the same time, and only let them actually contact the strings when they are all on target. That's actually much more difficult than I would have guessed.

When i have my fingers on the strings, I sometimes play the notes in order of interval... Saying the note names, maybe saying the note interval... "C, bE, G..." Or "root, flat third, 5...". And I keep reforming the chord while I'm doing that.

Others here suggested transitioning between two chords. Cool. I was already doing that. Trouble for beginners is that every chord can be somewhat challenging. Im trying lots of thing to keep it interesting, but I'm still very interested to know what's happening in others' heads.

Ya know, ive always wondered about something. I'm right handed. I've never tried playing a left handed guitar. would be much easier to fret with my right hand? I think the most likely thing would be that my left hand was rubbish for finger style on the strings. I'm not planning on switching... Just wondering.

[Evan]

Play the chord you're learn up and down the neck chromatically. Play it going through cycle of 5ths. If you do that every day for a few days it should become muscle memory. That's what I do for every new chord.

Do you mean sliding up and down, or lifting my hand and reforming the chord at each fret?

[Evan]

I always visualize the root, that finger generally gets the job of locating the position of the chord. Then the shape follows with an awareness of the individual voices. Practice with similar chord shapes, the minor/major, 7th/dominant, 13th versions, so your hands can get the feel of space and the consequence that feel has when you change it. Try diatonic progressions, then larger interval progressions. And lots of practice! SLOW and deliberate. If you practice awareness it'll be followed by kinesthetic memory, but if you do it the other way around you enforce potentially bad habits.
That's my take on it. You'll probably get better advice from everyone else.
David

I do pay attention to the intervals/notes, but I have a lot of trouble trying to hit the root first and knowing the root hasn't (so far) helped me target all fingers simultaneously.

I've been practicing something like switching between C major 7, C7, C minor 7. Then moving up to D and repeating. I do this very slowly because I'm really also paying attention to what is changing between the different chord types.

[whatswisdom]

Ever try holding a chord for a long time? They don't call 'em "grips" for nothing. As an exercise, start with some double-stops--especially octaves. Take your time and hold each one for several seconds at a time--the longer the better. Pay attention to getting nice clear notes after each right hand attack and don't release left hand until sound has completely stopped. Use metronome to keep track. It might sound wacko but it has really helped my ability to handle tough chords. Maybe you too... Kinda like meditation...

[Billnc]

What you are experiencing is perfectly normal.

I suggest getting a metronome, set it as slowly as necessary.

Select two chords you want to learn and alternate from one to the other for a few minutes. Then select two other chords and do the same, only two chords at a time. Do this everyday and gradually you will learn to play them smoothly.

It takes much practice in the beginning. Patience! Enjoy the practicing.

This.
I've come to believe two beats each chord is best. wait a while before starting the metronome. I will also take the two chords up chromatically. This works, figured it out very on.

[whatswisdom]

Ever try holding a chord for a long time? They don't call 'em "grips" for nothing. As an exercise, start with some double-stops--especially octaves. Take your time and hold each one for several seconds at a time--the longer the better. Pay attention to getting nice clear notes after each right hand attack and don't release left hand until sound has completely stopped. Use metronome to keep track. It might sound wacko but it has really helped my ability to handle tough chords. Maybe you too... Kinda like meditation...

(I guess Paul D beat me to it...

[jaydogg]

Wow, that's a pretty far out concept. I'll give it a shot. He did *promise* it would be easier :-)

[Billnc]

I think at times we are talking about two different things. The grip itself, getting the individual notes to ring clearly, remembering the fingering. Then, changing from one shape to another.

[smokinguit]

Do you mean sliding up and down, or lifting my hand and reforming the chord at each fret?

You don't lift your fingers. You keep it tight to the fretboard. Practice everything slowly with a metronome move up one fret every 4 beats, then 2 beats. Once you could do that, do it every beat. Say, for instance, you want to learn a 1-5-7-3 m7 chord shape on the top four strings. I would begin on the lowest part of the neck where I'm not playing any open strings. So in this instance I would be playing a Ebm7 root inversion (1-5-7-3) with the root on string four, first fret. I would play that chromatically up to the octave and work my way back down to where I started. After you do this, instead of moving chromatically move in whole steps up to the octave and back down. Next, move up and down the neck in minor thirds to the octave and back down. And finally, move up and down in perfect 5ths (cycle of 5ths). The shape will be imprinted in your mind after doing this a couple times. Don't rush, take your time at first.

[pauln]

Anybody else not believe in "muscle memory?"

The muscles, tendons, and ligaments can be trained to become more comfortable with certain movements, but they cannot "remember" anything...any instant recall has to come from synapses firing...so in other words, you have to practice consciously and think a bit about what you're doing for it to stick...repetition alone is not enough....

Mr. B, the phrase "muscle memory" is not meant to be taken literally. The foundation for transforming deliberate muscle movements into complex, automated, and coordinated motions is the cerebellum at the back base of the brain.

Muscle memory is just the vernacular for how the hands appear to learn and remember how to do things. But it is the cerebellum that is doing the learning in muscle memory.

To get a feel for how much "muscle memory" dominates the relationship between your knowledge and your hands, spend some time playing the guitar left handed (if you normally play it right handed). All your knowledge of the guitar, its layout and geometry, notes, chords, scales and all the music theory kind of hits the wall when your hands don't "remember" how to play.