Chord exercise.
7#9 to 13 Chord shape shifting.
It is always, always important to work on all of your chord combinations. Changing chords clearly in rhythm is the ultimate goal for every guitar player. Be stronger than your excuses. Do the work!
Honestly, I sorta came up with this exercise by accident. I got the idea from the song “Spinning Wheel” from Blood, Sweat and Tears. The progression of the chords during the verses in that song is what gave me the idea to “embellish” it into the exercise below.
You will notice that only your first and second fingers change position from chord shape to chord shape. The third and fourth fingers stay in one position for all of the chord shapes.
When you play the chords in tempo, it will sound like the chords have a bass line that is “walking down” in chromatic half-steps along with the chords, which sounds pretty cool.
It is very important to practice this (and any other exercise), using a metronome. The tempo suggested for this exercise is 90bpm. However, you can start off at a slower tempo. I suggest maybe setting the metronome at around 60-70bpm, so that you can learn the two chord shapes and change them clearly in rhythm. Gradually increase the tempo as you become more familiar with the exercise.
Here are the two chord shapes you will be using for this exercise.
Your Lesson
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