Em to D advice please

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I have been going along quite nice but I have stumbled on the song Get Lucky that involves fingers 1, 2 & 3 together. I have been practicing the song for a full week but still feel I am where I was at the beginning of the week. I just cannot get my 3rd finger onto the B string at the same time fingers 1 & 2 are placed on G & E strings, going from Em to D. Fingers 1 and 2 go down together naturally (if thats the right word) but with finger 3 I have to think about where I want it, then it goes down. It’s getting a bit frustrating, as I gave myself a week to sort out but as I say, it feels like nothing has changed……finger 3 just doesn’t want to play along at the moment.

Can anybody offer any advice that may help me in way of a specific finger exercise, or any tips on how long I should dedicate per day to practicing finger 1 2 & 3 placement for the Em to D chord……any advice would be appreciated that may help. I should say I also regularly do the finger exercises Justin recommends in the guitar app before each lesson I do.

The other question is, should I let it hold me back? I can do all the changes of 30+ and know all the chords……it’s just this one thing I cannot get right that I feel is holding me back.

Best regards,
Paul

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Hi @Paul1234, you could try consciously placing your 3rd finger first, and then the other 2. Practice this just maybe a couple of minutes per day, slowly - it’s not about speed. You’ll see that after a couple of days, you will start to get the hang of it and you will be able to go a bit faster. If that goes well, go for landing the 3 finger s at the same time.

If this is the only thing you’re struggling with and you are fed up hanging around in the same place, then move on, but keep this item in your practice routine. Better to move on and keeping it fun than getting bored.

Good luck!

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Hi LadyOfTheCastle,

Many thanks I will try that. At a lower tempo It’s all ok and I have tried moving up the tempo gradually but as I say, I just don’t feel any difference at the moment. I am going to take your advice so thank you very much for taking time out to help.

Best regards,
Paul

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You might do a mini-barre with you index finger and hold D with the middle one, if I understand the chord in question right…

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Thats such a great song, its tight with a fast tempo and a funky beat. I was super stoked to learn it, but yeah, like you I couldn’t play it back when I was starting, even after I knew those chords. But then I also realized its ok, because it is one of those songs I can really build on. I got it to where I was happy and moved on. I have not actually looked at it in a while, I need to go back to it now that I am just starting Level 3. I was never able to play that song with all the grooves, embelishments and muting like the OG.

I also had a hard time doing this chord change when I first started. It took a while to get that down. Im sure everyone when learning especially up to tempo has a tough time with it. It will come. That one is the hardest chord change of the song in this version.

Since Justin does not have a lesson for this, what I did is break it down like he does his other lessons. This is how I have been learning any songs not covered here on his site.

I learn the chord progression and the time signature.

I do one strum per beat, (Yes, it sucks and its slow when you want to rip) I learn the notes and when in the lyrics I need to be during chords and the overall structure of the song.
Soon I Increase tempo until I feel good with chord changes that are solid. Then I kick it up in tempo, I also go to 2 strums per beat.

Then finally depending on the time sig, I will either down/up or 1/8 note and then to old faithful or the another fast strum.

After that, then the embelishments like walkups, palm mutes and hammerons and stuff. So it is an additive thing, Just like Justin does. Thats how I tackled that song, and how I would recommend it to you as well. Good luck.

Oh I should mention one thing I always do also when I find a chord change I am having problems with, 7th chords, power chord to barr chords. I turn it into a perfect one minute changes excersize. And put it in my practice routine for one or 2 weeks. That helps a lot.

Good luck.

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I do exactly this and yes it helps, a lot!

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Here’s an out of the box approach:
As you’ve spent a lot of time practicing this chord change, your brain is learning, but you’re not seeing the results yet. Switch for one week, play a D7 chord instead. It will still sound good and might be easier to nail since you’re kind of leading with your index finger. After a week or more, return to the regular D chord that was a challenge. I would bet that you find it easier to get after the break. Many reasons why this happens in neural learning and motor performance.

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Try doing one minute changes but put your 3rd finger down first… feels kinda awkward at first. I had this problem with the G chord.

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Have you come across Justin’s lesson on Air Changes?

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Right now I simply would not worry , If you only started in March this year and it’s only just April. You should still be doing your OMC’s until you get to 60+ and it doesn’t matter how long you practice a single piece of music. You will get there, I play almost every piece every day when time permits. Give yourself time, lots more time.

R

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Whenever I’m learning a chord change I think about what needs to move where. For Em to D you have the first 2 fingers side by side. For these to become D they have to slide across the fretboard and until the 1st finger is on the G and the second finger keeps going to the high E. Finally the 3rd finger slots between them , just 1 fret across.
For me hitting the G string accurately is the key because the rest just follows

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Paul - I addressed this exact same issue with these exact same two chords in a previous reply here:

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If your main difficulty is the B string, try doing repeated E- D chord changes, with your index anchoring on the G string. That will train your other two fingers to go to the correct strings. When you have that pat, lift the anchor finger on the E so it becomes E minor?

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on the G string?

BTW: this seems like an excellent idea!

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Haha, typo sorted :rofl:
Good to see you’re still on the ball.
Cheers, Richard, have a good weekend :sunglasses:

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Hi Alexeyd,

Thanks for the advice and taking time out to help. Much appreciated.

Best Regards,
Paul

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Hi ontime1969,

Some great advice thank you. Justins videos do make it easier and as you said yourself, there is not one for this song, unfortunately. Having said that, I suppose we all have to learn to learn without watching others eventually so in a way trying to learn by ourselves, working out things on our own is in a way a valuable lesson.

Best Regards,
Paul

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Hi dblinden,

Yes, I see how you are thinking. From the suggestions given in this thread I will be adding quite a few things to my practice notes. Thank you for taking time out to help out. It is much appreciated.

Best Regards,
Paul

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Hi dave999,

Thanks, I have added this to my exercise list. You are correct, it is awkward but even after a couple minutes practice it starts to come together. Thank you for taking time out to help.

Best Regards,
Paul

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Hi theoldman66,

No I have not come across this…thanks! I have the finger gym and pinky workout as part of my exercises but never seen this so will take a look. Thanks again!

Best regards,
Paul