Grade 1, Module 6
On the “roll your own” chord changes, I was working my way through chord pairings I’ve not done before and picked G to Dm.
I’ve worked up to 50 changes/minute on the easiest changes, 30s on the C to G types.
Dm to G struggle is reminiscent of the rates from my first weeks: in the teens.
Questions: ---->is this even a chord change that happens in music?
(I have just about zero music theory). When it comes to growing my fretting dexterity, does it even matter if it never exists in a song?
One change to the normal fingering I’ve tried is to play the Dm, fretting the B string with two fingers 3&4 at the same time, so finger 3 becomes an anchor finger. It really sped up my change speed.
---->Would this two fingers on a string be teaching me bad habits that I’ll regret later?
Should I just SIUYBB (“suck it up you big baby” ) and use the standard fingering as it’ll be “better” in the long run.
Dm to G is the “My Sweet Lord/He’s so fine” progression/vibe, so it has some interest and value.
Dm is not a chord in the key of G, and G is not a chord in the key of Dm. So it’s not all that common to be honest. Aside from that, we as guitarists need to decide which hills we are willing to die on. Dm7 is a suitable substitute if you are so inclined to find it easier to play (for now) so that you can move on with your life. You can always go back later and polish it up.
EDIT: Learning chords in a key and chord substitutions are good bits of theory and sonic exploration that are worth sussing out sooner rather than later.
When I was at your stage, I had a really tough time just playing Dm, never mind making good changes to it.
Eventually I got pretty good at Am and C to Dm and worked on that quite slowly so that I could train my fingers to move smoothly and automatically to Dm. But even then, Dm to G was very tough.
Later on, maybe grade 2, I learned the four finger G (Justin sometimes refers to it as Big G) that includes the third finger on the third fret of the B string. This provides the perfect anchor to pivot from Dm to G.
So, don’t sweat it too much at this point and don’t let it hold you back from moving forward. Keep circling back to it on occasion as you continue to build other skills and one day it will suddenly work.
Agree with all of the above. The answer of how important it is if of course “it depends”. I think maybe 1 of the 20-odd songs that I’ve learned (or partly learned) so far have a Dm in and I probably couldn’t play one fluently right now if I was asked (think the change in question was Dm to Am or A) .Conversely you might find that many of your favourite songs need it. Either way I wouldn’t sweat on it right now.
I only practice changes between chords that I actually need. Some day I’ll have covered most of the common changes but I wouldn’t spend much time practicing a change that might come up some day. Not saying this is right or wrong, just it’s how I practice.
I’m an early Grade 3 beginner, so I don’t have “the answers”. I’m not sure I’m understanding what you mean by fretting one string with two fingers. If you are placing two fingers in one fret, my comment is that I’ve never seen that recommended, so I would SIUYBB (love this!) if I were you. If you have one finger in one fret and another finger on a different fret on the same string: I’ve had that technique suggested as a way to get used to a tricky chord change, with the goal of stopping that as you become more proficient.
Having been with JG for a while, I’ll offer another observation: of course, there are many ways to fret an individual chord, and to execute various techniques. However, when Justin teaches a specific way of doing things (at least in the first two grades) he usually has a reason for it. I learned (the hard way) to do my best to follow his recommendations!
Good input all. Thank you for your time. @judi I agree with you: Justin has serious pedagogical creds, and having been at this for more than a fifth of a century has figured out good pathways to work us nubes up to a “guitar playing nube” status. I think I will SIUYBB, (pronounced SIGH-oob) and work on increasing the independence of those pesky fingers 3 and 4
By chance I’ve been flicking through my Justin Christmas songbook tonight.
‘Walking in the Air’ has Am to G to Dm to F to Am. Don’t know if you’re into Christmas songs or not but I thought I’d throw it into the mix since you asked for songs with G to Dm.
Of the common guitar-friendly keys (CAGED), I believe G and Dm are diatonic only in the key of C (where G is the V chord and Dm is the ii chord), and in my experience it’s pretty rare to find the G-Dm (or Dm-G) change in a song.
One that does come to mind is Norwegian Wood, which has a Dm to G change. Interestingly, Norwegian Wood is not in the key of C, but rather the key of D (I think) and Dm is a borrowed chord.
Anyway, I agree with the previous advice about learning something when you need it. I wouldn’t waste time learning G-Dm-G, unless I came across it in a song I wanted to learn. Then I would do the one-minute-changes (or whatever) to make it very solid so I can use it in the song.
Yes. A much more useful song than my 2 weeks a year Christmas example. It’s a slow change from Dm to G to Dm to Em to A.
I totally agree with the previous comments. Concentrate on chord changes you need for songs you want to learn. Don’t waste time on combinations that you don’t need/might never need.
Another consideration is Justin’s Mantra - Practice Make Permanent … if you lok in a bad technique, you’ll eventually have to break the bad habit & relearn… not a particularly effective use of your practice time!
The chorus for Californication has a progression of Am - C - G - Dm. I know because I still struggle with that G - Dm change and I continue to work on that song and still don’t have it down. I actually struggle with the Dm chord in general.
I’m definitely getting better with the change though the more I practice it. If you are going from the G with the fingering of third finger on the thin E string try moving 3rd finger to the B string for the Dm. If you are playing weak finger G with the pinky on the E string then try playing the Dm with the pinky on the B string. I find the pinky on the B string the easier of the two so that’s what I’ve been practicing.
Yes, I’ve been toying with alternate fingering–though when a chord is stretched out over 3 frets I find finger 3 really has a proclivity to hang out right next to finger 2, looking more like a malformed pincer than a chord formin’ machine. “More stretching exercises”, I tell myself, with a healthier dose of patience as leavening. Or, to quote the Wicked Witch (the 1939 version), “All in good time, my pretty, all in good time”.
By the by, it is reassuring for a newb like me to hear “well seasoned” folks commenting that they too struggle with a given fingering, or chord change. Not that “misery likes company” (I’m not miserable) but rather it gives me more reason to lighten the load of self disapprobation So thank you folks for your help.
Oh now, that is a really cool site. Thanks.
The deeper I go, the more I understand it it’ll always get still deeper (and I’m still on the surface now!)
You also pulled out two of my favorite songwriters…
) and use the standard fingering as it’ll be “better” in the long run.
So thank you folks for your help.