I find your videos very helpful. My first was 17 then 30,36,39,45. Didn`t increase after that but I’m happy with result for first time.
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Hi, Klimperer42!
How are things faring now with the guitar? Have you stuck with it, and are some things beginning to come together?
I can relate to your comment about the piano versus the guitar – but for me it’s the clarinet versus the guitar. Sometimes my brain wants the guitar to perform DIFFERENTLY because of the way fingering notes on the clarinet works. Overall, though, I’m finding that having prior musical knowledge helps more than hinders. I hope that comes to be the case for you, too.
As a math educator learning the guitar, I LAUGHED OUT LOUD IN A GOOD WAY at the math you did regarding learning chord changes. 
I’m a complete newbie, so I may be way off about this, but I’m thinking that the muscle memory learning probably compounds over time, and that various chord shapes and transitions learned will make learning other ones happen more quickly. Otherwise, those inspiring time lapse progress videos wouldn’t be possible. (I’m referring to those videos that show playing ability over time, culminating in songs with all sorts of chords, within a year of beginning the guitar.)
Anyhoo, I just wanted to let you know that you’ve got a fellow slow progress-er over here. It is taking me a VERY, VERY long time to master the chords and the transitions. I’m so glad that you’ve connected with people who’ve been able to help.
I’ve told myself that I’ve at least got to see what a year of learning will do for me. I’m documenting my learning in a learning log here at the forum, and my aim is to share everything that I would want to see as a complete newbie who is making slow progress. 
TWO THINGS THAT ARE HELPING ME DEAL WITH THE SLOW PROGRESS ON LEARNING CHORDS and MASTERING TRANSITIONING:
- Learning the fretboard (it gives me something else to do . . . and it’s laying the foundation for me to eventually be able to understand the guitar the way I understand the clarinet, via the CAGED SYSTEM, for example)
- Learning the finger picking sequences for some of my goals songs (this gives me a break from forming chord shapes, and hearing myself play something well keeps me GOING!)
Lastly, below I share 3 chord transition videos that have made a real difference for me. So far I’m applying Justin’s instruction and the tips in the videos below to the “A” to “D” to “E” transitions, and it’s making a significant difference. NOTE: We have to be careful learning from fellow newbies (blind following the blind, LOL). I’ve gotten some feedback that the videos below are quality, but of course, check with your trusted teachers.
Many blessings!
1] How To Get Better At Chord Changes On Guitar- [THE 5 BEST TIPS!!!] - YouTube
2] How To Get Better At Chord Changes On Guitar- [5 BEST TIPS!] LESSON 2 - YouTube
The Chord Switching “Game” Chord Switching Practice - C to D - YouTube
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Hi zys,
many thanks for your long reply!
Yeah, thinks have definitely improved! I’m at module 3 now, and E minor and A minor are not that hard 
… There are other things, though, that still need a lot of work (the D-Em chord changes, for example). But I’ll probably progress to module 4 soon.
And I guess you’re right! Prior knowledge and experience can really help. Usually I’m quite good at rhythm/rhythmic aspects of music. And I found that I have little to no problems with strumming. Neither with the different strumming patterns nor with strumming in time. That’s really great!
I wish you all the best! Keep at it and don’t give up!
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Total beginner here. Yesterday I found I do practices better in increments of five because it helps me focus. Day one today of actually practicing this skill and I’ve got 40 changes in 5 minutes. Definitely going to continue to practice until that number is closer to 30/ minute.
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If you are going to do the exercises for that long, be careful to keep a light touch when fretting the chords - otherwise, you risk repetitive strain injuries.
If anything starts to hurt (except fingertips, if your calluses haven’t come in yet), take a break, and shorten your sessions.
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Will definitely work this into my daily practice routine with My Practice Assistant! Thanks, Justin! 47 changes the first go around
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Hi Justin, just wanted to say how brilliant I think these lessons are, everything explained and broken down into great detail. By using the knowledge gained from the previous exercise Anchor fingers I managed 51 changes in a minute!!
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86 changes in 1 min
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Hi there, first off Im very excited to have this website and the app to learn guitar! All the mystery to playing is slowly being removed, and I’ve been wanting to learn to play for a long long time!
I have a question about the practice modules in the app. For the One Minute Changes exercises, there are two- D to A, and A to D. When in one of them, lets say D to A, do I only count the actual D to A changes (and not the changes to go back to D)? If so, I’m only doing about 15, but if I count going both D to A and then back to D, I am doing about 25. If I am only supposed to count the change going in one direction, and trying to get to 30 in that one direction, doesnt that mean I am really doing 60 changes in one minute?
If we can count the changes going both directions in each module, doesn’t that make them essentially the exact same, even though they’re named differently?
Hi Stacy, it’s the latter, count both directions. Both exercises are the same. Once you progress through the grades, more chords are learned. As only the A and D chords have been taught at this stage, the exercise has been included twice albeit reverse named.
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Thank you very much
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#hoogs That is awesome! and thank you for posting your progress at it helps those of us who are trying to catch up LoL
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Question for those who are way past the 30 changes per minute mark, at what point should we focus on making perfect sounding A and D chords? From my understanding these one minute changes are speed oriented. Does perfect sounding A and D chord just come naturally, in a later stage?
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Hi there V, Justin recommends to take it slow and nail the changes first before speeding up, so Perfect Chord Changes are taking precedence over One Minute Changes. After all no point doing 100 changes a minute if chords sound bad. Good luck!
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thanks, completely skipped over the chord perfect practice segment there
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Hey yall,
This is my first post here! I’m having a great time with these lessons so far. I do have a question regarding one minute changes.
I believe, at some point, Justin said do not worry about clarity and worry more about consistent timing. I can usually hit 60+ changes a minute however only about 25% of my changes are clear chords. Sometimes I strum incorrectly. Sometimes my fingers aren’t quite right causing rattle. Sometimes I’m accidentally muting strings. Sometimes I’m completely on the wrong string by my fingers are patterned properly.
I’m just curious if this is exactly what I should be doing or if it should be 30-60 Strums per minute at 80%-100% clarity or if 25% is good enough and it’s more about timing and doing it as well as you can as quickly as you can.
My trouble area:
I’m on Grade 1 Module 3. I can play D chord but its the hardest for me to switch to from any chord I’ve learned. I can switch between it and every chord I’ve learned so far 60+ times a minute but again it’s not always clear when I do it. Although its primarily on the D chord I stumble the exact way across all chords.
Tl;dr: Is one minute changes about doing the changes as quickly as I can or should I also be at good clarity in order for my changes to count?
Thanks!
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Hi Kenneth and welcome!!
OMC specifically is really about building the muscle memory for quick changes but in combination with your chord perfect exercises you should be looking for cleaner and cleaner chords as time goes on.
If you’re up at 60+ as you say then I would suggest actively slowing down when you’re doing OMC and focus on getting 90% or more clean changes at 30 changes a minute. There’s an exercise Justin introduces a little later on called Perfect Fast Changes which addresses this.
Lastly don’t get concerned by D, the combination of fretting pattern and, for me when I did it at least, only playing the 4 thinnest strings was what took me a while to get. It will come with practice.
Sounds like you’re doing great though with your changes so well done and keep at it 
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Thank you Notter, this was exactly the information I was looking for!
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Hey, Kenneth, welcome to the community
I’d say you should incorporate perfect one minute changes with fast one minute changes, id est, to them as fast, but as clean as possible. It’s good, if your changes are fast, but if you say, while playing some songs, that they sound awful, you should go back and practice one minute perfect-fast chord changes. Because, the goal should be as fast and as clear as possible.
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