Super fast chord changes needed for Country Roads?

[Richard_close2u]

Hello @saj78 and welcome to the Community.

@saj78

I’ve set myself the challenge of playing through Country Roads verse and chorus, with a D-D-U-U-D strumming pattern on the chorus

Justin calls this Old Faithful. It is a great pattern to learn. It is in Grade 1 Module 4.

@saj78

The song is at about 160BPM.

@Richard_close2u

If you found that online then the internet has misled you. It is more like 80bpm. 160bpm would be called double-time.

@saj78

should i be aspiring to being able to to 160 changes per minute

No.
That is wholly unnecessary.

@saj78

for the change from Em to C, i basically get the first finger down on the second string on the first downstrum of the C and then put the other two fingers down over the course of the bar.

That is going to develop into a bad habit. Please work to correct it. @stitch mentions air changes which is a great exercise for this type of issue. Also try this I wrote out for someone with fingers that lagged behind the others when going to a chord: Grade 1 - A & D chords - I'm taking it slower to make better progress ... with success - #6 by Richard_close2u

And, as others mention, always slow right down to the speed you can play CORRECTLY and get it right at that speed before moving up in tempo.

I hope that helps.

Cheers

| Richard_close2u | JustinGuitar Official Guide, Approved Teacher & Moderator