I just picked up my guitar again after about 40 years in storage and am having a terrible time moving, quickly, into a C chord. I don’t remember having that trouble way back when. Maybe my hands aren’t as flexible?? Justin said the G chord would be tough and I have no problem getting there quick enuff??
Ideas?
Same thing happened to me and I couldn’t understand why. Best thing I could recommend is the one minute changes.
I did OMCs with C all throughout grade one (aside from Dm, I was already familiar with all the grade 1 chords when I started), and it’s really only now, over 5 months in, that it’s gotten quicker and easier.
It’s likely nothing wrong with your hand, just more practice.
Thanks! I will keep at it. Just seems to me C and G7 chords were the easiest chords…way back when. That’s why I am surprised now.
Thanks…I will keep at it. Some of the chords I thought were difficult back then, seem to be the easiest now??
If your guitar has been in storage for 40 years, you probably just need to practice it more so your hands can remember.
I found C chord one of the harder ones. It took me ages and lots of practice to get it so that the third finger isn’t late arriving to the party.
SO WEIRD to see this post - i had 2 months away from the guitar and when i got back to it over the weekend, the C chord was brutal. I could not believe it was giving me such a hard time. i just assumed the fingers needed time to get back on track. We shall see. LOL
That is indeed weird,
and don’t do that anymore 
… (I hope you haven’t been able to play because of really bad things of course 
)…but otherwise I say “don’t do it again”
Greetings,Rogier
HA! New kitchen - house was pure chaos!
Simply “doing”.
Start slow, but clear sound.
And speed up the pace, after a while.
“C” is always an issue for many players, and simply keep at it, and your speed to “C” will get much better.
Keep playing, and have fun!
I have been playing for over 3 years now and fast changes to a C chord, especially G to C still gives me problems. I just can’t seem to get all 3 fingers in place simultaneously, it seems to be the third finger in the 3rd fret on the 5th string that lags behind. I play mainly rock so I tend to play C as a barre chord or power chord a lot of the time, both of which I find easier than standard open C. I do still work on my open position C chord changes but the issue is not getting any better. I guess we all have our guitar nemesis!!
A technique that could help is to form the shape and move all fingers as a group. Just lightly fret the chord and pull your hand back off just an inch or so while you keep the same shape. Then play the chord again. Don’t forget that there are a ton of songs in the key of c so that one is important to learn eventually. Keep at it and you’ll get it again.
Jeff
Thank you all for your words on encouragement!!! I thought, with age I might have grown more patient…sadly it doesn’t look that way!!! LOL
In the 80’s I quit out of frustration…I AM DETERMINED to stick with it this time!!!
I’m also having difficulty moving to it fast enough from other chords though it’s slowly getting easier. I can go from it just fine but if the song is really fast, and to me that is anything above 100 bpm, I find either my 2nd or 3rd finger missing a string. I may have to add additional OMC changes to perfect this.
One exercise that helped me and others get faster changes to C and other tricky chords was to vary the order we put down our fingers.
So instead of putting them down 1, 2, 3…try doing some slow practice in a different order … 3, 2, 1 or 2, 1, 3, etc.
If you focus on getting your slowest finger down first, you may see some real improvement in a matter of days.
Here’s something that I do when I’m having trouble with a new chord or just plain stubborn fingers…
Every time I pick up my guitar, I play the problem chord several times. Whenever I tune the guitar, I play that chord 1st, change chords several times & play the problem chord last.
When I am practicing chord changes, I always incorporate the “problem child” into the progression… it really helps me! Good luck with “C” !!!
The reason C is the hardest for me is that I’ve empaphised (still without success) muting the ^th string
Here is the problem, either Im muting the 6th AND the D (4th) string, or no muting at all. it’s a hairline to slant my ring finger to mute the 6th yet angled enough to leave the fourth open
I guess my question is how important is it to create this habit of muting the 6th for C or should I just hope that in the future ill ring out just the proper strings, just as in the A etc?
Hi @jewrocks
Others may disagree but personally I would say that if muting the top string is getting in the way of you progressing I would drop it for now and introduce it back in once you are a bit more comfortable with the chord.
The C chord was the first chord I learnt back in the day and was never told to mute strings but once I started playing a bit, I naturally started doing it.
Hi Joseph,
I would actually offer a different view and say it’s quite important to create the habit and get used to muting strings in particular chord shapes. C sounds ok but not great with an open low E (imo), I wouldn’t rely on just hitting the right strings all the time, particularly in high energy songs.
C is the first really stretchy chord you get to and exercising your fingers to open and stretch that way is important in other areas later in the course so useful to start that process here and address positioning. When you say you are muting D with the current technique what finger is causing that to mute?