Beginners practise chords. Then they try to play a song and everything falls apart at the change. The chords were never the problem.

Watch the gap, not the shapes

Film your hand changing between two chords and watch it back at half speed. Almost everyone lifts all four fingers off, pauses, then rebuilds the next shape from nothing.

Find the finger that stays

Between most common chord pairs, at least one finger does not need to move. Keeping it planted gives your hand an anchor and cuts the change time in half immediately.

The one minute drill

• Pick two chords
• Change between them for sixty seconds, no strumming, no rhythm
• Count how many clean changes you managed
• Do it again tomorrow and beat the number

It is dull, it takes a minute, and it works faster than anything else in this article.