Forum - Banjo Ben Clark

I need help with a chord transition

Just FYI everyone, It’s way better now. It was only after this particular lick that I couldn’t nail it; very strange. I think it really helped to talk it and think it through which is what you all provided, so thanks a bunch y’all, I really appreciate it.

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Good job @Maggie

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That’s great!
Thanks for coming back and letting us know you cleared that hurdle!

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Well, Archie… I think everything is Heaven is supposed to be perfect anyway, right?. So I guess I wouldn’t have to worry about playing anything wrong with Earl and the boys anyway, I will know it all. IMHO

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Well, you seemed to have solved this but just in case it is still giving you problems, here is my analysis (and sorry, I didn’t realize that this thread was a month old and old new now):

I’ve been playing for a while now so I don’t struggle (so much) to make open chords. Once your fingers are really trained to do this easily, then stuff like this becomes easier. So that solution only involves time and practice.

So I was looking at how my fingers work to play the passage you posted.

A long time ago, in one of his lessons, Ben talked about doing the 3-2 pulloff with the ring and middle finger as opposed to the more common middle and index and talked about how useful it was to be able to do this. So that is what I learned and almost all my pulloffs are middle-ring.

So with this phrase, your fingers are much better placed if you can manage a middle-ring pulloff.

Watching my left hand, to form the F chord, I first place my index (almost like a guide. Once my index is placed, the other fingers go down in a spatial relationship to that finger, if you get what I mean). I place my index as I am playing the open G (3rd string). As I play the open D (4th string) my middle finger goes down, then just before striking the 4th string my ring finger goes down followed by the pinky.

If you do it really, really slowly it might help to get your fingers to learn the placement.

Yeah, I get what you’re saying @bluenote231 and it applies. I did see some success with the ring finger pull off. Ultimately though, what I noticed is that when trying to plant the whole chord, giving my ring finger a little priority because that’s my next note on the fourth string, my pinky finger was stuck to to my ring finger and I couldn’t get it loose to plant it on the first string. I think that’s why subconsciously, I was planting the chord starting with my index, then middle then pinky, then ring, and of course by then it was too late, I had already picked the string.

Once I was aware of it, I focused on trying to keep that pinky away and independent of my ring finger and eventually, I got it. It’s like I had to retrain the muscles or something. So weird though, it never happened on any other transitions to F chord. Something about that pull off…