Any advice on how to make my chop chords sound more clean?

It’s a lot of hard work and repetition. Finger strength and very deliberate finger placement are key. Sounds easy, huh?

Having said all that, I still sound a little sloppy doing fast cord changes, but it’s constantly improving. I didn’t realize how bad my chops sounded until I started recording myself a few years ago. Nobody else seems to notice, or care, but me. The more I record myself, the more I realize that I am but a mere mortal.

Try out a seemingly simple song, like Matchbox 20’s 3AM, throw in all the little embellishments, and be humbled. That, and several “easy” songs did me that way. I record a simple cord progression on my looper, just so I can put scales and riffs to it, and I end up doing the loop about 5 times until it sounds “pretty darn good” (as we say in the south). I can still hear a few little flubs here and there, but hey… it’s almost perfect.

Try all the cord changes in The Mamas and Papas’ “California Dreamin’,” and be further surprised at how hard it is to transition those cleanly. They still kick my butt. There are too many other simple cord progressions to name that I still don’t play perfectly clean, but they still sound cool as heck!

It’s a lot of hard work.

It’s a lot of hard work and repetition. Finger strength and very deliberate finger placement are key. Sounds easy, huh?

Having said all that, I still sound a little sloppy doing fast cord changes, but it’s constantly improving. I didn’t realize how bad my chops sounded until I started recording myself a few years ago. Nobody else seems to notice, or care, but me. The more I record myself, the more I realize that I am but a mere mortal.

Try out a seemingly simple song, like Matchbox 20’s 3AM, throw in all the little embellishments, and be humbled. That, and several “easy” songs did me that way. I record a simple cord progression on my looper, just so I can put scales and riffs to it, and I end up doing the loop about 5 times until it sounds “pretty darn good” (as we say in the south). I can still hear a few little flubs here and there, but hey… it’s almost perfect.

Try all the cord changes in The Mamas and Papas’ “California Dreamin’,” and be further surprised at how hard it is to transition those cleanly. They still kick my butt. There are too many other simple cord progressions to name that I still don’t play perfectly clean, but they still sound cool as heck!

It’s a lot of hard work.

My difficulty in this chord progression is on the fifth measure, from the G chord to the B chord... never my fingers go on the good strings to the B chord.

At low tempo it' s possible to hear a "not too bad" chord progression 🤔 🤔