What is a chord transition?

A chord transition is the physical movement from one chord to the next. On guitar, it's the practice of moving your fingers before playing the next chord.

A chord transition is different from a chord progression. A transition is between 2 chords. A progression is multiple chords played in order, or basically a chain of chord transitions.

Focus on each chord pair

Some chord transitions are easy because the two chord shapes share fingers or sit close together on the fretboard. Others are awkward because you have to move all of your fingers to new strings or new frets.

The C to Am chord transition is smooth because you only need to move your third finger down as shown in these chord diagrams.

At WGA, we cover specific chord transitions one pair at a time. See the Chord Transitions section to find some of the best ways to transition between certain chords.

Related glossary terms

• Chord voicing - sometimes a different voicing makes the transition easier
• Walkdown - a common transition pattern that uses a passing chord