My Guitar Breakthrough and Why I Flipped My Chord Chart Counterclockwise
Learning guitar has been full of surprises, but this weekend brought my biggest breakthrough yet. I was practicing with the chord chart my instructor gave me, and I kept struggling to read it. All I saw were little black dots on lines with no real helpful information. Then something clicked.
I turned the sheet counterclockwise. Instantly, I could visualize exactly where my fingers needed to go on those black dots. It was like a lightbulb moment.
Taking it one step further, I opened Canva and created my own chord diagram for a personal song I wrote. The chords my instructor gave me required too much finger movement, taking my hand off the fretboard and replacing it constantly. My song uses easier chords, and we already discussed using it for practice.
My diagram is basically the traditional way you write notes, but flipped counterclockwise. I added way more information that actually helps my brain process what I'm seeing. Everything is color coded too.
You'll see red numbers at the top showing which fret you're on: 1, 2, 3, and so on. On the right side are the strings: first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth. My first introduction was learning "Eddie Ate Dynamite, Goodbye Eddie" for string names, but I created something different.
Mine goes from the skinny string to the fat string: "Everybody Got Dreams And Expression." To me, this makes more sense. If you want to go backwards, you can say "Expression And Dreams Got Body Every." Obviously the second way isn't as rhythmic, but "Everybody Got Dreams And Expression" rolls off my tongue. I can always remember the first string is "Every," the second string is "Body," and so on.
Instead of black dots, I put the actual note names: C, D, B, F sharp. I added tiny numbers showing which finger goes to which note. For strumming, I put red X marks on strings you don't strum. Open strings get green circles, meaning leave that string open.
This is how I'm learning now. When I go back to my guitar instructor, I'll let him know that whatever he teaches me, I'm putting it into this format. It's unorthodox, but just turning the sheet counterclockwise and adding more information helps me understand what notes I'm playing and what notes make up each key. It's so much easier to know immediately where my fingers go instead of struggling.
Sometimes you just need to flip your perspective... literally 🎸
Looking back, I realize this wasn't just about guitar chords. Many of us learn better when we can customize information to match how our brains actually process it. Visual organization, color coding, detailed information instead of abstract symbols, and spatial arrangements that make intuitive sense - these aren't shortcuts, they're just different ways of learning.
What I did was recognize that the traditional format wasn't working for my brain, so I creatively adapted it. I added visual cues like colors, numbers, and note names that made sense to me. I created a memory system that works for my learning style. That's smart learning.
I spent most of Sunday afternoon creating this system and practicing with it. Now I have a method that actually works for my brain.
The guitar adventures continue in other ways too. Here's a short video of me working on using a pick - that's definitely material for another post!
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That’s it for now.
Head up! Shoulders Back!
🧡 ya!
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Octavia
www.octavialifemusic.com 🎧
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