Have you ever played along with a song and you KNOW your guitar is tune, and you KNOW you are playing the right chords, but it just doesn't SOUND right? Something is "off.
" It's hard to describe, but whatever you are playing just doesn't sound like the recording.
I remember the first time this happened to me.
It was actually a King's X song.
(I'm a huge fan of them.
Ain't too many intelligent and melodic metal bands out there!).
I struggled to sound just like the guitarist but to no avail.
And some of the chord progressions just seemed literally IMPOSSIBLE to play at the proper speed! What was I doing wrong? It took me many years to finally realize that the problem wasn't my playing.
The problem was how my guitar was tuned.
I discovered the art of alternate tuning.
THIS was the missing piece! This is where you DELIBERATELY MISTUNE your guitar to achieve a desired effect.
Some strings may be raised up.
Some strings may be lowered.
Some strings may be raised or lowered together (e.
g.
the last 3 strings move in the same direction).
Or every string might be lowered.
This allows you to do a couple of things.

1. You can play chords that normally would be physically impossible to play in standard tuning.
   Some of these chords can be incredibly beautiful, almost 12-string sounding and simply could not be replicated with standard tuning.
   
2. You can perform chord changes at lightning speed.
   In that King's X example, I was able to play four chords in rapid-typewriter progression, whereas in standard tuning I could only play at half speed - and even then my fingers got all tangled up!
3. You can play leads that normally would be impossible (or at least extremely difficult!) to play in standard tuning!

Once I realized this, then the trick was to determine WHICH alternate tuning each song had! There actually are only a few, and after a while it got easier to pick up when something was done in alternate tuning and what tuning that was! I then tried something I would like to share with you.
I tuned my guitar to some bizarre tuning - not even sure it was an "official" alternate tuning.
I just fooled around.
Raised the 2nd string a half step, lowered the 4th string a whole step, etc.
And then I played a straightforward C -F -G progression.
Wow did it sound strange! And cool, too! I wrote a song with standard chords, and then played it with this alternate tuning.
This gave me more ideas, and I started to incorporate some pretty weird fingering to get some VERY interesting chords!! Eventually, I played the song at an open mike (you know, those bars/clubs that allow guitarists/singers to play for free just to get the experience/exposure?) It went over pretty well! So if you are playing along with a song and you think you are playing the right chords, it might not be your fingers that are messing you up.
It could be how you have tuned the strings!