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Lyle Ronglien >> Beginning Guitar V - Rhythm >>



Beginning Guitar V -
Rhythm

Lesson 1

rhythm (ri-brevethprimeschwam)
n.

1. Movement or variation characterized by the regular recurrence or alternation of different quantities or conditions: the rhythm of the tides.
2. The patterned, recurring alternations of contrasting elements of sound or speech.
3. Music.
   a. The pattern of musical movement through time.
   b. A specific kind of such a pattern, formed by a series of notes differing in duration and stress: a waltz rhythm.
   c. A group of instruments supplying the rhythm in a band.

check your tuning

Lyle: Welcome to this new series of lessons on rhythm guitar for the beginning guitarists. It's very important to be able to play correct rhythm. You can be playing the simplest song but if your rhythm isn't together, you'll sound off. I plan to help you feel comfortable with many of the common rhythm patterns used in everyday guitar playing.

Lyle: Let's start by using the open G chord:

G chord


G chord


Lyle: Take this G chord and strum it once, with a down stroke, on beat 1. Count to four and strum again on beat one. Listen to the TAB file:

rhythm 1

whole note rhythm

Lyle: This is what's called a "whole" note rhythm pattern. You strum once on beat one and let it ring for four beats. Nice and simple!

whole note rhythm


Lyle: Now click the loop button for the tab file and play along with me. You also need to count out loud and tap your foot to each beat, just like in the video clip. This is your starting point for being able to play smooth rhythms. You need to be comfortable strumming, counting out loud, and tapping your foot, all at the same time.

Lyle: Most of the time when I'm working with a private student on this subject of rhythm and counting, they don't count out loud when I ask them too. It can be hard to do at first. Counting out loud, tapping your foot, and even rocking your body to the beat is all designed to get your body into the groove, to be able to feel the beat and help you stay with it.

Lyle: Let's try dividing the whole note pattern into what's called a half note rhythm:

half note rhythm


rhythm 2

half note rhythm

Lyle: Listen to the TAB so you hear the counting and the rhythm. Strum down on beats 1 and 3. Click the loop button for the TAB playback so you can count, tap your foot, and strum along with me.

Lyle: Now lets try strumming down on each of the 4 beats in the measure. This is called a quarter note rhythm:

quarter note rhythm


quarter note rhythm

quarter note rhythm

BigTX: Should your foot be moving with the hand or independent?

Lyle: With the quarter note rhythm, you have everything working together in sync. You have your strumming arm coming down on each beat, your foot is coming down on each beat, and you're counting out loud on each beat. Try looping the TAB and play along with me.

Lyle: Now we'll divide the quarters in half to get eighth notes. Here's where it can get tricky. Try this:

eighth note rhythm


eighth note rhythm

eighth note rhythm

Lyle: With the eighth note pattern you're moving your strumming arm and tapping your foot together at the same speed as when you did the quarter notes, but now you're catching the strings between each beat, thus making an up stroke.

Lyle: In the TAB, the V is the down strum, ^ is the up strum. This is also called the "down beat" and the "up beat".

Lyle: Here's your assignment. Play all of the rhythm patterns in order that we just worked on, like this:

all 4 rhythms

Smitty: So, what exactly is "back beat"?

all 4 rhythms

Lyle: Back beat is a style of percussion in common time where a strong rhythmic accent is sounded on the second and fourth beats of the bar, often from striking a snare drum.

Lyle: Click the loop button for the last TAB and play along to it.

Lyle: Thanks! Let's take a break here. Next lesson we'll expand a little on this. Just keep counting and tapping and strumming....



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