6 Rhythms Every Guitar Player Needs To Know
Today I will be presenting six fundamental rhythms crucial for anyone aiming to become a skilled guitar player. These versatile patterns are widely used in countless songs, making them essential for anyone looking to excel in various musical settings.
Not only should you become proficient in these essential rhythms, but I will also emphasize the vital skills you will hone when you practicing each pattern. These skills will enable you to create your unique variations of these rhythms.
Mastering these essential rhythms will equip you to confidently approach a diverse range of musical styles and genres, establishing a strong foundation that will make covering songs or creating original music much more accessible. So, grab your guitar and get ready to explore these indispensable rhythms.
Transcription From The Video
Rhythm #1
The first rhythm we'll examine today is what I call the Root Strum. We will play it with a quarter-note pulse. For many people, this is a simple strum, but it's one you want to know because it's used all the time. There's an added benefit to practicing this one: You get to practice your pick-hand accuracy. For the first version of this, let’s put root notes on beats 1 and 3.
If you can play that example easily, you can start switching chords, in which case the root notes often switch strings, or you can target more than one note in a chord, making your pick hand even more accurate.
Once you can do that, you want to start developing your own variations. The root strum is something that every guitar player needs to be able to do.
Rhythm #2
For this one, we will work with an eighth-note pendulum strum. This is what most people think of when they talk about strumming. With this technique, your right hand never stops moving. The best way to practice this is to start with muted notes. You take your fretting hand, put as lightly as possible on the strings, and get that dead sound. You play a downward motion on the beat and an upward motion on the +’s.
Once you get those motions down and it starts feeling comfortable, you can mix quarter and eight notes together. This is one of the most common strums in this style. You get to practice your air guitar motions on beat three, where this is a tie. Your hand keeps moving, but you miss the strings on that downstroke.
Rhythm #3
This rhythm is also a pendulum strum but at a new speed. Another common place to use this technique is when you play at a 16th-note pace. To begin, you want to play muted strings again, but this time, within each beat, you will have four motions. You can count 1 e + a, 2 e + a, 3 e + a, or 4 e + a. It's a good idea to add some accents on the downbeats.
Here is a standard strum at this speed. You can talk your hand through the correct motions.
Rhythm #4
The next rhythm every guitar player should know is the all-down strum eighth note pattern. Using all-downstrokes gives you a more frantic, in-your-face feel. You can do this with open chords, but one of the more common ways is with power chords. Let’s do a few examples. The first one is an A power chord.
Another common thing to do with this rhythm is to play a boogie pattern.
You can also play an accent pattern that mixes chords and root notes.
Rhythm #5
For this rhythm, we will add some muted notes. This is a common technique you want to be able to do no matter what style of music you play.
Muted notes are much easier with bar chords. To get the muted sound, you just lift up your fingers a little bit but still touch the string.
Quite a few songs come to mind even when playing that rhythm with one chord.
When using this technique with open chords, you must incorporate both hands. You will still slightly lift your fretting hand. With your pick hand, you want to use the side of your palm to mute any open strings. It touches the strings just before your pick, so it seems like it is happening simultaneously.
Rhythm #6
Let’s play a rhythm that incorporates some rests. Sometimes, space is precisely what a rhythm needs so other instruments can shine through or complete silence. Sometimes, the perfect thing to play is nothing.
Rests are super important, and a rest means absolute silence. There is nothing worse than when the whole band's supposed to stop and the guitar player lets their part ring through. You never want to be the guy doing that. You want to be the guy doing that nice, tight stop with the rest of the band.
We will play on the 1 and the + of 2 for this one. Everything else should be silent. Make sure that there are no ringing strings or extra noise.
If you're looking to truly master rhythm, boost your creativity, and learn many fun ways to create your own rhythmic variations, I highly recommend my course, Ultimate Rhythm Mastery.
Ultimate Rhythm Mastery isn't a book; it's a comprehensive video course that takes you from the most basic to advanced rhythms. It covers everything you need to know about rhythms, time signatures, and how to unleash your creativity through these musical elements.
You learn how to apply each concept to the guitar in a practical way, and I'll guide you through each step and demonstrate how to effectively practice the material for maximum progress. All the concepts are reinforced through exercises, ensuring you know exactly how to apply them.
Click this link to learn more about Ultimate Rhythm Mastery.