Music Information

Getting Rhythm - Three Tips for Guitar Beginners


If you are just starting out learning guitar one of the hardest things can be getting a good rhythm and keeping that rhythm going while you change chords with your left hand.

When I first started learning guitar I would strum along happily until the chord change and then my right hand would stop while I changed the position of the left.

This makes your playing sound terrible. In fact if you can keep that right hand strumming or picking the sequence, you will sound good. If you are a bit slow with your chord changes and strum some open strings in between you will still sound good. But lose that rhythm and everybody knows that you are messing up.

Here are my top three tips for getting past this learning stage.

#1 Play open strings for the last beat in the bar so you have time to change chord shape. For example if your are to play | G G G G | D D D D | C C C C | instead play | G G G O | D D D O | C C C O | where O is a strum of the open strings. Listen carefully and you will notice a lot of guitar players do this. And it sounds just fine.

#2 Move your body to the rhythm. When I started out I was told to tap my foot to the rhythm.

1 2 3 4 | 1 2 3 4 | 1 2 3 4

I just couldn't do it. It seemed like one more thing to remember and overloaded my system. Then I learned to move my head to the rhythm and immediately my timing improved. I would nod to the beat and move side to side a bit as well. I guess it's just horses for courses. You need to find what works best for you but if you can't tap your foot try nodding your head or even bouncing the whole of the top half of your body. Get the beat rattling through your bones!

*** Increase your tempo gradually one beat at a time. You can use a metronome to keep time but I prefer a drum machine. I need to really hear that beat in order to know that I'm with it. You can get Metronomes and Drum Machines to download to your PC. For an excellent free drum machine visit www.just-jammin.com.

Once you have your drum machine, set it up so that there is a heavier beat on the first beat in the bar. Then set a nice easy tempo. If need be start as low as 70 beats per minute. When you can play your piece smoothly at this speed play it again at 71, then 72 etc. You'll be surprised at just how quickly you can get up to full speed.

Darren Power is the webmaster at http://www.just-jammin.com where you will find the best price on your new guitar, reviews of the latest training products along with guitar news & freebies


MORE RESOURCES:

Michael: Music helped my depression
The Press Association - 8 hours ago
It is his first tour in the US in 17 years and the 45-year-old pop star told Good Morning America it was his music which got him through the years of ...


Is LA county the new center of the white power music industry?
Los Angeles Times, CA - 7 hours ago
"This is the center of the `white power' music industry, right here in Los Angeles," said Amanda Susskind, director of the Pacific Southwest region of the ...


Report: MySpace could work with Amazon on music service
CNET News, CA - 9 hours ago
Amazon.com could become the e-commerce engine behind the MySpace Music service expected to launch in September, according to a report on TechCrunch. ...
Amazon, Apple may back MySpace Music Electronista
Amazon To Power Upcoming MySpace Music Downloads TechCrunch
all 4 news articles


LA Times Music Blog
Los Angeles Times, CA - 5 hours ago
Curated by music supervisor and KCRW DJ Chris Douridas, the compilation segues from melancholic beauty like Patrick Watson’s “The Great Escape,” Cat ...


Yahoo Becomes Latest Site to Mute Music Purchases
Washington Post, United States - 8 hours ago
The e-mail Yahoo sent out yesterday to customers of its Yahoo Music online store could not have surprised anybody who's been following the music-download ...


Music review: Brahms shakes up Mozart festival
San Francisco Chronicle,  USA - 48 minutes ago
... Brahms came on the scene, the first movement sounded muscular and arresting, with Demidenko and Cleve sharing an aptly tempestuous view of the music. ...


Batanga, Inc. Brings Music, Video and Community to Five Million US ...
FOXBusiness - 4 hours ago
Batanga.com features one of the largest inventories of Latin media content, with exclusive online music stations, on-demand videos, lifestyle news and ...


Seattle Times

It's a big (Vampire) Weekend for music, and Capitol Hill
Seattle Times, United States - 16 hours ago
Meinert says it's the Block Party's best music lineup ever. "It's pretty deep this year. We were able to add a stage, so it's let us do a lot more local ...
The Hold Steady: all about the party, and what comes after Seattle Times
all 3 news articles


Maria von Trapp returns to home that inspired The Sound of Music
Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom - 1 hour ago
Seventy years after fleeing the Nazis, a 93-year-old woman whose family was immortalised in "The Sound of Music" has returned to Austria to visit her former ...


Soul-music singer co-wrote 'Harlem Shuffle'
Chicago Tribune, United States - 16 hours ago
LOS ANGELES — Earl Lee Nelson, half of the soul-music singing duo Bob & Earl, who were best known for writing the R&B classic "Harlem Shuffle," has died. ...

Music - Google News

home | site map
© 2006