Sadly, as much as I love to play my guitar, and I can learn other stuff pretty easily, I am struggling with learning how to keep a good solid rhythm; does anyone have any tips/advice that they would like to share with me? It would be much appreciated.
I'm better as lead.... improvising and whatnot. First off, how long have you been playing and what kind of guitar do you have... ?
im better as lead as well, but for rhythm , i feel it helps as simple as to keep your feet tapping, or nodding your head. You could also try memorizing the time meter in your mind, counting 1, 2, 3, 4, etc.
I can keep a rhythm with acoustic, but I tend to go into solos too easily and get a little too out there when playing with others for backup/fill-in. I play well with others.
Get a metronome(sp) and try to play chords over the beats (so you cant hear them). Once you get it at slow speeds, turn it faster.
you need to have a good rhythm to be able to play lead as well a good way to practice rhythm is to play a scale, a chord, or even a single note along with the beat of a metronome set the metronome to whatever speed you feel comfortable at, and practice playing quarter notes once per beat, eighth notes twice per beat, quarter note triplets three times per beat, and sixteenth notes four times per beat if you dont have a metronome handy, you can find one at http://www.wholenote.com
What exactly do you struggle with? Do you have problems with chords, or with keeping time, or with your strumming patterns?
Alright first off, practice with a metronome, it may seem boring at first but trust me it helps a lot. Just do a basic rhythm of bass note, chord, bass note, chord. Example: When playing a G chord, hit the low E string, bass note, and then strum the chord. Start at slow speeds of about 50 - 70 bpm 4/4 time when doing rhythm or what ever bpm the song you're learning is at. When you feel comfortable at slow speeds you can play faster. This is how I learned to keep good rhythm and timing and it really helped me out a lot, considering I play jazz, bluegrass and metal keeping time and having good rhythm are key things in not only these kinds of music, but other types of music as well. Good Luck! And keep with it, don't give up. Hope this helps you out a lot.
here is the generic strumming patturn i was first tought: capital is crotchet and lowerc is quaver D dU udu down, down-up, up-down-up its a good one to start off with and sounds good and is natural. however when playing it, keep the strumming hand going down-up-down-up-down-up-down-up, except only actually strumm on the beats that i put above. thats all i can really add to whats here. USE a metronome heres another: www.metronomeonline.com
ha, i smack my guitar too... but ive never had any problems like that... try playing along with good rhythm guitarists til youre comfortable with your rhythm... keith richards, bonehead from oasis, john lennon... try studying some chord theory too, it makes everything easier.
oh yeah, another thing that may help: do some drugs. not like coke or anything, that just makes you hyper... but look at videos of keith richards and bill wyman and the other stones' rhythm players. they looked like zombies most of the time, but kept awesome rhythm. works for me too.
I really, really hope you're joking... Regarding the OP, disciplined, regular practice with a metrognome is what you need. Playing with other people (who have good time) also helps.
I agree with Stonerbill, work on a steady, relaxed down-up-down-up-down-up-down-up strumming pattern with your pick hand. That is the essence of solid rhythm playing. Then, recognize that you don't have to touch the pick to the strings every time your right hand passes up or down over them. You can select to play, or not to play, every time the right hand passes over the strings. Every strumming pattern is really a pattern of these decisions. For example (U=up, D=down, Bold=play, lowercase=Don't play): Here is the pattern for the end part of Stairway To Heaven: A-............G..............F........................G DuDuDUDUDuDuDUDUDuDUdUDuDUdUDuDu And the verse to Couldn't Stand The Weather (Stevie Ray Vaughan): C#-7 D u d u D U D U d U d u D u d u Simple, right?
I know this is going to sound very airy-fairy, lofty advice but if it makes sense it works a charm. In her book "Writing Down the Bones" Natalie Iforgethersecondname talks about how writing (or any artform) is all about listening. She tells a story about how as a child she was bashing around on her aunts piano when her cousin shouts "mom, Natalie's tone deaf" and from then on she never sang again because she didn't believe she could do it. Some time later she met up with a Sufi singer who told her that it's all about listening, "Let the music fill you up so that when you open your mouth it comes out naturally". I found this didn't help with my singing much but it helped with my rythym a heck of a lot. Just get the rythym stuck in your head, let it fill your body up so that when you move your hand, it'll be in time. Get a metronome, and start slow, or even better than a metronome, a very basic drum machine. The drum machines sound horrible but I find they are more useful for keeping time than CLICK, click, click, click, CLICK, click, click, click. I hope this helps. Blessings Sebbi
