Rhythm Playing

[BonzaiBob]

Hello people...

I need some advice/recommendations on my rhythm playing. Ever since i started playing some 5 years or so ago. I've always stuck close to lead playing. My brother has been playing for over 10 years, and sticks mainly to acoustic the last couple of those years, i would be considered a better lead player than him, technically more advanced, but him a better rhythm player, he's really awesome and i personally think rhythm playing is the key to be considered a great guitarist.

So, i've decided to hang up my electric and invest in a nice acoustic and focus on that for the immediate future and develop my rhythm playing to equal and maybe even surpass my lead abilities.

So far when ever i do pick up an acoustic i'm limited in what i play, my favourite acoustic record would probably be Clapton Unplugged so i can play most of that. But i'm here looking for advice/recommendations on advanced rhythm based songs/techniques to learn to improve my own skills.

Any comments are more that welcome:)

Thanking you,
Dan

[joeyd929]

This is about as basic as it gets, have you ever done this sort of rhythm? I attached a short mp3 and a power tab.. There are 2 different intervals rocking back and forth... D A then D B

For the first use fingers 1 and 3 (some use 1 and 2)

for the second use fingers 1 and 4.

My accoustic is tuned down about a whole step so the files sound different but the point is the same..it's a great place to start..basic guitar rhythm.

[BonzaiBob]

Yeah man, that's pretty basic stuff. I'm looking for more advanced tracks/methods/techniques etc. Thanks for posting that up though. :)

Here's a link to a sample of a track i recorded a while back, it was just an idea floating around my head at the time and it's one of very FEW tracks i've actually done of acoustic.

http://www.myspace.com/allbandnamesarealreadyinuse

Any style is more than welcome, classical, jazz, popular. I'm just looking for ideas on what tracks i could learn that could open my mind as to how to improve my ryhthm technique(s).

[joeyd929]

Not bad.. Listened to the piece, you are on the right track. Are you using a pick, or all fingers/pick combo? If I think of anything I will post it.. For fun, check out the stuff I have posted at myspace.

Maybe I play something that catches your ear for rhythm.. the link is below my post...

[BonzaiBob]

I'm just using fingers on that track, i prefer to strum using fingers on an acoustic as it keeps the tone nice and warm. Although not in that track as the pickup is pretty bad so doesn't do a lot for the tone:)

[Strum]

Hey man,

You might wanna try and play a couple acoustic tracks and meliorate your technique. It's unfortunate that you never really paid any heed to rythm, never really heard of that before.

Judging from that track, you may need to brush up your technique. When you say "anything will do", it's awkward...

Perhaps you should start with basic acoustic tracks. Classical guitar playing involves a number of varying techniques which you may take a while to pick up, and many of these methods vary from the normal "acoustic" stuff.

Um,

Try these for starters, they're not particularly hard...

John Mayer - Neon
Mason Williams - Classical Gas
Too old to rock - Viagra falls
Yes - Mood for a day
Randy Rhoads - Dee

:)

[BonzaiBob]

Hey,

It's not that i didn't really pay any heed to rhythm, but i just never focused on it. I can play rhythm, but i'm not a rhythm player, if ya catch my drift:)

Thanks for those recommendations though, i had a listen and they are exactly the kind of things i'm looking for.

[silent-storm]

after listening to your recording, my suggestion to you would be to write out every possible way you can break up a bar of 4/4 into quarter and 8th notes. Then sit down with a chord or a chord progression, a metronome and start strumming. Then write out every way you can break up a single beat into 16th notes, arrange those combinations into bars and repeat the process. Then do both those again with adding triplets, or parts of triplets.

[Strum]

after listening to your recording, my suggestion to you would be to write out every possible way you can break up a bar of 4/4 into quarter and 8th notes. Then sit down with a chord or a chord progression, a metronome and start strumming. Then write out every way you can break up a single beat into 16th notes, arrange those combinations into bars and repeat the process. Then do both those again with adding triplets, or parts of triplets.
Emphasis on the metronome :D