How to Strum a Guitar With Rhythm
Rhythm is one of the fundamental elements of music. In order to become a good or even passable guitarist, you need to learn how to strum the guitar with a strong sense of rhythm. Doing this requires both physical and mental dexterity, as well as a significant amount of practice. This skill is especially important if you ever intend to play with other musicians. Without being able to play in time with other musicians, you will not be able to create coherent music with them.
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Instructions
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Practice your preferred method of strumming (using your fingers or a pick) until you can comfortably strike all six strings with a downward motion -- hitting the thickest string first -- and an upward motion -- hitting the thinnest string first. The combination of these two strokes, called down strokes and up strokes respectively, is what strumming the guitar is all about.
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Strum a basic chord slowly until you can easily follow a down stroke with an up stroke and vice versa. Don't worry about being strictly in time just yet. Instead, make sure you are hitting all of the strings and focus on having your picking motion originate from your wrist and not your arm or fingers.
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Play a quarter note rhythm using a basic chord. Set your metronome to a relatively slow tempo and strum the chord on every beat. Tap your foot and count the beats with the metronome. This will help you when you are trying to keep steady rhythm without the metronome.
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Play a straight eight note pattern (strumming the chord twice per beat) with your metronome. Continue to tap your foot with the metronome. Increase the tempo on the metronome when you can hit steady eight notes chords. Experiment with changing chords as you go along in order to keep this exercise interesting (don't lose the beat though). Always alternate down strokes and up strokes when practicing these simple patterns.
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Learn some simple sounding songs. An infinite amount of different rhythms can be played on the guitar and the best way to learn about them is to learn real songs. The guitar chords for popular songs can be found online at guitar tab databases and in official guitar books that can be bought at music stores. Once you have the chords down, play along with the actual recording of the song. Pay careful attention to matching the rhythm on the recording.
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Tips & Warnings
When picking a guitar tab or chord chart, try to choose the one with the highest user rating. This will help ensure that you get an accurate representation of the guitar part.
References
Resources
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