Rhythm issues

[That_Guy]

When I first started trying to learn rhythm I was completely clueless trying to hear it. Now I can pretty much here it instantly. It just took a long time of listening and trying to hear it. Maybe six months to a year of trying before I started to be able to play songs from chord charts without having to search or ask for the strumming pattern anymore. I even downloaded a couple free rhythm training apps in the beginning that seemed to help. It kind of drilled the common rhythms into my head so I knew what I was supposed to be looking for.

Usually one of your feet will start bouncing along with the song and this is usually the pulse of the 1234 beats which will lead you to the rhythm. Once you can figure out where the 1234 is just listen for which beats have something in between them. In my experience it’s almost always 123&4& lol

• This reply was modified 2 years, 12 months ago by  That_Guy.

[LRD]

Thanks, I’m hoping it will come with time!

[Loraine]

We’ll see if this post sticks. I tried yesterday and it said I posted, but the post never appeared.

I’m not exactly sure I know what you mean when you say you can’t find the rhythm. Are you referring to the strum pattern, the timing, the base beat, or possibly something else?

I had problems with all these for the longest time, and I still do more often than I’d like to admit. I can sing a song and tap out the rhythm to just about any song on the radio, but when I play without the help of a YouTube video or streamed music, I’m at a loss.

I found that knowing the count of a song is essential. Is it a 4 beat song, 6, 8, 16 beat song (my musical terminology is horrible). Knowing this helps me figure out a strum pattern. I watch YouTube videos and listen to music to determine the strum pattern, and then I’ll play the strum pattern on muted strings over and over to memorize the pattern. I typically don’t try and add vocals till I have the pattern down — very loose understanding of pattern and timing, because my interpretation differs from the artists a lot, especially because ai can’t play as fast as most musicians.

A metronome is essential in learning the true beat and strum pattern for a song.

I’m not a true “cover” player. I’m more of a rendition player – my own interpretation. Not sure if I even touched on your issue, but keep working at it.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 12 months ago by  Loraine.

[LRD]

Thanks!

My issue is playing a song and making it sound like such song….so strumming patters I’d say. Sounds like it will come with time. Thanks for your reply!

[KayMesser]

I am still really struggling with rhythm and strumming patterns.

This video has been helpful recently.

He talks about moving away from using Down Up to memorize your pattern, to Counting. It is a small change, but I found it helpful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LO_yeRbsi0

[LRD]

Thanks, cool way of looking at strumming patterns!