Got rhythm????

[street music]

I seem to be at a point in my guitar playing that I will fall into a rhythm and have a hard time changing out of that for another song. It's like my timing gets in a rut? ? I am trying to just stick with songs that I know in my head to help break this but I have gotten myself confused at some cord changes because I fall into a rut with my own rhythm practices on blues chords. I guess it's just a lack of experience and old age too?? Any suggestions on keeping in time????

[luvmyshiner]

I have the same problem Street. I have the strum patterns that I know by heart, and when I start trying something new, it tends to mess me up. A lot of the folks have suggested practicing with a drum machine. I've been watching this thread for recommendations, but most of them seem a little pricey for my needs:

http://www.thefret.net/showthread.ph...t=drum+machine

[street music]

Shiner, my zoom effects pedal has a drum machine built into it. I haven't messed with it much to see if I can modify the rhythms in it, it has several and I can't keep pace with some of them. I'm still working on some of the slower songs right now to allow muself time and maybe work my way out of this to something more upbeat.
Right now Yesterday, Stand BY Me, and I'm attempting Time In A Bottle but it is hard for me. I have tried Imagine but have trouble with a few parts and I want to get While My Guitar Is Gentley Weeping down as I love that song. I am just going back into some of the songs that I always wanted to play and trying to work each for awhile to keep from getting in a rut.

[luvmyshiner]

I do that same thing Street. I look for songs that I like, and the first thing I look at is the chords to see if I can handle them. I usually like to see one or two new/difficult chords that will push me along.

I would definitely want a drum machine that had adjustable speed. I originally thought about simply getting a metronome. But most everything I've read indicates a drum machine is more versatile. Having said that, a metronome (and they go for like . . . ten bucks now) might be exactly what you (um . . and I ) are looking for at this point. You can start it out slow, then speed it up as you get the drum patterns and the chords down.

Sounds to me like you and I are in the same boat my friend.

[oldguy]

I'm gonna chime in here with some unsolicited advice........
for real basic practice to learn to strum at different speeds a metronome will work fine. As Shiner says, you can start out slow, at a speed you're real comfortable with, and speed it up a little at a time till you're up to the speed of the song you're learning.
The advantage of a drum machine is they have different patterns, so you can usually find something that fits the songs a little better, such as blues, rock, and jazz patterns. The downside of the cheaper ones is alot of them don't have 3/4 time patterns, as in waltzes.
Now, if you want something free to play with a little and try out, go here....

http://www.jamstudio.com/Studio/index.htm

I'll try and explain a little here..... you can turn each instrument on and off....
you'll want to turn off everything except the drums, then speed up or slow down the tempo till it suits you. Lower L H box, click on the little speaker icon so only drums are lit up. Then check the box that says "loop page", speed up or slow down the "tempo" on the L H edge and hit "play" button.
The drawback here is you have to have your computer to play it, but, hey, it's free. There's also different drum patterns you can check out.
No 3/4 waltz here either, unless you "upgrade" and pay, which is a waste of money, IMO. If you're going to pay, pay for a metronome or drum machine, I say. But, I digress, back to the drum setting.
That's in the lower R H box. Click the drop-down menu that says "guitar", when it drops down, the second instrument down is "drums", that's where you can change things. This may not help, or it may....... either way, advice is worth every penny you pay for it....

[Robert****]

Definitely get a drum machine, or use computer software like Hammerhead.

I have my eyes set on a Zoom 234 on eBay. Should be able to get one for under 70 bucks.

I'd also recommend you play along to real recordings. That will help your timing and you'll learn some new things.

[Jimi75]

I worked out my rhythms with a Metronome. 20 Minutes, 3 days a week. Starting very slow and really educating myself to play to the Metronome.

Good luck!

[street music]

Thanks for all the suggestions, I'll give it all a try. I have tried some of each and I guess that I should just allow more time for it to happen.

[Spudman***]

Street

Your Zoom unit should have tempo control for those beats. Slow them down at first then gradually increase the tempo. If you perfect your strumming or picking patterns at a slower speed then gradually speeding up should give you the same perfection. Just work in 5 bpm increments.

Say you are comfortable strumming a piece at 80 bpm, the next step is to go to 85 bpm, then 90 bpm etc. Spend considerable time in each speed as it will be useful later to know what 95 bpm feels like (or other tempos). If you spend enough time there you will know instinctively how it feels.

[Cal]

Any suggestions on keeping in time????

Street, bear with me... I'm a beginner. I do have one of the sexiest little metronomes you can find (a BOSS DB-30), but was recently advised to tap my feet and sing ALL THE TIME to initially improve my timing and FEEL/GROOVE.

While practicing, making a point of foot tapping and singing (or humming, or la-la'ing, or whistling [even with pure instrumental tunes]) has made a noticeable difference. If you're not doing that already (on a consistent basis) give it a try.

Just my 2 cents.

[jpfeifer]

Hi Street,

Another thing to do is to think about your guitar parts differently. By that, I mean to think the way a drummer thinks. Drummers tend to think of ways that they can sub-divide the beat into different ways (quarter note, eighth note, 16th note, triplets, etc)

Think of your guitar strums, or picking patterns, as percussion parts (that's pretty much what they are anyway, especially when you're strumming)

Now, practice with your pick and accentiing different beats in various ways. Practice subdividing the beat with a simple 4-beat-repeating pattern. Practice playing on the beat (with down strokes) and then practice playing eighth note and 16th note patterns.

Here's one way to do it:
Try setting up a drum machine, or metronome, and make a strumming pattern that uses only down strokes on the beat as a basic pattern to start with. Practice this and try to match exactly with the drum part so that your down strokes are locked exactly into the same groove as the drummer. (1, 2, 3, 4)

Now, add upstrokes so that you're doing 1-and, 2-and, ... with your pick where you are hitting 1, 2, 3, 4 with down strokes and all of the "and" counts with up strokes. Practice this in time with your drum machine or metronome until you can lock it into the same groove and match the drummer. Make these eighth-note strums very even so that they lock in exactly with the drummer. Keep practicing in this way and try different patterns of your own.

This may seem like trivial practice, but if you practice your guitar strumming and picking in this way it can really clean up your timing and make you start thinking more like a drummer.

I've started practicing this way to get my timing more precise for recording work. I had a couple of sessions recently where I had to do a lot of un-accompanied strumming and finger picking (just the singer, my guitar part, and a click track, with no drummer). This was hard as hell to get it perfectly clean and even for a full 3-minute tune. But it taught me that I needed clean up my timing and make it more solid. I started practicing like this, thinking of my guitar part as a dummer would. It has really helped me.

-- Jim

[sunvalleylaw]

Nice thoughts. Thanks guys! I esp. like that mental approach you suggest Jim. In addition to your practice suggestion, I am trying some different songs to try out some different patterns. Starting really easy, with the Clash style cover of "I fought the law", using all punky down strokes. Maybe a reggae piece by spring or summer to add in some different feeling upstrokes. But that practice tip should make it easier to get.

[Robert****]

Good post Jim! :

[jpfeifer]

Thanks guys.

I have a lot of respect for people that can play with rock-solid rhythm and do it very consistently.

Some of the seemingly-simple parts can really be difficult to pull off in a recording situation where you have to be extremely accurate and even for the whole tune. I fell on my face a few times before I realized that I need to practice for it. We were playing with a drummer on these sessions that had such great timing that you couldn't hear the click anymore once he started playing. And he could do this for almost any feel, slow ballads, shuffles, etc. It made me realize how hard it can be to do a good job at simple strumming parts, if you're not focused on the timing the same way a drummer is.

-- Jim

[pes_laul]

Shiner, my zoom effects pedal has a drum machine built into it. I haven't messed with it much to see if I can modify the rhythms in it, it has several and I can't keep pace with some of them. I'm still working on some of the slower songs right now to allow muself time and maybe work my way out of this to something more upbeat.
Right now Yesterday, Stand BY Me, and I'm attempting Time In A Bottle but it is hard for me. I have tried Imagine but have trouble with a few parts and I want to get While My Guitar Is Gentley Weeping down as I love that song. I am just going back into some of the songs that I always wanted to play and trying to work each for awhile to keep from getting in a rut.

Do you have the Zoom GX1? A drum machine I could suggest is one of THESE

[street music]

I have the Zoom G1X .

Jim thanks for the information, that is what I have tried a few times and found it hard to really keep right in time. I guess that I had the right idea but just need to apply it better in my practices. I really want to rock on some tunes as classic rock is my favorites. My age could be slowing me down a bit but I'm not giving up on this, I want to play rock, southern rock, country rock and even some Deep Purple stuff.

[Robert****]

Have you tried playing along to the original recordings? That's how I learned to play guitar, some eons ago.

[street music]

Robert that's some of what I've been doing lately and it has helped. I'm going to put more time in on this in the coming weeks. I'm so tired tonight that I'm just going to crash in a little while, hard day at work . There is many good hints and ideas in these post, I hope that someday I can play with the fluid you guys & Gals do.

[pes_laul]

Have you tried playing along to the original recordings? That's how I learned to play guitar, some eons ago.

Ok I know this is a little off topic but Robert how long have you been playing guitar anyway?