Integrating Rhythm Guitar Skills
Do you have no problem doing them in isolation?
When you try to put them together does it not sound good?
Don't worry...
You are probably forgetting to do a few simple things
This article will provide some tips on integrating your rhythm skills to make your overall guitar playing sound awesome. First, I will explain some things that most guitar players do not do when combining rhythm skills, and then I will elaborate with some specific tips.
The first tip is easy, but most guitar players think they don't need to do it - they're wrong. The second tip makes you pay attention to details, and I'll give you an example of what type of detail you should be paying attention to. The third tip seems obvious, but nobody wants to do it.
When guitar players try to integrate different skills into their rhythm playing, they often don't break their actions down into smaller tasks to transition from one technique to another. Let's say you're looking to go from strumming to arpeggiating chords. Most guitar players would assume they should go for it and often don't take the time to break each element down. This first tip addresses this issue. When playing, you should separate what your right-hand does from what your left hand does. If you were going from a strumming pattern to a picking pattern on two different chords, you must be sure your picking pattern will start on the exact string you need. Let's say you will be playing a C major chord after strumming an E minor chord.
You need to make sure that your picking hand is extremely accurate. You can do this by looking at your right hand. Start by not using your left hand at all. Just strum through all six strings, then stop the strings from ringing and play the A string since that's what your right-hand plays when transitioning from an E minor chord to picking a C major chord. That's the level of detail that you need to achieve to be able to integrate skills well.
The second thing I want to focus on is your fretting hand. You need to pay attention to where your thumb or wrist is when you're playing something in isolation; for example, if I play a barre chord on the 7th fret, my wrist is in a specific position. When I play a D major chord, my wrist comes up and out more so that I can get my fingers up to come straight down onto the strings. Integrating these two chords requires two different ways in which you have to hold your wrist. To improve your playing, you need to be aware of those types of things and start paying attention to that level of detail. Focus on what goes into executing your barre chords properly and then executing your first position open string chords further down the neck. Your hand position might be different to execute each chord properly.
The final thing I want to explain is the importance of going slowly. If you're working on integrating two skills, make sure you go slowly. If you go slow and you can do it perfectly, speeding up the integration of those two skills will happen much faster. You don't want to have a clunky transition from one skill to the next while hoping it gets better if you do it 1000 times. If you do it perfectly 20 or 30 times, really slowly, I can guarantee that your progress will happen much faster. It won't necessarily feel like it when you're practicing going slow, but it will happen much faster.
Remember, you want to break things down into smaller components; know what your right hand and left hand are doing in isolation, then put them together. You also want to pay attention to how your body, wrist, arm, and thumb are placed when practicing something in isolation. Make sure that those parts of your body are in the correct locations in addition to your fingers. To execute what you want to do as perfectly as possible, slow down and learn it. When you are integrating skills, it will make you get up to speed much faster.
Remember to always have fun with your guitar and I’ll see you next time…
If you are looking to learn another excellent rhythm guitar skill, you can check out my FREE lesson on how to weave lead guitar melody lines to your rhythm guitar playing here: https://rhythmguitarlessons.net/Pro
Have you ever heard extra notes played between chords and wondered, "Why do THESE notes sound good?" or, "How can I do that?".
Most guitar players struggle to find the right notes to play between chords to make their songs sound better.
The fact is, it's easy to do once you learn how. And the result is your guitar playing sounds much more complex than it is...
This is good news for you:
I've created a brand new eGuide (yes, it's free), where I show you an easy way to connect chords with single-note melodies to sound like a pro.
The best part is it's 100% FREE (no strings attached)!
Download your copy instantly so you can instantly make your rhythm guitar playing sound better. https://rhythmguitarlessons.net/Pro
About Mark Turko: Mark Turko is a professional guitar player and instructor with over 30 years of experience and teaches guitar lessons online.