Learning to play guitar is tough, and even tougher on your own. That is why I have collaborated with Kathy Unruh of ABC Learn Guitar.com to bring you this series on "How to Play Guitar" for beginners.
This lesson will cover the importance of rhythm. Being able to keep time is essential for the musician; especially if you are interested in playing with a band someday. No one will be excited about having you as part of their group if you can't feel the rhythm or keep a steady beat!
At some point in your life you have probably experienced tapping your foot to a song you were listening to. Without realizing it, you were subconsciously feeling the rhythm of the music and counting beats. Developing this ability to FEEL the rhythm will make you a better musician.
Music is primarily an intuitive experience and it's important to realize that this internal, intuitive process preceeds the WRITTEN form. Whenever a composition or song is created, it's origin begins within the artist.
The composer may decide to notate their music as a way of remembering or sharing it with others. Notes and rests are common symbols used to describe a duration of time in written notation. Musical time is measured with beats. This is how the rhythm is established.
It's not necessary to read music in order to play the guitar, but understanding note values can help you aquire a better ryhthmic feel.
Each of the following note symbols has a name related to the number of beats it receives:
Whole Note - receives 4 beats.
Half Note - receives 2 beats.
Quarter Note - receives 1 beat.
Eighth Note - receives 1/2 a beat.
The notes are placed on five horizontal lines called a staff. Two vertical bar lines define the space in between known as a measure.
As you can see, the example above uses quarter notes. Count each one individually, just as if you were counting four coins: 1 2 3 4.
Because we are using four beats to a measure we can replace the quarter notes with either two half-notes or one whole note.
Continuing with our analogy of money, a half-note is similar to a half-dollar, and a whole note is similar to a one dollar bill. In other words...
4 quarters = 4 beats
2 halves = 4 beats
1 whole = 4 beats
It all adds up the same!
RHYTHM EXERCISE:
Below is an example of tablature and notation combined. The notes above are written on the five lines of a staff indicating the rhythm. There are four quarter notes in each measure, so be sure to count 1 2 3 4 in all four measures.
The six lines of the tablature represent the six strings of the guitar. The bottom line equals the low sixth string, the top line equals the first string.
The numbers on the lines represent the fret you will play. Use the 1st finger when playing the first fret, 2nd finger, second fret, 3rd finger, third fret, and 4th finger, fourth fret.
EXERCISE:
1. Start by playing the open A (5th string). The next note to play is B on the second fret, then C on the third fret. All three notes (A, B, C) are on the same string.
2. Continue up to the open D on the 4th string, playing each fret indicated, then go to the 3rd string.
3. Play the open G and then A on the second fret. Now go back down, reversing the order.
This is the Musical Alphabet A B C D E F G A, which is also an A minor scale. Notice as the notes go up on the staff you are also moving forward in the alphabet as well as higher in sound. Likewise, as the notes go down the staff you are moving backward in the alphabet and lower in sound.
LESSON OBJECTIVE:
1. To understand how to count a common 4 beat rhythm using the tablature, and basic note values described in this lesson.
2. To learn how to play A minor scale.
3. To memorize where each note of the A minor scale is located on the fretboard.
PRACTICE:
1. RHYTHM PRACTICE WITH NOTE VALUES - Practice playing through this entire page of note values. When you are playing eighth and sixteenth notes, try using an
alternating down-up strum for each note.
2. Play the A minor scale forward and back everyday, using whole notes, half-notes and quarter notes. In a short time you should begin to feel comfortable with the fingering. Memorize where each letter of the scale is as you play.
Whole Note - receives 4 beats.
Half Note - receives 2 beats.
Quarter Note - receives 1 beat.
Eighth Note - receives 1/2 a beat.
