1st video upload
Rhythm 101 - Strumming and Transitions
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Now that we have a vocabulary of chords at our disposal we need to talk about how to use them.
The first thing to discuss is the notion of note values, and how to keep time. Time, or the pulse of the music, is generally felt in groups of 4. This is known as 4/4 time, which basically means that you count to 4 over and over again, and each set of 4 is one bar (or measure).
Therefore, in 4/4 time there are 4 beats in each measure. Yes there are other time signatures like 3/4 , etc. but we won’t get into those at this moment.
Moving on, we have different note values, as some notes right longer than others, right? Here are your 3 basic note values we will be using for this lesson:
- Whole notes - ring out for a whole measure, or 4 beats
- Half notes - ring out for half a measure, or 2 beats
- Quarter notes - ring out for a quarter of a measure, or 1 beat
Practice each of these with a metronome and get comfortable switching back and forth in time. do this with your hands on your knees and while playing open strings on your guitar. And tap your foot! It will help you feel the pulse.
Next, let’s work on a couple of basic strumming patterns to get used to playing rhythm guitar. I want you to try these with all of the chords we have learned so far.
- Down on the root, down up on the chord. This should sound like a waltz, and be counted one, two, three
- Down, down, down up, down up all on the chord. This should be counted one, two, three and four and.
First, practice all downstrokes on the chord, then practice all upstrokes. Then, alternate (down, up, down, up).
Try to make your strokes even in length and speed. The goal is to try to make the upstrokes and downstrokes sound as similar and as fluid as possible. Remember not to strum the strings that have an X on them in the diagram.
Songs, as you know, are normally made up of more than one chord. There are songs that consist of only one chord, but very few of them are interesting. What I have below are your basic transitions. These are chords that normally go together. They are in the same "family." They make sense in the same context.
Practice each of the transitions with each of the strumming patterns you have already learned. The idea is to play the first chord four times and then switch to the second chord for four times and so on and so forth. The trick is to not lose any time in between chords when you switch.
So take it slow. Use a metronome.
We are going for accuracy, not speed. I can not express the importance of this enough!
If you master these transitions you will be ready to play many of your favorite songs!
Transitions
- E - Emi
- E - A
- Emi - Ami
- A - Ami
- A - D
- Ami - Dmi
- D - Dmi
- D - G
- Dmi - Gmi
- G - Gmi
- G - C
- Gmi - Cmi
- C - Cmi
- C - F
- Cmi - Fmi
- F - Fmi
- Ami - C
- Emi - G
- Dmi - F
- B - E
- B - Bmi
- Bmi – Emi
- Bmi – D
- D – Emi
- C - Emi
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I've been away from this site for quite awhile - busy with life and work. Was inspired to pick up a different instrument and get back into it. The transitions aren't perfect but at least I remember where most of them are (except B).
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My playthrough of the basic open chord chord changes.
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Here is my second week progress. Definitely improvement, although not as fast as I'd wish for. :) I measured the action on this guitar and its wayyy high which I believe contributes to the difficulty of making the chords sound nice. Especially the bar chords. I will see if there is a guitar shop around that can help me with that.
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It is the end of week 1 on this lesson. Still working on it though! Each day I see improvement. :) You were also right that eventually those ugly sounding chords will sound better. That is lovely to hear.
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Played straight down the list of chords to practice all the various transitions and alternated the rhythm about two thirds of the way through. I think I came in on the second click of the metronome which was a little weird but hopefully kept alright time otherwise.
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Trying to practice everything with a metronome now (I may switch to drum tracks) because staying on beat is such a struggle. I love this drill overall, as focusing on my weaker chord transitions is helping me with sticky patches for songs I'm trying to learn.
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Working the Down, Down, Down/up, Down/up pattern through this series of chords. This took me a few days to navigate not only the rhythm, but also to create as smooth of transitions as I can. Ran through the whole list of suggested pairs of chords one after the other.
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Been a little while since I posted, back at it, hoping to complete the level 1 module soon.
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Watching the video of myself, it stands out how much I cut off the "and" of 4 when transitioning to another chord. Is that "Rock and Roll," or is it just "sloppy," lol?
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Working on my chords and putting stuff together. Enjoying the course!
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I worked on this with multiple chords so I could also work on a few songs I wanted to learn how to play. This was a real fun lesson to work on. Thank you for the knowledge.
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GCD
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This is just working through a few at 80 BPM, though I'll bump it up to 100 for some more work. I'm start filming on my phone because my laptop camera is doing a pretty bad job
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I still have trouble getting some of these chord shapes quickly, like B major (it's hard to scrunch them all in there together). And I mix up the F/Fm/Gm chord shapes with the B/Bm/Cm shapes if I'm not paying attention. I'm hoping I can leave these mostly in the past once we get to barre chords though 😅
Also, I liked the root-picking pattern because it gave me a little extra time for the transition as long as I get that root note correct.
Onward!
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I found a youtube video of someone playing Whiter Shade of Pale. I wrote down some of the notes and practiced it. This is the first time I've played anything on the guitar that had a nice melody!
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Used a couple of transitions to demonstrate both strumming patterns. First Am - Dm then G - C.
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