Maybe you're like me - I enjoy working on single note playing, technique and even theory-related stuff. But when it comes to strumming songs... gets boring kind of quickly. Doesn't take long to play a song to death, and I don't always feel my chording and changes are improving by playing the song a zillion times. But strong rhythm play is so important for everyone. Any advice for making rhythm play more challenging/interesting/educational...? Thanks:)
You need more difficult songs.
Also - try partial chords, different voicings, fingerpicking non-adjacent strings, adding little lead fills between vocal lines and change the style of a song (House Of The Rising Sun makes a good reggae workout).
Then ty some jazz
"Be good at what you can do" - Fingerbanger"
I have always felt that it is better to do what is beautiful than what is 'right'" - Eliot Fisk
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Solid advice from Alan.
Personally, transcribing rhythms helped me progress the fastest in that regard.
~Yours Troubadorly,
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Yeah, those are good suggestions. But I should be more specific... You can't get around massive repetition for building rhythm chops, for sure. But I can't help feeling that I'm missing something... When I'm working on single-note play, for example, I may loop a particularly tough lick and slow it down - then I feel like I'm making some progress. Or when I'm working on a particular technique, I'll use an exercise and try to get it going fluid and fast before I move on from it.
I'm really into the whole 'deliberate practice' thing. (See Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers). I'm having trouble figuring out specific ways to make rhythm work more developmental beyond just playing a song over and over again. You start to feel like you're not really improving by repetition alone.
You might wanna listen to some good rhythm guitar and study how they do that. Really listen to the sound they're making and what you're doing as well. You can even try to record yourself to see what's missing.
A good strumming is a combination of tempo, feeling, and dynamics. You've got to make it groove. I hope it helps.
