Odd question about rhythm guitar strumming

Hmm, what you're playing works, right? I'd think the question would be more finding ways to get the rhythms to blend, and it sounds like you're doing that.

Your rhythm should be able to go with the flow of the song and should be loud enough.

Do you mean 'full arm' strumming ? It is very common on electric. Generally on acoustic we strum mainly using the wrist.

Try both. But if your music is soft, strumming from wrist shall do.

You can post some soundclips to helps us assess your situation.

Just be in rhythm, that's it. :wink:

Rahul

Dennis

I play the same way. I prefer to sustain chords. If it sounds great that is all that matters. Too much going on at once just sounds muddy and cluttered. Sometimes less is more. :wink:

Too much going on at once just sounds muddy and cluttered. Sometimes less is more. :wink:

That's exactly what was being pointed out in a 'teach yourself' book I was reading last night. I've had very little experience of playing with groups of people, but I've often read that one of the single biggest mistakes that newer bands make is that they all wail away full throttle with little grasp of how they should work together. Listen to a group of good pros and they all 'leave room' for each other musically. I'd say that knowing how to have your guitar say its bit without trying to dominate every beat and flood every second with sound is a positive asset. 8)

Cheers,

Chris

corbind: You have a well developed "third ear", IMHO. This is the ear that hears harmonic overtones and follows secondary lines. Many visual artists similarly paint to an inner language that doesn't really mean much to the rest of us. Your appreciation of music is more sonic ... well, that's not right ... more *immediate* than many listeners'. You are listening to the song live and are playing from your natural self.

This is not necessarily a good thing. If you are playing a gig that is not your natural way then you should be in "working" mode. That is, you should be ready to spit out the usual stuff associated with the style you have hired on for. Anything less is self indulgence.

Best, Michael in Florida, USA

some guitar players, especially acoustic, have a percussive rhythm style.
it would be good not to ignore it. I enjoy damping a chord and hearing that slap
on a beat; a sustain on another. variety is the spice when used nice.

Richie Havens of the 60's had a big influence on budding acoustic players.

I'm totally with Wes. The more instruments, the less you should play.

If I play with a trio, I feel like I'm working hard... if I play with a septet, I feel like I'm barely playing :)

Well, even though we have 3 guitar players in one band and 3 in the other, I still don't hit every beat with them or at home. It just seems robotic to hit every 8th note because it's still ringing out. Further, for better or worse, I tend to hit different strings at times so a chord doesn't sound like the same hits all the time.

What scares me is I see many players hitting constantly every beat and I just can't get into that unless it's punk or metal where you want to hear 'em. Even with heavy songs I tend to hit most beats but sometimes do a percussive hit or accent by adding another note in a chord. For instance, if I'm playing We're an American Band, the verses are D C Bb. We're playing 8th or 16th notes But I'll barre the D at the 5th fret and lift off my index finger to change the root note to an open A note 5th string for a 16 note just so it's not so boring. On the C I'll do the same which adds the 6th and on the Bb I'll hit one quick open A root to add a maj7th.

They're so quick but it breaks it up. That's not even how the songs goes but I do it anyway. One guitar player in our band is more a lead guy so he'll use open chords and hits all 8th or 16th notes. Especially when someone's doing that I definitely won't hit 'em all. Again, even when I practice to the CD I won't hit all of them for most songs. I guess I should not worry about it so much unless someones says "Dude, that doesn't sound right."

I'm just a little insecure because I don't know anyone who plays the lazy rhythm like I do. MicMac, don't know what my ears are hearing but I hear lots of stuff going on in these bands and it's a lot of sound. Dogbite, I do use the percussive at times so, technically, I'm hitting sound all the time but not notes. Tom, I hear you about playing with lots of people and feel like playing very little. Very often on heavy songs (overdrive/distortion) I purposely form my fingers to only ring out 2 notes (mostly doubled by octaves) because others are adding the full triad or 7ths.

For instance, when playing a E chord open I'll curl my ring finger to mute the D string so you only hear the notes E B E X B E and when playing an open A you'll only hear the A E A X E. Often I find when I add the 3rd of a chord with overdrive/distorted songs it gets muddy (especially with 3 guitars).

Although I've never played in a band, I would imagine with three guitarists the biggest challenge would be mixing up the strumming pattern without changing the rhythm. I'd also imagine there would be plenty of ways around this - maybe fingerpicking instead of strumming, playing partial chords other than root/5 powerchords, playing all downstrokes, etc.

A couple of points Wes made in different threads - go with the flow, and let your natural sense of rhythm tell you what's right.

At the pub jam I used to go to, there'd be anything up to about 7-8 guitarists all plying acoustics - my natural way of mixing things up was to play mostly downstrokes, maybe two to the bar in a 4/4 song. Strange, really, to think about improvising rhythm - one usually associates improvisation with lead guitar.

Different voicings of the same chord might help - looks as if you're already trying that, though. The key question is: Does the band sound good? If it does, well - if it ain't broke, don't try and fix it!

I understand your frustration - once you've got to a certain level, you want to mix things up a little, you don't want to be merely duplicating another guitarist's lines. Maybe a chat with the bandmates about your particular role in the band might help? Nothing heavy, just keep it light - but if the other guys don't know there's a problem, they won't be able to suggest a solution.

:D :D :D

Vic

:D :D :D

Vic

Dennis,

I kind of understand where your coming from I do that some times when I jam with my buddies. There's usually several guitars so I try to just add to the mix without muddying up the sound.

In a band situation it's fairly easy to blend in the mix, how would you play those songs if it was just you? could you carry the rhythm on your own? I ask because on some of the songs I play with my friends I do things similar to you and it works fine in that setting but if I had to play the "complete" rhythm for lack of a better word I'm not sure it would sound that great. Part of the reson is that I don't really know the songs per se but just kind of improv something with the rhythm.

sometimes this is a great position to be in because you can play fills and give the nod to the lead guitarist in you dying to get out!