Playing with a Beat
Before you play a single song, you need to understand rhythm. Playing in time - keeping a steady, even beat as you play - is what makes music sound like music rather than a random collection of notes.
Before you play a single song, you need to understand rhythm. Playing in time - keeping a steady, even beat as you play - is what makes music sound like music rather than a random collection of notes.
Many beginners focus entirely on getting the right notes and completely ignore timing. This is a mistake that takes a long time to undo. From your very first session, always count beats as you play. Start slowly. Play without hesitating. Speed can always be built up later - but a steady rhythm must be there from day one.
A guitarist who plays two chords with perfect rhythm sounds far more musical than one who knows fifty chords but plays them unevenly.
The beat is the steady, regular pulse that underlies all music. Think of it like the ticking of a clock or the tapping of your foot. In most popular music, there are four beats in each bar, counted as 1, 2, 3, 4. The first beat of each bar is slightly stronger than the others, which is why you naturally tap your foot on it.
Between any two beats, you can divide the time into halves (eighth notes) or quarters (sixteenth notes). When you strum DOWN on the beat and UP between beats, you are playing eighth notes.
Keep your hand in position, ready to play, and start counting slowly and evenly:
If you like, tap your foot slowly in time with your counting. This helps keep a steady pulse. Now play the 6th string every time you count '1'. When you can do this without hesitating, play the string every time you count '1' and '3'. Finally, count very slowly and play it on every single beat: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4. Try this on each string in turn.
Always count slowly enough that you can play without stopping or hesitating. Never slow down at the bar lines - count 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 as if they weren't there. Play a little more firmly whenever you count '1' to set your sense of the beat.
A metronome produces a click at a steady, adjustable tempo measured in beats per minute (BPM). Setting it to 60 BPM means one click every second. Start any new piece or exercise at a tempo that feels almost too slow, where you can play it perfectly without rushing or hesitating. Then gradually increase the BPM, a few clicks at a time, over days and weeks.
Free metronome apps like GuitarTuna, Tempo, or Pro Metronome work perfectly on any smartphone. Many guitarists also use drum machine apps or backing tracks, which are more musical to play along with than a bare click but serve the same rhythmic purpose.
Once you are comfortable with a metronome, start playing along with actual songs and recordings. This is how rhythm guitar playing really comes alive. Choose a song that uses chords you already know, find the key and capo position if needed, and strum along with the recording. Your job is not just to play the right chords but to lock in with the drummer and bass player on the recording.
As you listen to different songs, you will notice that the pulse can be grouped in different ways. This grouping is called a time signature. The vast majority of popular music—rock, pop, country, and blues—is written in 4/4 time. This means you count in groups of four: "1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4." The first beat of each group usually carries the strongest emphasis.
Another common time signature is 3/4 time, often associated with a waltz. In this time signature, you count "1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3," with a heavy accent on beat 1. Understanding which time signature a song uses is the first step to strumming along correctly. If you try to play a 4/4 strumming pattern over a 3/4 song, it will feel completely out of sync.
When you hold a pick and strum the guitar, your arm acts like a pendulum. To stay perfectly in time, your arm should continuously move up and down, regardless of whether you actually hit the strings. A standard rule of thumb for beginners is that your hand moves DOWN on the numbered beats (1, 2, 3, 4) and moves UP on the spaces between the beats (the "ands").
If you count out loud as "1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and," your hand should be striking the strings downwards on every number, and upwards on every "and." By keeping your strumming arm moving in this constant down-up motion, you lock your body into the groove. Even if you miss a chord change, your rhythm arm keeps the song alive.
Learning to play with a strict beat takes time, and almost every guitarist falls into the same traps early on. Here are the most common rhythm mistakes to watch out for:
Simple diagrams (called boxes or windows) show the fingerboard and where to place your fingers. Vertical lines are the strings - thinnest on the right, thickest on the left. Horizontal lines are frets. A filled dot shows where to press your finger. The number inside tells you which finger to use.
The first three notes you should learn are all on the 1st string (the thinnest one).
Now that you understand the basic pulse of the music and know your first notes on the first string, it's time to start training your fingers to move independently. Lesson 06 covers fundamental finger training exercises that will build your strength and dexterity.
Everything guitarists ask about this topic
The first notes most beginners learn are on the 1st and 2nd strings: e (1st string open), f (1st finger, 1st fret), g (3rd finger, 3rd fret), b (2nd string open), c (1st finger, 1st fret of 2nd string), and d (3rd finger, 3rd fret of 2nd string). These six notes are enough to play many simple tunes.
An open string note is played by plucking a string without pressing any left-hand finger on the fingerboard. The string vibrates its full length, producing its lowest possible pitch. On the 1st string this is e, on the 2nd string it is b, on the 3rd string it is g, and so on.
Notes repeat at higher or lower octaves. The g on the 3rd string open and the g at fret 3 on the 1st string are both called g, but the 3rd string g sounds one octave lower. They are the same note in different registers - very similar but one sounds deeper than the other.
Guitar note diagrams (called boxes or windows) show the fingerboard. Vertical lines are the strings - thinnest on the right, thickest on the left. Horizontal lines are frets. A dot shows where to press your finger, and a number inside the dot tells you which finger to use. An arrow below the diagram marks which string to pluck.
In guitar notation, the length of a note is shown by its shape. A filled notehead with a stem (quarter note) lasts 1 beat. An open notehead with a stem (half note) lasts 2 beats. An open notehead without a stem (whole note) lasts 4 beats. When a note lasts more than one beat, you keep it ringing while you count those extra beats.