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Proud to be a Rhythm Guitarist


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Posted

It's rant time....

 

I go out and see between 3 and 6 bands every month (mostly blues and rock stuff) and I am realizing a HUGE deficiency in lots of players. They are really weak rhythm guitarists. And the more I practice, the more it makes sense. It seems that 99% of the instructional material out there focuses on single note stuff. And the vast majority of the threads on this and other site focused on playing are geared towards soloing. People spend very little time focusing on their picking hand and chords.

 

I guess the reason that I am so into the rhythm side of playing is that I started out playing drums for almost 4 years before switching to guitar (I'm still a pretty good drummer). Additionally, my two favorite guitarists, EVH and SRV are IMO amazing rhythm players. I think it's also why I always hated guys like Malmsteen, because in between shredding solos, it seemed all he would do is chug power chords.

 

So the point of my rant, (especially if you're looking to play in a band), dust off those old VH records and instead of focusing on the solos, lift the rhythms. Eddie's stuff is pretty bad ass! (Fair Warning is a great place to start :thu:) And spend time practicing and learning chords. The more voicings you have in your bag of tricks, the more interest you can add to a song when backing a vocalist or someone else soloing.

 

I think we sometimes focus so much on the 20 second guitar solo that we forget there's so much we can add to the other 3:30.

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Posted

I agree. Most bands aren't very tight in the first place.

 

I was a drummer for about 10 years before picking up guitar. It definitely has something to do with having strong rhythm. I can definitely tell when I'm playing with a great drummer or a so so drummer.

 

Tight rhythm is very important to me.

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Posted

 

And spend time practicing and learning chords. The more voicings you have in your bag of tricks, the more interest you can add to a song when backing a vocalist or someone else soloing.


I think we sometimes focus so much on the 20 second guitar solo that we forget there's so much we can add to the other 3:30.

 

 

 

My favorite VH record:thu:

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Posted

I think we forget a bit that guitar is a rhythm instrument. Is part of the rhythm section and its main duty is to accompany "the artist".

I blame cock rock.

Listen to old mowtown/stax recording and the guitar part is pretty invisible, but essential.

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Posted

As time passes I've focused much more on rythm than on lead practice. It is amazing how much better you can sound, if as a novice, you put some effort on rythm training. I'm much more steady with my strumming and keeping rythm than I was 5 months ago.

 

I've kinda let lead guitar abandoned. I should split practice time though.

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Posted

 

dust off those old VH records and instead of focusing on the solos, lift the rhythms. Eddie's stuff is pretty bad ass! (Fair Warning is a great place to start )

Honest to God, I was listening to Fair Warning as I opened this thread. EVH is a fantastic rhythm guitarist. There's a clip of Youtube of his home recordings when he was 17 or something. It's mostly rhythm playing, working out riffs, etc, and as young as he was (and probably plugging his guitar right into his stereo) you can just feel the groove.

 

Related, I think what turns me off to some players is the lack of rhythmic variety in their solos. If they pump out a long stream of 16th or 32nd notes it can get pretty boring. It's also why a lot of inexperienced blues players don't sound convincing or interesting. The rhythm in their leads is either too straight, or just off.

 

I look at it as being a complete player. I don't want to be a rhythm guitarist or lead guitarist, I want to be a great guitarist and able to do it all well.

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Posted

I just spent an hour on YouTube watching old VH live. God he was brilliant. Here's another rhythm guy that just "got it" to me. Not rock at all, but still I love what Johnny Marr does with chords in a pop context.

 

[YOUTUBE]wAzmQbfZoIg[/YOUTUBE]

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Posted

 

I think we forget a bit that guitar is a rhythm instrument. Is part of the rhythm section and its main duty is to accompany "the artist".

I blame cock rock.

Listen to old mowtown/stax recording and the guitar part is pretty invisible, but essential.

 

 

It's funny you mention motown, because, that's what my parents listened to when I was young and it's still some of my favorite music. And though I didn't mention him in my original post, Prince is still one of my all time favorites, and his funk/motown influences are undeniable.

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Posted

Someone posted this vid here a while ago with Jeff Baxter talking about rythm guitar.

 

Watch it full length. Great stuff in there. The second vid is really great when he makes the 3 different guitar players.

 

"The perfect rythm guitar guy is the one that if you turn him off you miss him and if he's in the track you don't hear him"

 

[YOUTUBE]wOkPeK-4v4w&feature=related[/YOUTUBE]

 

[YOUTUBE]PVawcjJ27vk&feature=related[/YOUTUBE]

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Posted

I've been here for 2 years saying the same thing. Most people playing guitar overplay the {censored} out of everything. Its like they are setting themselves on fire and screaming LOOK AT ME!!!! 95 percent of the people that listen to music don't give a crap at your awesome solo/shredding/kick ass tone. They want to hear the hook to the song and sing along.

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Posted

 

I just spent an hour on YouTube watching old VH live. God he was brilliant. Here's another rhythm guy that just "got it" to me. Not rock at all, but still I love what Johnny Marr does with chords in a pop context.

 

 

Johnny Marr is probably my favourite guitarist, he's bloody amazing!

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Posted

I think it's also why I always hated guys like Malmsteen, because in between shredding solos, it seemed all he would do is chug power chords.


 

You are jealous because he is so beautiful.

 

yngwie1.jpg

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Posted

All of the great lead players I know are also great rhythm players.

 

All of the crappy lead players I know are also crappy rhythm players.

 

Coincidence?

 

 

As far as being onstage with someone, I could care less how 'smokin' their leads are, but if they break the groove, break the form, or stomp all over everything, I put them on the "I'm never getting onstage with that cat again" list.

 

And a red guitar won't even help out in this case...

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Posted

If you want to get some great rhythm guitar chops happening, there are many great resources...

 

on video/dvd, you have quite a few:

 

Danny Gatton - Strictly Rhythm Guitar (and even his other vid, Telemaster has alot of rhythm stuff to explore)

Tuck Andress - Fingerstyle mastery

Eric Johnson - Total Electric Guitar

 

and much more...

 

in print:

 

How To Comp - Hal Crook

Jazz Guitar Comping (I forgot the author name, but it's a cool book)

 

and then the countless "style specific" ones... Ross Boltons' funk series... Jody Fischers' Encyclopedia or Thesaurus of Rhythm Guitar Rhythms, etc.

 

plus, of course, Ted Greene's Chord Chemistry, etc.

 

I thin kthe best thing to do is actually learn stylistic diversity off of records... learn how to play a song in varied styles...

 

be able to play Hotel California, for instance, with a reggae skank (that sounds good, not crappy and uninspired... alot "harder" than it may seem...), with jazzy reharmonizations and swinging timefeel, with power chords (and interesting thrashy rhythms), with classical style including inversions and secondary dominant motion, with country twang and cascading open strings, with bluesy inflections and turnarounds, etc. etc. etc.

 

There are so many possibilities within just one song... Try to make it the basis of exploring all different avenues of comping and chordal prowess...

 

It will inform your playing beyond measure... You will become more melodic, more aware of chordal considerations (arpeggios included) and much much more...

 

I think that the whole rhythm guitarist/lead guitarist thing is dumb bull{censored}... It's a pathetic excuse for those who sweep pick better to not have to play chords and for those who are "demoted" to playing chords, it's a discouragement from getting into lead playing... It's dumb. A guitarist should be able to do both.

 

Personally, at this point in my development, I prefer to play chords to soloing... My best friend and I jammed alot in Seattle and Portland recently, and on gigs and jams I RARELY played a solo, as iwas more content laying down a sweet groove (basslines, chords and percussion) while others jammed over the top of it...

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