This lesson will teach you these 5 things:
· Basic 4/4 Timing
· Basic 4/4 Rhythms
· Swing Rhythms
· Offbeat Rhythms
· Power Chord Rhythms

1. Basic 4/4 Timing

Every song in the world has a certain timing and one of the most used and easiest to understand is 4/4. Count to 4 slowly then repeat, well done you are doing a 4/4 beat! A 4/4 beat consists of 4 beats in a bar, this means you could have:

· 1 long note that is 4 beats long	- Semibreve	or Whole note
· 2 medium length notes that are 2 beats each	- Minim	or Half note
· 4 short notes that are 1 beat each	- Crotchet	or Quarter note
· 8 fast notes that are half a beat each	- Quaver	or Sixteenth note

But you can also have silent beats known as rests for effect, making there be thousands of possibilities try playing these next few bars on any string, all the bars should be the same length, don't go too quick or you won't be able to finish...

0-------/1-------/0---1---/0-1-0-1-/01010101// 1 2 3 4 /1 2 3 4 /1 2 3 4 /1 2 3 4 /1 2 3 4 //

· Each dash (-) represents half a beat
· Each slash (/) represents the beginning of a new bar
· A double slash (//) means tab over.

2. Basic 4/4 Rhythms

Now that you understand timing you can start to play some songs with chords in. When playing rhythm guitar you can do a downstroke (v) or an upstroke (^). A downstroke should go away from your face towards the floor and an upstroke the opposite. Hold a simple E chord and try strumming 4 quarter beats, these should all be down strokes. Try to make all the gaps between strums the same length...

__ v v v v e| 0-0-0-0-// B| 0-0-0-0-// G| 1-1-1-1-// D| 2-2-2-2-// A| 2-2-2-2-// E| 0-0-0-0-//

This is like a marching rythmn and is also quite boring after a while so you can liven it up by adding an upstroke at the end. Try not to rush the last two strums...

__ v v v v^ e| 0-0-0-00// B| 0-0-0-00// G| 1-1-1-11// D| 2-2-2-22// A| 2-2-2-22// E| 0-0-0-00//

On the second to last strum catch the strings on the way up as you prepare for the next bar, however this is still quite boring so you might want to make the rhythm that you repeat longer. Try to keep this one going for a while or change chord after a few times to Am or C...

__ v v^v v^ v v^v^v^ e| 0-000-00/0-000000// B| 0-000-00/0-000000// G| 1-111-11/1-111111// D| 2-222-22/2-222222// A| 2-222-22/2-222222// E| 0-000-00/0-000000//

This one can be quite tricky but keep trying and you'll get it.

3. Swing Beats

Swing beats are a way of making a song sound catchy or harder than they actually are, a hard technique to start for some but one worth learning. When a song is swung it means that the rythmn is played not actually how it is written but near. You can't do what you want however! It means that when two eigth notes are played side by side the first is slightly longer so the second must be shorter. To make it fit inside one beat, try this exercise. It has two swung eigth beats then a quarter beat rest. Remember the rest...

Swung __ v^_ v^ e| 00--00--// B| 00--00--// G| 11--11--// D| 22--22--// A| 22--22--// E| 00--00--//

Another way to get it right is to think not swung is da da and swung is d daa.

A commonly used swing technique is muting the strings, you can acheive this by slightly taking your hand off the fret board, so if you strum it won't make any notes just a percussion sound. This is represented in tab by an "x". After doing your first muting in this rythm keep your hand down so you can do an up stroke and this time the rests are an eigth long...

Swung ___v^v ^v^ e| 00x-00x-// b| 00x-00x-// g| 11x-11x-// d| 22x-22x-// a| 22x-22x-// e| 00x-00x-//

Offbeat Rhythms

Offbeat is a technique used in mainly ska and reggae, a bar consists of 4 beats (1 2 3 4). Now, most the time you play on the numbers (the beats) but with offbeat you play in the gaps in between the beats (off the beat). This makes it sound happy, lively and up beat if you tap a steady 4/4 beat with one hand then tap in the gaps with the other the other hand is off beat. A good example of this if you still don't get it, is in the South Park theme tune by primus...

e |---9----9----9----9--// b |---13---13---13---13-// ____1____2____3____4

5. Power Chords Rhythms

Power chords are very easy and also have lots of other advantages such as only 2 using open strings, thus making muting them very easy. The next exercise uses power chord muting as the main part. Remember you only need to lightly lift off your hand...

e| ---------// b| ---------// g| ---------// d| xx9-xxx9-// a| xx9-xxx9-// e| xx7-xxx7-//

Try and make the actual chords short and sharp, doing all these chords as down picks will make it heavier sounding.