A lot of new subscribers tell me they struggle with rhythm.
…And that they rarely feel in time with the music.
Or that they’re fed up with speeding up and slowing down as they play a song.
Well, here’s something many people forget…
We are not born with good rhythm.
Rhythm is something that has to be developed.
I was watching my son Archie in his school Christmas nativity play last week (which I was very proud to see him in).
Throughout the play, the kids were dancing to the songs.
Adults in the audience were clapping along to the beat of some of the songs.
Some of the adults and kids were a little out of time, but they didn’t care.
They were having a great time.
There was no one worse than me for this kind of thing growing up though.
I remember being really unrhythmic as a kid when doing anything musical at school.
…And flash forward to when I was 16 and snuck into a nightclub (yes, I was young but was keen to go and party!)
I remember everyone dancing and head-banging to some big rock songs (“moshing” is a word we used to describe this).
Everyone else seemed so in time, but I was dancing and thinking, why am I out of time so badly?
I just hoped everyone else was too drunk to notice!
It was my rhythm, or lack of it.
So, I did something a little odd and started practising dancing along to these songs at home in my bedroom so that the next week in the nightclub I wouldn’t look like an idiot.
It worked.
A little practice throughout the week and dancing around at home helped me sort my rhythm out.
The best thing was the more I did this sort of thing, the better my guitar playing got too.
So, as a guitarist, do you feel your rhythm skills are lacking in any way?
If so, do you do anything away from the guitar to improve them?
If not, you should – it can help.
…Because the more dancing you do, the more tapping your foot to the beat when you hear songs on the radio you do, and the more you connect your body and feel the pulse of the music when you hear songs…
The better your rhythm skills will be.
The above is not an overnight fix to develop the rhythm skills of Hendrix, Clapton, or Knopfler…
But it will help.
Try focusing on your rhythm a little for a few weeks at least, and you’ll see the difference in your playing.
It is 100% a skill that can be developed.
For more help with rhythm, I’ve got a powerful brand-new lesson coming out in January’s Dan Thorpe Acoustic Academy.
Find out more about the Dan Thorpe Acoustic Academy
Plus, in the meantime, there are some great rhythm lessons ready and waiting for you inside.
To your rhythm skills!
Dan Thorpe
Guitar Domination
P.S. This post was originally taken from Dan Thorpe’s private email list. To get blog posts like this sent to you which are full of great tips to make fingerpicking, strumming, and learning guitar more enjoyable (especially if you are over 40) join Dan’s list. It’s 100% free, HERE.
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