Hey Friend,
Now that you’ve had a couple days to try out the clapping technique to improve your timing and rhythm, let’s spice it up a little.
We'll start with clapping again.
Warm up at a tempo of 80 BPM (beats per minute), clapping for each beat until you can't hear the metronome.
Now set the tempo on the metronome to 60 BPM. I’m sure you’ve figured out by now that the slower a tempo, the more difficult it gets to maintain your rhythm.
That’s what makes exercises like these important. The better you are at matching the tempo of the song, the tighter your timing becomes, and the better a guitarist you are.
Now that the metronome is set to 60 BPM, start off clapping to each quarter note.
Get your pattern down and consistent.
Next, you’re going to add a second clap between each beat. Each clap will be spaced evenly between the beats, effectively hitting on every eighth note.
Once the rhythm is even and consistent, stop clapping and pick up your guitar. Use the open sixth string (low E) to pluck and play on each beat (quarter note).
Do this for one minute.
Now begin to play the E note on both the beat and half-beat. For each note, pick downward so each contact with the string is a down stroke.
You are now playing eight “eighth notes” in each measure.
Focus on your timing to ensure that each click of the metronome is masked by you hitting that note on the guitar.
Let’s add a little twist to the exercise here.
Continuing with your picking, I want you to count along with the beat.
On each metronome click (beat), you’re going to count. On every half beat in between, you’re going to say the word “and.”
It looks like this:
One - and - two - and - three - and - four - and…
One - and - two - and - three - and - four - and…
One - and - two - and - three - and - four - and…
Your plucking and your counting should be as one.
This will help to coordinate your vocals, ears and hand to maintaining the rhythm and syncing the timing of each physical element.
Once you’ve worked on this for about five minutes, you’re done. Practice something else, or jam to a recording, or work on a song.
Good work! Have a great Saturday!
Peace~
Dave
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