A sense of rhythm is one of the most important traits that any musician should have. It should be developed from the very first lessons on the instrument, because the further you advance in your training, the more difficult it will be to instill it. There are a huge number of rhythms on the guitar, and, in fact, it has its own for each song. Nevertheless, there are a number of already accepted canons, from which all composers start, and this article is devoted to them. In it, we will consider the standard, explain how to play inside them and how to navigate the time signatures and measures.
Types of rhythms on the guitar by style
Standard 4/4 Guitar Rhythm
It is also called 2/4, depending on the number of measures. This is the most standard rhythmic pattern in which most pieces of music are recorded. It is in this size that such famous fights as "four", "six" and "eight".
waltz rhythm on guitar
This size is also called 3/4. Also a very popular rhythm, on which a huge number of works are built. It is calculated as follows: "One-two-three", and each beat includes three full beats.
Rhythm to the count 123-123-12
A standard rock and pop rhythm that places emphasis on the first, fourth, and seventh notes played. Of course, there are exceptions - it all depends on what accents the drums give out and what compositions are required.
Gallop
Hard and straightforward rhythm, which is often played to metal . This pattern was popularized by old school metal bands and is still used today.
A classic drawing from which many others have goneIt consists of successive strikes by a mediator with an emphasis on the first and third beats. It is with him that most of the beginners begin their training.
Ska punk rhythm
Quite an interesting drawing that uses the not very common upstroke technique. The emphasis in this case is not set to strong, as others would do., but on a weak beat, due to which an interesting and unusual pulsation is achieved. In this case, chords without a bass at all are very often used.
reggae
The ancestor of ska rhythm, here the emphasis is also set on a weak beat. The difference is that the bass is used here, and everything is played not with a scratch, but with up and down beats.
Funk
Rhythm, which is typical for the genre of music of the same name. His feature is in the abrupt sound of all chords, with pauses between them. It's a fairly complex pattern that takes some getting used to, but it will add a lot of variety to your game nonetheless.
Country
A rhythmic pattern in which the main feature is a special bass melody played on the guitar. In country music, he seems to accentuate individual notes of the chord, expanding and complementing them. In addition, the legato technique is often used, due to which the very melody characteristic of country music is achieved.
thug rhythm
A very country-like rhythm, but greatly simplified. Here everything is played with the fingers, while several strokes can be made on the strings. Thanks to this, a characteristic buildup of the melody and a peculiar rhythm are achieved.
How to learn rhythm on the guitar. Brief Theory of Rhythm
Introductory part. Measuring Rhythm Speed - Tempo
Tempo is the speed at which eighth notes are counted within the entire song. In essence, this is the speed of the composition in which all the instruments exist. It is usually counted using a metronome. , and how to use it, you can read in the corresponding article. The composition can change its tempo as the game progresses, however, no instrument should be out of it.
Tempo second hand
If you don't have on hand , then try to navigate by the pace of the second hand on any wall clock. It is 60 beats per minute. If you play two notes at once in one beat, then the tempo will become 120, and so on.
Score for 4 hits
The easiest way to count the tempo is to use it in multiples of 4. You just count one-two-three-four in your head and accent the notes on the first and third beats, or on the second and fourth.
Score for 3 hits 123 (one-two-three)
Waltz countdown. It's the same as a four-count, but inside the bar you count "one-two-three". Most often, the accent is set on each first beat - both in the metronome and on the instrument itself.
Strong and weak beats. pauses
In each bar there are so-called strong and weak beats. Emphasis is placed on the first ones - as a rule, these are hits on the bass drum, or more swipe along the string. On the weak one, there is a blow to the snare drum, as well as the absence of an accent. In the pauses of each part, the instrument continues to play, while each pause is also equal to some part of the bar. That is, during pauses, you still listen to the metronome and count how many beats it makes.
Splitting a rhythm in two with "and" (one and two and)
A very convenient way is to divide the rhythm with the help of the phrase "and", that is, you count as "One - and - two - and - three - and - four." This way, each pause of the metronome beat is captured and divided, so you know when you need to play and when you don't.
Account 123-123-12
This score can be grouped by notes. The first six beats are six eighth notes. The last two are two eighths. Thus, we have eight eighth notes, which are equal to four fourths. In this case, the countdown looks like this - “One and two”, “and three and”, “four and”, and so on.
How to play in rhythm 123-123-12
The way to play these guitar rhythms is no different from the rest - you play eighth notes up and down, but there are a few nuances.
- The accent is set on the first beat, which also plays on all the strings.
- The second beat only plays the bass notes, without the first and second strings.
- When playing any pattern other than step 1, mute the strings.
Where knowledge of guitar rhythms is useful in practice
For a full-fledged game in a musical group
You need to learn different rhythmic patterns to make your music sound even and unified. If you are losing pace, constantly flying out of it, then you definitely need to practice more before organizing your team.
For proper rhythm parts on electric guitar
Again, in order to play the drummer correctly and correctly set the accents, you need to learn all the rhythms available here. In addition, it is important to learn how to play with a metronome, as well as understand how the rhythm part is built. Among other things, learning different rhythms will diversify your playing style.
For strumming and accompaniment
Since all kinds of fights are within time signatures in one way or another, it is very important to instill a sense of rhythm in order to properly sing songs. This is especially critical when playing several guitars, when the departure of one musician from the tempo is felt especially sharply.
D for brute force
Again, even fit into a certain size. And since the notes inside them are played separately, then the moments when you do not have time or in a hurry will be felt even more acutely. It is in order to avoid this that one must instill in oneself a sense of rhythm.
For playing percussion techniques on acoustic guitar
For correct selection percussion and acoustic guitar tapping, you need to know when to do it and when not to. The question is even in what sound to extract at a particular moment. Here you will be helped by knowing the shares and which of them need to be emphasized.
Conclusion
As mentioned above, rhythm is the basis of any music. That is why, first of all, you should take care to develop a sense of rhythm and even play. Play with a metronome, learn various patterns, and then you will not only play clearly, but also significantly expand your musical horizons, and also find many interesting moves.
The way the world works is that in pair interaction, in the vast majority of cases, one person leads and the other follows. In dancing, for example, this is an integral part of the process, quite expected and welcomed by all participants. In teaching anything, too, there is a teacher and a student. But when such a cooperative paradigm is turned on in a fencing duel, it turns out that the leader wins, and the follower loses, helping his partner win with his actions. I think that few of the followers are satisfied with this situation. Let's try to understand how to avoid it.
What to do?
The sparring begins. Distance is out of combat, neither you nor your opponent can attack without stepping forward. What are you going to do?
But it's not even about the need for an attack as such. The point is that you should have an understanding of what you are doing now and will continue to do. You need a plan of action, you need to understand exactly what you want to achieve from closing the distance, how exactly you are going to capture the victory.
You can act actively or reactively.
Most often, the slaves act reactively.
So, the enemy stands as follows, now he will most likely perform this technique, which means I can defend myself like this and, probably, attack here.
Leaders tend to take action.
I can hit the enemy there right now, for this I need such and such a technique, he will counteract in this or another way, if the method is like this, then everything will work out, and if this is the way, then I will have to retreat and attack differently.
See the difference? The leader is not going to listen to the enemy's action plan and carry it out. He immediately decides what they will both do: he will attack, the enemy will defend.
I note that at a very high level of skill, the ability to very effectively predict the actions of the enemy appears. Its use should not be confused with the reactivity of actions. The mind of the reader looks much more complicated.
The enemy tends to carry out such and such a sequence of actions, obviously counting on my certain reaction, so I will pretend that I will react as he wants, but in fact I will ruin everything with such an action that will immediately get him. But I will do all this only when he himself, perhaps with my provocative presentation, starts his sequence, and if before that it turns out to be appropriate to attack him in one of the techniques known to me, then I will immediately do it.
That is, here we have a high-level active plan, which includes a reaction to active and reactive actions of the enemy. A swordsman of this level of skill does not have the question “what to do” at all, he always knows exactly which piece he is currently conducting. As a result, if we are talking about lengthy training sparring, even a fighter of a lower level, who is prone to active actions, imperceptibly “obeys” the master’s guidance and begins to dance to his tune.
And do something what?
In essence, as we have already explained above, but not fully formulated, there are three levels of activity in combat. Let's give them theatrical and cinematic names.
If you see that your opponent is acting more actively in relation to you, creating a battle pattern on his own, then something needs to be done about it.
First you need to notice it. Not all swordsmen think at such a high tactical and strategic level, preferring to cook in the realities of attacks and parries. So when you think about it, it already gives you the potential to reach a higher level.
Spotting the protagonist or director in your opponent is not that hard. If he gravitates towards attacks, and when you repulse his first attack, it is immediately followed by a continuation that is extremely inconvenient for you, then he obviously thinks over his plan of attack. If he prefers to defend himself, but your attacks, even thoughtful and with the implied continuation, are reflected and you have to defend against his counterattacks, then it's even worse: he thinks over your plan of attack.
Fight with the protagonist
The most, of course, The right way fighting the protagonist is luring him into your director's trap. But obviously not all of my readers have such personal opportunities. Therefore, we act more down to earth.
Do not let the enemy protagonist act actively. If he attacks, then aim to counterattack as soon as possible, preferably more than once. Stop his attack and put him to flight. If he does not attack, then immediately attack him yourself.
Re-read the article "Attack" and choose one of the methods of attack. I note that at one point in time you can either go into a severe onslaught and attack all the way, to close combat, or attack sharply and go to safe distance. The combination of these two approaches leads to sad results, since you most likely will not have enough time to retreat after an under-attack, and the under-attack itself will not lead to quality results.
Follow the Spanish take on the pace of the fight. There are three moments to attack: before, during and after the opponent's action. Before action: the enemy stands and does nothing, so you need to immediately attack him. During the action: the enemy began some kind of movement, so you need to immediately attack him. After the action: the enemy made an attack, so you need to attack him immediately.
I will draw your attention to the second point, which is during the action. As soon as you see that the enemy has started at least something - he swung, changed the position of his legs, moved the blade - you should immediately, immediately attack him. Because this moment is preferable to the last one, where it is most difficult to attack.
It is clear that it is even better to attack before the opponent's action, but this is not always comfortable. But! After the third moment for attack comes the first. If you already missed one cycle “1: the enemy is standing and doing nothing – I won’t either; 2: the enemy started to do something - and I'll see what; 3: the enemy attacked - I defended, then why miss another one? After you defended, his attack ended and you were in the most favorable moment for an attack.
See an opportunity - go for it. Do not see - see and hit.
Fight with director
The only sustainable way to defeat a director is to stop playing his story, reduce him to the level of a protagonist, and just overact technically, including using the recommendations above. How to do it? In words, it’s quite simple: learn to do nothing at all and not give out your future actions in any way. Fight telegraphy, unnecessary swings and unnecessary looks at the sword, predictable combinations, and so on.
Try standing in front of a mirror or ask a friend to film you for further analysis. Stand in a stance, imagine an opponent in front of you. You can even ask another friend to assist you. Now hit - and then see if your behavior right before you hit can predict what the hit will be? Here strive to be impossible.
When the director has nothing to grab on to, when he cannot read you and predict your actions, when you learn to respond to his actions in a variety of ways without being manipulated, then he will have no choice but to simply go and cut you down. And this is a lower level of swordsmanship, which is easier to counteract.
Rhythm of the fight
Combat as a pair interaction tends to be rhythmic, to one of two stable states: either actions are in antiphase (the enemy is attacking, you are defending - you are defending, the enemy is attacking), or, less often, in one phase (both are attacking - both are preparing the next attack ). The first state, antiphase, occurs many times more often.
So, the enemy attacks you. What to do? Defend, yes. Okay, repulsed the attack, now you can attack yourself. Well, yes, of course, here he is defending himself, and now he will attack ...
Here at the last moment, after the enemy, accustomed to anti-phase, has defended himself and is about to attack, he is the most vulnerable. Feint, double attack, whatever - get out of the "1 - 2, 1 - 2, 1 - 2" rhythm and do "1 - 2 + 3".
It's the same with single phase. The enemy attacks you, you immediately attack him, defending yourself from his attack. Attacks extinguish each other, you and him are preparing to attack again ...
And you don't have to prepare. It is necessary to calculate that your attack will be suppressed by the action of the enemy. It is this moment of mutual suppression that should be considered as the breaking point of the rhythm. Hit each other with chopping punches and went into a clinch? Great, immediately make an injection or grab.
For which nothing is needed at all. Just you and your job. But what will add meaningfulness to this work is 12 rounds of shadow boxing from boxing coach Jason Veldhausen and self-defense instructor Maxim Shramkov.
Round 1: moving
Move. A static fighter is a good target, and this is true both in a sports match and in street fight. Although your movements in a fight will not be very diverse (go ahead and beat the villain), but it’s worth training your mobility. Maneuver avoiding unstable positions, crossed or straight legs. Watch the "weight distribution", the position of the body and hands in your fighting stance. Move to the flank unexpectedly, break the rhythm of the battle, add dodges and dives. Try to sharply reduce the distance with an imaginary target or, conversely, break it, retreating.
Round 2: practicing tricks
Pick a new move every day and practice it. Yesterday you honed the left straight. Today - left side. Tomorrow you have a right straight line in your plans. And in the reserve: the left side - from a place, at a long, medium and short distance; with a slope to the left to "charge" the shoulder; one step forward with the left foot, one step with the right; on the jump; on departure ... In general, while this is enough for your eyes.
Round 3: combinations
Take a couple of your favorite combinations - and go. For example: right straight - left side; left straight - right straight; left side - right straight - . Strike from a place, in movement, ahead of the curve, as a counterattack. Hone the combinations in turn, then randomly, work out the transitions between them.
Round 4: attacking close
Imagine that your opponent is a long-armed fighter. Maybe it's , or . You need to log in average distance in a hard exchange of blows, otherwise you will not reach the goal. Move sharply, removing your head and at the same time break the distance. Legs bent, pushing you hind leg. Come in with a kick, with a slope, on a dive. Overlap tightly, protect your head with elbow pads, and immediately punch through a hard series. Get back on the defensive.
Round 5: long range fight
You fight with Mike Zambidis or (God forbid, of course) with a young one. Keep these guys out of the middle and close range! He struck with his left - and immediately broke the distance. Move in a circle to the flanks, all the time beware of approaching right hand opponent. Short series - and again a distance gap. Work on the floors: deuce to the head - kick to the groin - displacement in a circle to the right. He deceived with a left straight one - kicked him in the groin - with a right straight one in the head on the way out. And so on.
Round 6: counterattacks
It's real high level combat training. You provoke the enemy, challenge him to break through what you need ... and then you hit against, towards. Hard and harsh. Or you broke through the upper floor, and when he defended himself and counterattacks you, you go down and go to your feet.
Think how powerful you will develop your visualization skills! And it has a very wide range of applications. This is ideomotor training, and self-programming, and goal setting.
Round 7: power shots - power penetrating blows
Throw every punch like it's your last. Put your whole body into it, don't save your energy. This training is of direct practical importance for self-defense. In a fight, you are unlikely to carry out “reconnaissance” with a jab, hit a series in order to deprive the enemy of mobility by the third round. You need to knock him out, and the sooner the better.
Round 8: continuous strikes
Such blows are typical for boxing, but can also be useful for self-defense. The task here is, firstly, to rest after punching blows, and secondly, to develop the movements of the body, legs and shoulders, which are necessary in battle. You can not strike, but, as it were, continuously designate their initiating phase - the movements of the shoulders and hips. It's continuous. Let go of your consciousness, let the body throw on its own fighting movements.
Round 9: Strikes with offset to one side
This is a very useful sports skill - the ability to beat, moving to the flank. Most often, for a right-hander, hitting while moving to the left is not particularly difficult, and hitting while moving to the right is a little more difficult. Here, work it out. You are not a martial artist and you do not need such specific things? Okay, imagine that you are fighting two tipsy opponents. Will you stand still?
Round 10: melee
Of course, it is problematic to work out the technique of fighting in the shadow boxing mode, and there is no such close combat as in boxing on the street. Yes and in mixed martial arts close combat is most often either a clinch or a "takedown" and a fight on the ground. However, the situations are different - leave the blows and at close range. Work by twisting the body, be maximally blocked. Bay explosive series of side, uppercuts, knees and elbows. Stay as stable as possible in a low stance and be ready to fight. Quickly move to the flank and again cling to the "invisible enemy". Look at how he fought - how he doubled blows from the same side, how he worked with his body. Like ears. And what if we are talking about self-defense, then all means are good!
Round 11: Do you still have strength left? Let's fix it now
Hit a series of 10-15 seconds per top speed. Move a little, shake and repeat. Make sure that your strikes, if possible, do not lose combat effectiveness and do not turn into just jerking your arms without investing your hips and shoulders. If you do it diligently, then you will not find it small.
Round 12: shadow boxing
Do whatever you can. Before you is a dangerous prepared opponent, and you have to knock him out. Fight him with everything you can. Beat the crown series, break the distance, go into the clinch, into the fight. Be as clear as possible about what the enemy is doing and develop your series. Replay different scenarios in your mind. Rebuild tactics and combat style. This is your creativity.
Shadow boxing won't replace sparring, but it will really help you improve your fighting skills. Use it.
"It's not about what punches you throw, it's about how you throw them."
It sounds like that overused phrase you hear all your life about quality over quantity. Well, this statement is true in relation to boxing. Throwing quality punches (with accuracy and timing) is much more useful than throwing bunches of punches (wasting energy and leaving yourself vulnerable).
But the essence is not only in quality. Throwing punches in different rhythms confuses opponents. You can use different rhythms to make your attacks more effective without inventing new strokes or using extra energy.
You can create an infinite number of combinations, even throwing the same punches over and over…just by changing your attacking rhythm!
Why You Need To Change Your Attack Rhythm
Throwing combinations with the same rhythm is the easiest way to become predictable. Smart opponents can anticipate when the next punch will come and know how to react to it long before you land that punch.
Question: What is the most predictable attacking rhythm?
Answer: HARD-HARD-HARD
Throwing non-stop hard punches is how most beginners will attack. It doesn't seem reasonable, but it's exactly what I used to do. I've been throwing nothing but hard punches for months. My punches got faster and stronger, but they were still predictable. After sparring with a pro boxer, he said to me, “Johnny, I can feel when your punches fly. You keep hitting the same way."
He meant that I was throwing combinations in the same rhythm - each combination sounded like *bam!-bam!-bam!*. Everyone could understand my rhythm and knew when I would attack. Thanks to this small moment, it was easier for everyone to evade my attacks. Luckily, I have learned to change my rhythm by changing my speed and holding back my power on certain punches. Over the years I have come to realize these 7 basic attack rhythms that you will see used over and over again.
Attack Rhythm #1. (fast-HARD-fast-HARD)
Combination examples:
- 1-2-1-2
- 2-3-2-3
This rhythm is simple, but it works. Imagine someone hitting a 1-2-1-2 combo. Instead of throwing all four punches hard, you throw the jabs super fast and then throw in a right hand. Instead of bam-bam-bam-bam, your combination will sound like baBAM!-baBAM!
This combo immediately becomes more effective because you put more emphasis on your right hand, bringing it to your opponent faster. Your opponent is very busy evading your jab and he misses a right hand. This is a great rhythm for fighters with a very strong crosses. A quick jab and a HARD cross, over and over.
You can also be original like some fighters and throw 2-3-2-3 combinations with this rhythm. How it works is you will be throwing light right jabs followed by hard left hooks. I remember how Roy Jones easily outboxed his opponents on Olympic Games using the same combination.
Attack Rhythm #2. (quick-quick-HARD)
Combination examples:
- 1-1-2
- 1-2-3
- 3-1-2
This is a simple combo, but many fighters are afraid to throw it exactly as described. They are afraid to wait for the third blow, which will be the first hard blow. Anyway, here's how it's done: Throw 2 very fast punches to confuse your opponent and then finish with a 3rd hard punch. In the first combo example, you throw 2 very fast jabs to knock your opponent down. The second jab will surprise your opponent if you throw it fast enough, which in turn sets the stage for a right hand.
As shown above, you can also throw 1-2-3 and 3-1-2 combos with the same rhythm. The first two quick hits should force the opponent to raise their defense while the 3rd hit delivers damage.
Attack Rhythm #3. (care-quick-quick-quick)
Combination examples:
- slope-2-3-2
- slope-2-1-1
- block-3-2-1
- guy-1-2-1
It's a simple evasive attack rhythm that works amazingly well. All you have to do is get away from your opponent's first punch, thus breaking his rhythm, and then crush him with a quick three-punch counter combination before he comes to his senses. Above I have given some examples of simple combinations. Don't worry about him hitting; move away from the first strike and counter with your three. Keep doing this over and over again.
This is an excellent rhythm for high speed fighters or fighters with fast hands. I simply approach my opponent in the manner of a stalker. As soon as he throws a punch, I pull back and then come back with 3 punches. Do this over and over for maximum damage. Try!
Attack Rhythm #4. (quick-care-HARD)
Combination examples:
- 1-slope-2
- 2-slope-2
- 2-inversion-2
A fast counter-attacking rhythm that will keep your opponents on their toes. Throw a quick punch, get away from the counter, then counter hard. Throw a jab, slip a counter, throw a right counter. Or throw a right hand, roll from a counter, then throw a hard right hand counter. Helps to act quickly and dexterously. This combo works best at the beginning of the fight when it's too early to invest in punches and at the end of the fight when opponents get lazy with counters.
Attack Rhythm #5. (quick-quick-care-HARD)
Combination examples:
- 1-1-1-slope-2
- 1-2-1-slope-3
- 1-1-2-inversion-2
- 1-2-3-inversion-3
Another great attacking rhythm with a slip and a HARD counter at the end. Throw 3 quick punches to get your opponent in for a trade, dodge your opponent's counter, and then come back with a HARD counter. Do this correctly a few times and you will intimidate your opponent so that he will be afraid to hit back.
In the first combination example, I dodge the counter jab. In the second example, I dodge a right counter. In the third and fourth combos, I roll under right counters and left hooks. These combinations work best against aggressive fighters and punchers. They are willing to trade, so you defeat them with fast punches to get them to counter, then move away from them and punch back hard.
Attack Rhythm #6. (fast-HARD-HARD-fast)
Combination examples:
- 1-2-3-1
- 1-2-3-2-1 (fast-HARD-HARD-HARD-fast)
This attack rhythm is a series of hard hits that starts and ends with fast hits. A quick punch at the beginning sets you up, and a quick punch at the end helps you get away. final blow at the end must be quick to knock down the opponent's counter-punch. Theoretically, you can throw endless hard punches and only throw a fast punch when you feel like your opponent is about to counter.
Attack Rhythm #7. (HARD-HARD-HARD-care-fast-quick-care)
Combination examples:
- 1-2-3-move-1-1-move
- 2-3-2-move-1-1-move
This rhythm is very exciting and extremely annoying for your opponents. Throw 3 hard punches, move, double jab, move again. Your opponent will lose balance because you keep switching between hard and fast combinations. You hit him hard and then run away, then throw two jabs when he expects more power punches. When attacking again, he'll probably expect to trade against jabs, but now you're throwing power punches again. Your constant movement will interrupt his counter-attacks. He will defend at the wrong time and try to trade at the wrong time.
Some of you want to know about the difference between a fast punch and a hard punch. Shouldn't ALL punches be fast and hard? To some extent, yes. But also, it's impossible to move your weight with every punch AT FULL SPEED. What constitutes a punching rhythm is the blending of punches for speed and full weight transfer for power. Using rhythm knocks your opponent down because some punches come faster or harder than others. He won't know where to concentrate his defenses and just the fact that you keep changing things all the time will confuse him.
Quick Strikes Prepare Hard Hits
Quick strikes do not have to hit the target. They are used to prepare your hard punches. So instead of trying to hit, you can try to hit different places (elbow, forehead, opposite side, etc) to get him to defend different planes and open up for your hard punches. You can also throw quick punches into your opponent's defense or use feints to keep him on defense.
Combine Different Rhythms
If you haven't noticed by now, it's possible to switch from one rhythm to another. Use different rhythms to make different combinations so that your opponent can't miscalculate you. You can win whole fights by hitting nothing but one deuce over and over if you use different rhythms. Hell, that's exactly what some world champions do. 😉
