Many teachers and Music Theory sites will tell you that you count 12/8 time out in 1/8th notes. Well yes this is true but this is only good if you are using 1/8th notes all the time, which is a bit repetitive. To be more musical and creative you are at some point going to want to subdivide the beat into other compound time configurations so sticking rigidly to counting the beat in 1/8 th notes is not going to be helpful and possibly it may actually become difficult. My method for counting in 12/8 time jumps ahead and actually uses the 1/16th notes to make the count assuming that this is the most useful and likely subdivision of the 1/8th note beat that you will use and encounter.
Continue reading Method of counting 1/16 th notes in 12/8 time →
This lesson is dedicated to the memory of Chuck Berry who gave Rock n Roll it’s style, attitude and many of it’s classic riffs. Many of Chuck’s ideas and basic riffs were derived from T-Bone Walker before him but Chuck adapted them to suit a more aggressive Rock n Roll attitude rather than a Jazz based Blues attitude.
Continue reading Chuck Berry Style Motif →
Rhythm and having a good understanding of rhythmic concepts is often seen as being less important than playing through numerous scales fast or just seen as being the staple of the backing guitarist taking a back seat whilst the soloist grabs the limelight. This is not strictly true. In fact some if not all the greatest Soloists demonstrate a complete mastery and understanding of rhythmic concepts and that is ultimately what makes them the great players that they are or were.
Continue reading Introducing Rhythm: it is not just for backing a Soloist →
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