Making Rhythm Guitar Fun/Embellishing The Rhythm to EP 466

[John H]

Kudos to Charjo for starting this thread-What a fantastic idea. We can all learn from each other. I accompany my brother quite a bit and he loves these types of lessons-Country, Western Swing, Waltzes, Gypsy Jazz (anything beyond the norm). While studying the rhythm parts (as he plays most of the lead parts) I have come to appreciate these genres and especially Brian’s chord arrangements. They are fascinating, challenging, complicated and also a lot of fun to master. They are brilliant chord progressions. Many can STAND ALONE on their own merit. My purpose is to embellish them to the point where they really STAND ALONE.

Here is my first contribution to this forum-not so much ‘how to’ but ‘what I did’ to make an already fantastic chord progression sound ‘different’ with some added chops . A lot went into making this lesson. I just wanted to share an idea then found myself for almost two days filming and editing. After watching it I thought: “Goodness, there are so many things I could do to improve this but heck no-here it is, ready or not. ” Hope it’s helpful. Please leave a comment so we can spark some discussion.

[Michael L]

Hi John, thanks for sharing this lesson. Really excellent thinking here. It shows your experience in putting together a real, workable rhythm part. I was playing along and you’re right, it’s fun!

[Michael Krailo]

Excellent rhythm work John. I picked up what you were doing right away but I gravitated to using standard barre chords instead of the thumb.

Go slow and practice correct technique, and your abilities will dramatically improve.

[JoLa]

That sure does look like fun to play, John. Thank you for putting together this little informational breakdown and sharing it with us – very inspiring! Lately, I have been drawn to rhythm playing more than anything else so I really appreciate this.

🎸JoLa

[Dieter]

Great, very helpful examples of interesting accompaniments.

Dieter

[Richard G]

Thanks John, that insight to your chord progression was excellent. I particularly loved your muted rhythm strokes which gave the whole backing some zip. I know there’s a lot of work gone into that so huge thanks for sharing it with us.

Richard

[charjo]

Enjoyed hearing your process, John. Keep them coming. I love the movement you put in the progression. Muting is an incredibly important rhythm skill, for groove, but also to keep your hand moving. Analyzing Brian’s backing tracks is as important as anything Brian teaches.
Thanks for the shout out. The new forum section was an evolution of a longer discussion started by HardnHeavy about teaching licks. There was a lot of discussion at one of the Active Melody Zoom sessions with great input from Manfred and others. Thanks to Brian, also, for indulging us with altering one of the old forum sections, as suggested by JoeD1.
John

[John H]

Thanks for the positive vibes and you deserve the shout out. There is a lot to broach in doing this, like muting, upstrokes and the analysis of the progression. It’s hard to remember all (hence I had to use subtitles after I realized I left something important out.) It’s all so much fun. The bloopers from this might be wildly entertaining to a few of you (you, JoLa, etc. etc..). Be well.

John

[JoeD1]

That was great John. You gave so much information. Now I just have to find out how to make those diminished chords but that shouldn’t be hard. Thanks John.

Joe

The sight of a touch, or the scent of a sound,
Or the strength of an Oak with roots deep in the ground.
--Graeme Edge

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