Rhythm it is...

[DaveKell]

So for the past few years I've been beating myself up trying to achieve some proficiency with lead improvising, polishing fingerstyle skills, and just basically trying to reach a level I felt I should be at after around 50 years. All the years my guitar heros (mainly Toby Walker) spent becoming awesome guitarists I spent becoming a master signpainter/pinstriper and running my business I owned most of my adult life. After I retired at age 58 I spent more time with my guitars. It's becoming evident to me I've lost too much time to acquire the playing proficiency I aspire to.

I attend a weekly jam session and also an open mic that are both well attended. One thing that bugs me is people who can't strum on time consistently with the rhythm. I don't have that issue in the least. n fact, the lead player always inclines his ear towards me when he takes a solo break.

I think I'm going to stop this mad pursuit and concentrate on my strengths of rhythm playing. Sure, it would be more fulfilling to be able to throw in my own soloing while playing alone. Also, songs I play with only chord strumming can get monotonous at times. I think I've found a solution with an ancient book I have with every variation of every chord that exists on guitar. I've started throwing in different voicings randomly that are making my playing more interesting, both to me and listeners. It's holding my enthusiasm for guitar after all this time.

I guess there's nothing inherently wrong with resigning myself to rhythm only playing. After all, as I said, I routinely encounter a plethora of players who are nowhere near as good at it as I am!

[MC5C]

You don't say what style of guitar you play, but in big band jazz, bluegrass, country, rock, Irish and Scottish fiddle music, rhythm playing is absolutely critical. Laying down a solid beat and enhancing the melody with chord voicings. Playing a solid riff that defines the tune. Very difficult to master.

[DaveKell]

Originally Posted by MC5C

You don't say what style of guitar you play, but in big band jazz, bluegrass, country, rock, Irish and Scottish fiddle music, rhythm playing is absolutely critical. Laying down a solid beat and enhancing the melody with chord voicings. Playing a solid riff that defines the tune. Very difficult to master.

I mostly play country because that's the repertoire of the jam I go to. By myself I play 70's classic rock and some blues. The old book I mentioned is called chord chemistry. I'm into a chapter now with blues chord substitutions that's giving me the sound I've always missed. What ticks me off the most is the guys who can improvise lead solos are considered the best guitarists! I want to be a captain too! However, I played electric bass for 14 years in an orchestra and long ago got accustomed to being thought of as someone who plays one of the most basic, easiest instruments. Man were they ever wrong! A drummer once asked me if I was a "frustrated guitarist". I asked why. He said most bassists are frustrated guitarists.

[TJE]

I once saw a video of Robben Ford explaining the why’s of Rhythm is the bees’nees! Sometimes good rhythm is all a song needs! IMHO

[DukeX]

I think you will also find that most great lead guitar players (if not all) are also great rhythm players.


Sam, of MyTwangyGuitar instructional video fame, has an excellent one on The Roots of Rhythm Guitar. At some point he states that "The lead player gets the chicks, the rhythm player gets the gigs."

[Paddy1951]

Guitar is not my first instrument. I have been a percussionist since my early teens.

I don't play the kit anymore. For the last 20 years, I have been more into to hand drumming. I have done a lot of Irish Traditional music and became proficient on the Irish drum. The bodhran. I studied in Ireland and just retired from teaching the instrument locally.

Over many years I have encountered many musicians- guitar players, fiddlers, whistle and flute players, bouzouki players, accordion, etc. that were good players melodically but had lousy rhythm.

I experienced that with rock music too. Guitar players who could do many great riffs but couldn't stay even whatsoever.

My take on that today, not original by any means, is that hit a wrong note, not such a big deal. Get out of rhythm, everything can tank.

Good for you that you are going after rhythm. A good rhythm guitar can provide the underpinning that holds things together. Good rhythm can really nicely "fatten" a good piece of music.



IMO, all the fancy leads one could play cannot make up for an erractic or weak pulse.
Trust me, become a really good rhythm player and you will be much appreciated.

[fazool]

Originally Posted by DaveKell

...
I guess there's nothing inherently wrong with resigning myself to rhythm only playing. ...

You do not sound convinced and sound like rhythm is a downgrade.

I used to think similarly.

My favorite guitarist is Rik Emmett. He plays fantastic leads but said he really doesn't love that - he really gets enthused by a good rhythm which, in his words, is the really important and hard part of playing a song.

Angus Young once described brother Malcom's rhythm playing as the backbone of all their AC/DC songs and described him as "the real talent" behind their music.

I've embraced this and fostered adopted a deep and profound love for it.

Sure a few little leads are fun to play but, for me, a complex rhythm is so much more satisfying.

[lovgren]

My objective is to accompany vocalists. So I don't view my role as "just rhythm" playing. I view it as being the foundation they can stand on to make their singing easier and to help showcase their vocal.

There's a lot to that, including augmented chords, voicings, inversions, melody notes, different playing styles, cueing them into the various parts of the song so they can come in strong and confidently, etc etc etc.

That's the primary reason I play guitar - to be the guitarist that helps vocalists have their best performance. That doesn't involve much of me playing single-line stuff, and that's A-OK with me.

I'm with you on the voicings and open chords up the neck, etc. That's what makes this all fun. I have electric players tell me they can't do what I do, and that makes me smile, but it's not my primary goal.

[Paddy1951]

Originally Posted by lovgren

My objective is to accompany vocalists. So I don't view my role as "just rhythm" playing. I view it as being the foundation they can stand on to make their singing easier and to help showcase their vocal.



There's a lot to that, including augmented chords, voicings, inversions, melody notes, different playing styles, cueing them into the various parts of the song so they can come in strong and confidently, etc etc etc.



That's the primary reason I play guitar - to be the guitarist that helps vocalists have their best performance. That doesn't involve much of me playing single-line stuff, and that's A-OK with me.



I'm with you on the voicings and open chords up the neck, etc. That's what makes this all fun. I have electric players tell me they can't do what I do, and that makes me smile, but it's not my primary goal.

A vocal, vocalist, can really play with the rhythm, tempo. Being a good rhythm player can really make a difference in how the, not metronomic, vocal comes off. So yes, it is more than just rhythm.

[DaveKell]

Originally Posted by fazool

You do not sound convinced and sound like rhythm is a downgrade.

That's an astute observation. As I said, I've been hammering myself over not advancing to the level I want to be at with fingerstyle and lead improvising. I'm inherently disappointed that my brain doesn't learn like it did 30, or even 20 years ago. I can put on jam tracks and after a few times through one be riffing away with it. Improvising on the fly however eludes me and is what I aspire to. The people I envy the most are the ones who do this fluently. I am at any given guitar event I attend the strongest rhythm strummer, no matter the tempo of the song. I attribute much of that to playing the foundational rhythm instrument, an electric bass, in an orchestra for 14 years. Lots of times when we'd be learning a new piece the conductor would have me play my part and he'd tell everyone to follow me. It was always funny how anytime I'd falter, one by one all the other musicians would as well. I routinely see the same thing happen at jams when a person messes up on their strumming. Everybody else struggles momentarily. Not me, I keep it going at the right tempo. That is a strength I'm going to accept is likely the best I'm going to be.

[jseth]

I play a lot of my gigs as a solo, guitar and voice... and I've put in the time and study to be a really good "lead" player (I use parens because I don't think of it that way)...

I have been faced with the same sort of conundrum, but I already HAVE the ability to "string spaghetti" over any of the music I love...

So, I have taken to looking at the challenge in this manner: First off, the SONG is what is most important, not me showing what I can do as lead player... I keep the groove of the tune going, no matter what, and I embellish where and when I feel it works for the song.

Being able to play with good time and meter and being able to cop a great groove and keep it going is PARAMOUNT for being an effective player, especially for a solo singer/guitarist!

[DaveKell]

I've really been digging into the Chord Chemistry book. So far, I've taken 4 or 5 original songs and plugged in variations of the chords, inversions, etc., and am getting excited about the possibilities. As I said, I've never had an issue with strumming to any tempo consistently. It's my only strength. I'll still noodle away to backing tracks but it looks like I'll always have to avoid the situation of being called on to improvise. It's way out of my skillset.

[Gordon Currie]

Remember that many lead players do NOT improvise, instead they work out their lines and memorize them. Other than jazz, the percentage of lead players who primarily improvise may be a lot smaller than you think.

Improvisation is really hard to learn and I think almost impossible to teach. You must commit to sucking for an indeterminate time to travel that road. I consider myself to be a very competent improviser, but I work on it every time I sit down to play AND every time I perform more than 2 songs.

You might do well to reframe your whole concept of playing lead. Right now, that means 100% improv. What would happen if you worked out most of a solo ahead of time, then left the last 4 measures for improv?

Finally, decouple improv from lead. Is there any reason you can't improvise a rhythm accompaniment?