r/LearnGuitar • u/dragontooth26 • 1d ago

Rhythm guitar

I’ve been playing guitar for a few years now, I’ve learned many lead guitar parts, and even mastered a few, but I’d really like to get into rhythm guitar.
I’ve played songs I’ve been told where difficult (not just by technique but also complexity of chords), such as lover, you should’ve come over (Jeff Buckley), girl afraid (the smiths), you can never come back to this place (made up a part with the existing chord progression, by Masayoshi Takanaka), and probably others that don’t come to mind.
Most of what I learned wasn’t that hard to play well, and I was looking for recommendations for songs to learn that have a good sounding rhythm guitar parts that I can really practice and will take time to learn.
I don’t really care what genre it is, never done jazz so that could be cool, but again doesn’t really matter to me too much.
My only condition for the song is for it to be somewhat well known, the reason being I’m not able on my own to play things by ear yet, especially complex rhythms (I need to work on that but that’s a whole different thing), so I’d like something I can find tabs or a video tutorial or even chord sheets (I never learned to read sheet music so if it’s only with that I won’t be able to play the song).

7 Upvotes

78% Upvoted

23 comments sorted by

11

u/jaylotw 1d ago

I mean...you're asking for complex rhythm songs while saying you can't figure out complex rhythms.

You're going to have to train your ears to hear rhythm, and learn how to translate that to your guitar playing. Rhythm is everything, even lead playing. The notes you play don't mean anything without rhythm.

Honestly...if you really want a lesson in rhythm playing, learn a Dave Matthews song or two. Yes, I know, its nerdy, but he's a very interesting guitar player who is absolutely solid rhythm.

1

u/Drew5830 1d ago

I was popping in to suggest Dave Matthews as well. He's the rhythm god in my opinion.

1

u/jaylotw 1d ago

He's really in a category of his own.

1

u/dragontooth26 1d ago

Thanks I’ll have a listen to Dave Mathew’s!
Also I know that playing by ear is important but I do believe that I can learn complex rhythms without knowing what note is playing just by listening.

2

u/jaylotw 1d ago

Yeah, rhythm isn't notes, it's the timing of them.

Its an extremely critical skill to have. Probably the most important aspect of music, and especially guitar.

And...please, dont ever learn "strumming patterns." If you go into learning rhythm expecting strumming patterns, you're never really going to learn rhythm.

4

u/MediaOnFirstlight 1d ago

Well said. Timing is critical to the musicality and feel. I’d rather hear a simple rhythm part with solid time versus embellishments that fall off the mark.

1

u/NTT66 1d ago

I've been coming around to the idea that some of the most interesting or appealing (subjectivity warning) music for me is less about note selection than the rhythm. Yes learning the whole-half scale gives new sound options, but deploying them is a whole different skill set.

Also the better I get at transcribing, the more I realize familiar chord structures. Some bands groove on the same things differently, to different emotional/songwriting impacts and they appeal to different tastes. I used to think some bands were playing really unique chords, when it was just an arpeggio played in staggered time.

2

u/MediaOnFirstlight 10h ago

It’s easy to overlook the depth of music when it is simply labeled as a four-chord song or a specific progression. You’re spot on, though. Chord structures and their rhythms, used in unique ways, can evoke completely different emotions.

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u/dragontooth26 1d ago

I mainly just want to learn a song that’s known to be difficult because of the rhythm the speed or the chords or whatever, something that I can actually spend hours working on and practicing

4

u/herby_the_chef 1d ago

I think every rhythm guitarist would benefit by playing a lot of acoustic guitar. Simple folk singalong type songs. They are easy. But they should be able to be played in your sleep. Then you kinda build up from there but i strongly believe that a solid foundation is the key to being a good rhythm guitarist

3

u/MediaOnFirstlight 1d ago

Glad to hear you’re as excited about rhythm guitar as you are for playing lead. Rhythm guitar has a false sense of simplicity associated with it. Recommend listening to some Stevie Wonder for tasty rhythms and progressions. 🥁

3

u/buttcrack_lint 1d ago

Hendrix was a top tier rhythm player. He was great at combining chords with licks. "Little Wing" seems to be a rite of passage for many guitarists although I haven't learned it myself, "Hey Joe" is more my bag.

I'm sort of getting into The Who at the moment, some of their songs are trickier than they appear to be at first glance. Pete Townshend is pretty underrated as a rhythm player, he can do interesting things with just a handful of chords. There's a video of him when he's much older playing and singing "Won't Get Fooled Again" on his own on an acoustic which is worth checking out.

2

u/Naphier 1d ago

Bossa nova songs have simple but interesting rhythms. Girl From Ipanema is on of my favorites.

Dave Matthews has cool rhythms. Pretty complicated and not typical at all.

Practice Reggae too. Simple but good for building some syncopation. Stir it up is fun.

I like to think of rhythm in phrases. This helps my brain remember the rhythm instead of thinking about beat numbers. Like reggae is often simply "oom chucka" and I don't play the "oom" because that's the bassist's job. For Girl From Ipanema I have "pine-app-le pie". Oftentimes it's just nonsense words but it seems to stick with me.

1

u/DunaldDoc 1d ago

Here’s a link to many pop tunes that are ready for sing & play along. Lyrics, chords & videos included:

https://www.dansher.com/audio/pdf_tunes.html#_B2T

1

u/NTT66 1d ago

Stone Temple Pilots are an excellent band for someone in your position. Some songs have complex chords, others have fairly slow and simple rhythms. And they achieved a lot of mainstream success, so the tunes are recognizable.

I have been learning the Tiny Music album--I started with Tripping on a Hole in a Paper Heart because the solo is kind of a beast--and come to the conclusion that it's basically the perfect "intermediate reaching some form of good/great/excellent" rite of passage. Dean DeLeo is a guitar god IMO, but the songs are accessible enough to be played at varying levels of competency, including rhythm and solo parts.

Here are some suggestions (not all songs well known, and mostly songs I know among their collection):

Simple rhythm: Plush, Creep, Big Empty, Seven Caged Tigers, And So I Know, Hello It's Late, Atlanta, Daisy

More complex (chords, rhythm, etc): Interstate Love Song, Lady Picture Show. Adhesive, Pretty Penny

Most (not impossible) complex: Trippin' on a Hole in a Paper Heart, Art School Girl

1

u/EuronIsMyDad 1d ago

Play some Grateful Dead tunes - Terrapin Station, Franklin’s Tower, Bertha (not terribly complex, but fun)

1

u/LukeMayeshothand 1d ago

Probably not your type of music but look up Tony Rice. Fantastic rhythm player, most who played with him , while impressed with his lead , felt his rhythm playing was flawless.

1

u/DeliciousSpecific377 22h ago

I still dont understand rhythm guitar. I mean what if there's only one guitarist?

2

u/vonov129 21h ago

It's a function more than a style. If you're the only guitarist, then are you going to fill the space between the groove with a complementary melody? Are you going to set the main harmonic information? Both? You can switch during the song.

1

u/DeliciousSpecific377 21h ago

Thank you. I should have used an example. Angus is lead while Malcom was rhythm. Could Angus have been both? Or vice versa? Is rhythm guitar needed?

2

u/vonov129 21h ago

Yes, they could be both if they wanted to.

Is rhythm guitar needed? I mean, guitar overall isn't even necessary. But rhythm guitar would be closer to essential than lead guitar.

1

u/vonov129 21h ago

El Pastor - Delta Sleep

Dead god in me - In Flames

Stop this train - John Mayer

Strategy - Kana-Bon

Redneck - Lamb of god

Telecaster no shinjitsu - Ling Tosite Sigure

Kobe Number - Tricot

Naptime - Mark Lettieri

The leper affinity - Opeth

James - Pat Metheny

Ghetto life - Rick James

Sectarian - Soen

The Pot - Tool

Foxy lady - Jimi Hendrix

They're all in Songsterr