Can you relate to this:

You’re learning a song or a riff on your guitar. You have all the notes and chords down but for some reason it doesn’t sound any good. You try and you try, but despite your best efforts it just doesn’t sound right. Eventually you give up in frustration thinking to yourself that maybe you just aren’t cut out for this guitar thing. 

I know I can relate to the above. I would sit for hours getting the notes and chords down to a song, thinking that I had it, only to find that for some reason it all fell apart when I tried to play it along with the recording I was working from. This was extremely frustrating for me.

Eventually I discovered that it was my rhythm and timing that was the problem. Sure I had my notes and chords down, but they were all over the place as a result of my poor timing skills. This is why I struggled to sound any good with the songs and riffs I learned. 

When all was said and done, I just simply could not play my guitar in time.

To massively improve everything that you have ever learned on your guitar up until this point in time, simply focus on developing your rhythm and timing skills. It’s that simple!

Today I will show you some very easy and effective ways in which you can do this, but before we get to that . . . . .

The Endless Frustration Of Playing Your Guitar Out Of Time, And What Happens If You Ignore This

If you realise that you have trouble playing your guitar in time, then be thankful, because many people are not even aware that this is a weakness for them. 

The reason for timing being such a common problem for many guitar players is that far too often the emphasis is put on WHAT notes to play and not WHEN to play these notes. It’s wrongly assumed that if you can play the right notes, then they will also be played at the right time. This is not true, and will end in frustration for you if you adopt this approach.

You can attempt to learn as many songs as you like, but you will always struggle to get them down if you lack good rhythm and timing skills. The feeling of spending many hours learning a song, only for it to fall apart when you try playing it, is very frustrating and leads to embarrassment when jamming the song with friends or in a band.

The Benefits Of Having The Ability To Play Your Guitar In Time

Do not underestimate the effectiveness of the exercises presented in this article due to their simplicity. Do them regularly and you will see a massive improvement in the ability to play your guitar in time on a consistent basis. You will start to “feel” time rather than have to “think” time.

This is the ultimate goal. You want to go from having to think where the beat is, as you play your guitar, to being able to feel where it is, and by extension the notes you play. 

Once you achieve this, and you will, a whole new freedom will come to your guitar playing. No longer will songs be a struggle for you to play. You’ll find them so much easier and quicker to learn. Jamming with friends, or playing in a band, is something you’ll love doing, rather than something you fear and dread.

Playing your guitar in time will never be an issue for you again.

No Need For Your Guitar. Put It Down

The aim is to improve your overall awareness and sense of time as you play your guitar. To do this, there is no need to focus on anything specific in relation to songs etc. Rather, we will focus more on rhythm and time in general, which by extension will then improve everything that you already know on your guitar, as well as everything that you’ll learn in the future.

In light of this, you won’t need your guitar at all. Put it away, and let’s focus purely on the beat instead. Playing your guitar will only be a distraction, we want to focus on rhythm and timing only.

A big advantage to our approach here is that you will be able to work with your timing skills anywhere, anytime. You don’t need a guitar, and you don’t necessarily need to be at home. All you need is a few spare minutes in your day, something everybody has no matter how busy you are.

Warning: A very costly assumption that many people make is that rhythm and timing drills, like the ones I am about to present to you, are for beginners only. Counting and clapping appears to be simple and therefore you feel you are above these and don’t need to do them. This is WRONG! You’re playing will suffer if you take on this attitude. If you have trouble with playing your guitar in time, or you want to increase you awareness of time, then the following drills will help you greatly. Don’t underestimate the benefit your guitar playing will receive by doing them regularly.

The following drills are all in 4/4 time, the most common of time signatures. Start here, but you should also work with other times like 3/4 and 6/8 once you get comfortable with 4/4. Be sure to use a metronome too. Metronomes are an essential tool for musicians of all kinds. They will train your time better than anything else.

Let’s start by counting  1,  2,  3,  4,  1,  2,  3,  4 etc

Each number you count coincides with a click of the metronome. Your aim is to be perfectly in time as you do this.

Once you have this going, tap on the first beat only as you continue to count all beats.

Like this: (I have highlighted the beat you are tapping in red)

1,   2,   3,   4,   1,   2,   3,   4  etc

Hear It

Now let’s tap on the 1 and 3 beats like this:

1,   2,   3,   4,   1,   2,   3,   4  etc

Hear It

Finally, tap on all 4 beats like this:

1,   2,   3,   4,   1,   2,   3,   4  etc

Hear It

You must be counting each and every beat aloud in the drills above. This is vitally important in developing your awareness of time. 

Counting aloud is a means to an end. It’s purely for training your awareness and sense of time. Soon enough you will be feeling the beat instead.

Divide And Conquer 

Creating rhythms in music is all about dividing the beat into various groupings. These divisions of the beat are found in everyday music.

Let’s begin by dividing the beat into two by tapping twice to each click of the metronome while counting:

1   +   2   +   3   +   4   +   etc

Hear It

Next, let’s tap 3 times to each of the metronome and count:

1  +  a    2  +  a    3  +  a    4  +  a   etc

Hear It

Finally, let’s tap 4 times to each click of the metronome and count:

1  e  +  a    2  e  +  a    3  e  +  a    4  e  +  a   etc

Hear It

Tapping like this to your metronome provides a great foundation for your rhythm and timing. Before long you will be feeling these divisions rather than having to count and clap them. Remember that our aim is to go from “thinking” to “feeling” the beat.

Mixing It All Up

Once you have worked with the drills above, the next step is to create cool rhythms and grooves by mixing the divisions of the beat together. This is how music is, rhythmically speaking. It’s all about dividing the beat up in various ways.

Here is an example of this:

1   +    2  e  +  a    3  +  a    4  +   etc

Hear It

and another:

1  e  +  a    2  +   3  e  +  a    4  +   etc

Hear It

There are many rhythms that you can create by doing this, and that is exactly what you need and should to do. The great thing is, you can do this anywhere, anytime. Even if you don’t have a metronome handy, just tap your foot to provide the beat and start creating rhythms right there on the spot. All you need is a few spare minutes.

Maximise your rhythm and timing skills by learning how to play acoustic guitar like you never have before, with these cool and unique techniques for percussive guitar

About the author: Based in Melbourne Australia, Simon Candy is a professional guitar teacher and musician specialising in all things acoustic guitar. Founder of Simon Candy School Of Guitar, Simon also offers tuition for acoustic guitar online