Understanding Rhythms
It is important to understand rhythms even if you don't read music. All players use the same notes, but it is largely the control of timing, rhythms and phrasing which separates the great players from the average. There are thousands of licks and solos on albums which use only a few notes (e.g. the five notes of the pentatonic scale) made interesting by the rhythm with which those notes are played. This lesson deals with some basic whole, half, quarter and eighth note rhythms and shows how they can be used to get the most of the notes of the pentatonic scale.
The Whole Note
This is a whole note.
It lasts for four beats.
There is one whole note Count: 1 2 3 4 in one bar of * time.
The Whole Rest
This is a whole rest.
It indicates either four beats of silence or a whole bar of silence.
In the following example, the guitar plays a whole note in one bar and nothing in the following bar (a whole rest). This means there is a lot of space for other instruments. Listen to the CD to hear how the guitar part interacts with other instruments. Notice that small count numbers are used with rests.
