Developing Rhythmic Control
To become a good rhythm player it is essential to have control over where you place notes or chords within the bar, and where you leave spaces.
One way to improve this ability is to take each subdivision of the beat (in this case – eighth notes), and practice moving each one to all possible positions within a single beat and then within a bar. To keep the feel of the basic subdivision, use percussive strumming in place of rests. Remember to use your metronome, count out loud and tap your foot evenly on the beat.
Accents
A simple power chord rhythm can be made to sound "heavier" by applying an accent to some of the strums within the rhythm. An accent is achieved by playing the strum a little louder or stronger. An accent is often shown as a small wedge (L) above or below the note, as shown below.
The following example applies the accent to a simple chord progression that uses the open power chords A5, D5, and E5.
A good way to gain control of accents is to take a systematic approach similar to the earlier percussive strumming exercises; i.e. practice accents on all possible eighth note positions within a bar individually, and then in combinations, as shown below.
It is also important to work on using accents with single notes. A good way to do this is to use a simple four finger exercise and play it in eighth notes, first accenting all the notes on the beat, and then all the notes off the beat, as shown here.
Staccato
It is not always desirable to leave a chord ringing once it has been played. In rhythm guitar playing it is common to cut the sound of a chord off as soon as it has been played, making the rhythm very crisp. The technique of cutting chords or notes shorter than their written value is called staccato. With chords containing open strings, staccato is usually achieved by placing the side of the right hand across all the strings immediately after strumming the chord. Staccato is indicated by placing a dot directly above or below the intended note or chord, as shown below.
