Eighth Notes
This is an eighth note. It lasts for half a count. There are eight eighth notes in one bar of * time
When eighth notes are joined together the tails are replaced by one beam.
When playing eighth notes, a combination of down (a) and up (s) picking is commonly used. This is called alternate picking. Using it consistently will increase the smoothness, speed and accuracy of your playing. The following example contains all eighth notes, so use alternate picking, i.e.:
Use a down pick on the beat (the number count) and an up pick off the beat (the "and" + count).
When you use eighth notes, there are many more rhythmic possibilities than when using whole, half and quarter notes. For this reason it is a good idea to have a systematic approach to gaining control of eighth notes. To begin with, try playing through the C major scale using a quarter note on the first beat of the bar and eighth notes for the rest of the bar, as shown in the following example.
