I don’t know the stats, but I can bet that 80%+ of people who pick up electric guitar do so wanting to play licks and solos. I know I certainly did!
I can’t deny how cool it is to play a melody that can reach the hearts of many…but rhythm is often neglected, looked down on, and even made fun of within the community. It’s often seen as easier or not as essential to lead.
Even when it comes to resources, there are hundreds and thousands of videos and lessons about melody and improvising, but not much to practice strumming and chord progressions. (I got annoyed of needing 3 or 4 resources to practice this, so I create an all in one eBook, Rhythm and Chord Progressions).
Now, I didn’t notice this initially, especially since I was learning lead, but when I gained more interest in rhythm, there was so much negativity against rhythm! Don’t believe me? Don’t worry, I brought evidence and receipts.
The first common negative thought was that rhythm was boring and a second choice compared to lead.
‘You’re just playing chords in a loop, yawwwwwn’. I will admit, I thought this too. I get pretty bored quickly, so playing 4 chords over the span of 3 minutes sounded boring as hell.
But the more I got into it, I realized how many chords, and progressions and strumming patterns and techniques there are, and I started having more fun with it. Being able to play along to full songs (instead of bits and pieces where riffs show up) and being able to create progressions and jam to myself is a lot of fun!
The second common thought had people wondering if rhythm was even important or necessary in a band.
I get that some may argue that bass and rhythm both follow the chord progression and beat, so you may not need them both, but I feel these people haven’t listened to much music outside of western or pop music.
That, or they assume because a famous band only has one guitarist, two isn’t necessary, but usually that guitarist recorded both and only plays lead live on stage so it still sounds full.
Japanese music for example, rhythm guitar tends to explore various chords including 7ths, diminished, and mixing power and open chords in the same song, all combined with a more groovy strumming pattern. Bass also tends to be more funky and creative. The song is super catchy without much lead. They still have licks, riffs and solos, but the guitar isn’t in your face like past rock music.
The third common negative thought was that it’s okay to call yourself a “lead guitarist” but rhythm guitarists are told they should just call themselves a “guitarist”.
Isn’t that a bit hypocritical? There’s so much pride in being a lead guitarists, and they can proudly call themselves a lead guitarist without anyone saying anything. But, rhythm guitarists who could play even a bit of lead are told they should just call themselves a “guitarist”.
It’s as if it shouldn’t be pointed out that you prefer or can only play rhythm. That it’s shameful in comparison to being a lead guitarist. It reminds me of people looking at bassists as ‘failed guitarists’, even though some always played bass and they love bass more than guitar.
I’ve posted multiple ads since 2015 when I first tried to create an anime/Jrock band. Most will refer to themselves as a ‘lead guitarists’, others will refer to themselves as a ‘guitarist’, but no one has introduced themselves to me as a ‘rhythm guitarist’, even if the ad had both positions open, since I played keyboard in the first attempt. (Btw, not shaming these individuals at all, I just wanted to demonstrate my point.)
The funniest thing about all of this is that, while there are certainly some rhythm guitarists who may not be that great at lead, there is an OVERWHELMING amount of lead guitarists who can’t play rhythm to save their lives.
Here are some comments from videos of people admitting their lack of rhythm sense or ability to play chords.
In the end, when these individuals who were so focused on lead and solos try to join a band so they have the opportunity to show off their skills further, members of the band are often disappointed.
They would expect the guitarist to play rhythm as that is what’s needed most of the time…and they can’t! This is why many rhythm guitarists get positions easily, even if their lead playing is just ‘okay’. If anything, the band gets to avoid overly enthusiastic lead players with huge egos who don’t want to cooperate and be a part of the band as their only goal in life is to show off their ‘mad skills’.
If you’re a newer guitarist that has been neglecting rhythm, or perhaps an advanced lead guitarist who is only looking into this now and is still on the edge, just know that it’s not too late!
Instead of me explaining points, I’ve looked to reddit to see what they said, and they’ll argue for me. Here’s some reasons why you’ll want to get started now so you don’t regret it later.
1. Rhythm Is More Essential To Any Band
2. Learning Rhythm Makes You A Better Lead Guitarist
All in all, I’m not telling you to play rhythm if you don’t want to. Life is short, do what you want to do. However, if you were on the edge, or you’re someone who is getting into rhythm but are feeling discouraged, I hope this has helped you gain a new perspective.
As many have said above, being able to play with a band and really drive the rhythm is what can make or break a song. Lead isn’t always around, but rhythm is consistent. It will definitely open a lot of opportunities for you and you’ll be able to understand music enough to play better solos.
And if anything, I find the rhythm community is certainly more welcoming. It’s not about showing off or who can play the fastest, it’s about being part of a team and sharing cool rhythmic ideas.
When you learn that sounding musical and being in time is way more important than flashy licks and speedy solos, I think your true start as a musician begins.
As a beginner myself, I couldn’t find something that combined everything on one page, meaning I had to reference many things just to learn and practice strumming with progressions. I fixed that by combining 15 different progressions and strumming patters with 5 keys and their chord charts all on one page, for a combination of 75 chord progressions for you to practice. Definitely check it out!
This website or its third-party tools use cookies, which are necessary to its functioning and required to achieve the purposes illustrated in the cookie policy. If you would like to learn more, please refer to the cookie policy.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Pingback: Why Guitar Beginners Should Consider Learning Music Theory ⋆ Chromatic Dreamers
Pingback: Music Theory Is Like Cooking Science... ⋆ Chromatic Dreamers
Pingback: 10 Reasons Why The Metronome Should Be Your Best Friend ⋆ Chromatic Dreamers