16th note rhythms: the right way - the wrong way

Sixteenth note rhythms are about as fast as it gets when you're playing guitar chords. Playing a certain rhythms requires a given technique. Often I can categorize people who play 16th note rhythms in one of the following three categories. 

  1) People who don't have the slightest idea on what they're doing.
These are the ones who just started playing the guitar and without taking any lessons (or self study) they start playing their favorite tunes. The strumming goes all over the place. A down stroke here, some upstrokes there. They will have a hard time trying to sing and play the guitar at the same time. It's nearly impossible. To the trained ear the inexperience is quite noticeable, while your friends may just say: hmmm, I think it's not exactly how it's supposed to sound, but I can't lay my finger on it.

  2) People who play 16th note rhythms as if they are playing an 8th note rhythm.
Mostly these people did get a couple of guitar lessons, and maybe they have some more experience playing the guitar at home. They started playing up and down strokes and are pretty good at it when it comes to 8th note rhythms. The way you would play a Taylor Swift song for instance. But when you apply this strumming technique to a 16th note rhythms your song's gonna get all mixed up. When you are playing in a 8th note strumming rhythms, but you encounter a 16th note, you'll play that sixteenth- as if it was an eight note, and suddenly up- and down strokes are switched. Playing an half-inverted-8th-note-technique-16th-note-guitar-rhythm. Again, you yourself might say: what's the fuzz about? I'm playing guitar ain't I? But compared to a steady 16th note rhythm you're technique sounds like a crippled guy running the marathon and doing it quite fast. Yes, you did finish but it didn't look good.

   

Here we've got an example of Nick playing a 16th note rhythm the 8th note way. He doesn't do a bad job at what he's doing, but wait until you compare it to the real thing. 

  3) People who play mastered it..
Steady, relaxed and easy. That's how it should be. Able to sing, able to have a conversation while playing guitar, to make a few jokes to the audience. Able to make the breaks at the right moment. To play really tight with a band. To play any kind of strumming pattern within seconds.

   

The 16th note rhythm, played with a 16th note strumming technique. Look forward to the next couple of blog posts in which I'll explain how to strum 16th note patterns the right way!

Understanding 16th note rhythms [Guitar Pro]

How to play 16th note chord rhythms on the guitar and play them using the right technique? This video will help you to understand 16th note guitar rhythms and will help you get some insight on how to play them. Next week I'll do an extended blog post on this subject. This video will also give a clear example on how to create and make sheet music of a sixteenth note beat / chord progression.

About 8th note guitar rhythms

In this post I'm giving you some general information about 8th note guitar rhythms. It al starts by knowing the fourth notes. The quarter notes are the ones your count will be on. When you got 4 quarter notes in a song you'll count 1-2-3-4 for each measure. Every count will be a downstroke.

Count 1-2-3-4
When you just started on the guitar, you might want to hit the first 3 notes only. Use that fourth count to switch to the next chord. Do count the 4. Because if you don't it will f*ck up your rhythm and you'll condition a faulty habit.

When we cut all the 1/4 notes in half, we'll get 1/8 notes. You'll need 8 1/8 notes to make one full measure. It's just basic math. In the video I give a demonstration of a measure full of 1/8 notes. When you play 1/8 notes you don't count 1 to 8. Thats for dancers. We musicians keep to the 1-2-3-4. We do this because when playing in a band you all want to have your counts together. When someone says: "on 3" it must be a 3 for everyone, weither you're playing quarter notes, eight notes or 16ths. So how do you count 1/8 notes? In between each count, you say an 'e'. 1-e-2-e-3-e-4-e Every count on a numer, 1-2-3-4 will still be a downstroke. In between these downstrokes, on the 'e' we'll play upstrokes. The upstroke is indicated by the little v on top of the tablature.

Eight notes
Playing 8 1/8 notes in a measure sounds very boring. To make it more interesting we're gonna wipe some of the 1/8 notes out. There will be a few gaps in the stream of 1/8 notes. And that will create an interesting rhythm. Here are a few examples:

Click the sound file to hear the example played on a chord
Now we got a few gaps. We do count these notes, but we'll just won't hit the strings on that count. You got to remember which ones you play, and which ones you don't play. Because counting 1-e-2-3-4-e isn't gonna work. On these gaps you're not hitting the strings, but you are moving you're strumming hand up and down. That will create the right strumming technique. If you keep your hand low, it will be very hard to keep the rhythm and you'll probably never be able to sing and play guitar simulatiously. Keep that in mind! See the demonstration in the vid.

On step further are the 16th notes. But we'll save that for some later time. Good luck on your 1/8 notes.

Musical Storage Basement: 7 Unfinished Projects [Cubase]

Creativity, to me, comes in sparks. It comes, shines, and dies quickly. And so I've got a huge unfinished cubase projects folder on my pc. I just went through all my unfinished projects from the last 3 months (and I have projects going back as far as 3 years). Most of them will probably never be a full song. But here they are. At least these songs'll get some attention on their own blogpost.

Project1: HipHop Drama [from 05-09-2011]
Project HipHop Drama by MirrorGuitar
Something I created. I often have a feeling to create something Hiphop. But I always fail. This was yet another attempt. I do like the dark organ sound. But it just won't do it. Current Creative Inspiration on this one 1/10

Project2: Trager was that guy [from 17-08-2011]
Project Trager was that guy by MirrorGuitar
During my holiday to Turkey I read this short story by George R.R. Martin. I have to look up the exact title. It was about this guy named Trager. I really felt this story and wanted to sing about it. I started out kinda jazzy. This small clip still gets me a feeling very similar to when I was reading the story. But hey, creative inspiration on this one is lost a long way.
Current Creative Inspiration on this one 1/10

Project3: Piano Zelda [from 05-09-2011]
Project Piano Zelda by MirrorGuitar
I just received my EMU Shortboard and wanted to create something Piano. It started like a mysterious Zelda tune, hence the name, and ended up like this. I'll probably never finish it.
Current Creative Inspiration on this one 1/10

Project4: Breakeven [from 16-11-2011]
Project Breakeven by MirrorGuitar
I'm doing this song for a friend. It still needs a lot of work and is currently in the unfinished projects folder. I still need a lot to do. It's far from finished. But have no clue on when I will find the motivation to work on this one. (She'll probably remind me before March 2012, because that'll be deadline). We are eventually going to do this one on stage.
Current Creative Inspiration on this one 3/10

Project5: Enlightenment [from 20-10-2011]
Project Enlightenment by MirrorGuitar
I don't feel like this blog is the right place to talk about this. I'll keep it short. Last year I feel like I've grown a lot in what I call being aware. Or maybe I can just say 'being'. I noticed how much of emotional suffering is self created by your mind. I was thinking over and over on what was lacking in my life. Always in the past, on everything I thought I missed out on when I was younger, or in the future, on what I still want to accomplish before I get too old. Being stuck in this state of mind keeps you from being present in the moment and actually live. I started reading and listening to Eckhart Tolle's 'The power of now'. I also started meditation. And I wanted to combine the two somehow. Creating a relaxing sound with Eckharts words over it. Still needs a lot of work.
Current Creative Inspiration on this one 5/10

Project6: Epicness [from 25-10-2011]
Project Epicness by MirrorGuitar I really like the Viola on this one. It just sounds epic to me. But then it gets more mellow and I need vocals. This is where it usually stops. I'm bad at vocals myself so I always need to ask people and don't always feel like asking them.
Current Creative Inspiration on this one 5/10

Project7: Evidence [from 03-12-2011]
Project Evidence by MirrorGuitar
This is the newest file in the collection of unfinished projects. And I think this one will have my attention next time I start working on music. It's a acoustic / harmonica cover on the song Evidence by the band Katatonia. I love that song and I just wanted to do something with it.
Current Creative Inspiration on this one 6/10


Will they ever get finished? Most if them probably not. Which one do you think deserves the most attention? Feel free to let me know in a comment! :)

Creation of a song [EMU Shortboard / Cubase combo]

The making of a song. Piano, bass guitar, drums and guitar. When I show this: "Whowww, you play the keyboard very well." Well now the secret gets revealed. This is how I record a piano sound! Haha In this video I show you how I came up with the sound for a new song. I was inspired by my new creative EMU shortboard. I felt like I wanted to create a piano song. After I got the basic sound the project kinda stalled. I still dug up the video's because I think it's fun to share.