Lesson Length: 8:38

Instructor: George Goodman

Concepts:
* Time Signature
* Note types – Whole, Half, Quarter, Eighth, Sixteenth, Triplets
* Dotted note types
* Counting
* Downstrokes and Upstrokes

George Goodman's Guitar and Harmonica Method

Takamine EG541SC
I am playing my black tak in this one.

This is a Takamine G Series EG541SC bought in North Carolina when I was playing in a band called Double Take.
Specs:
Top - Solid Spruce
Back - Nato
Sides - Nato
Finger Board - Rosewood
Electronics - TK40
Finish - Gloss Black
Check out more Takamine G Series Guitars

Rhythm Guitar

This rhythm section pertains to all instruments including the harmonica but is included here to help in strumming instruction. Music notation is shown on a staff and includes rhythmic notation as well as pitch notation. Rhythmic notation by itself can be represented on a single line. Examples below show rhythms displayed both on a staff as well as on a single line.

Rhythmic Notation and Breaking Down The Beat
Songs or pieces of music can be broken down into bars or measures which can be broken down into beats. The number of beats per bar and the type of note that receives one beat is signified by the time signature.

Most popular songs have 4 beats to a bar which is counted 1, 2, 3, 4. The time signature for this is notated as 4/4 with the top number signifying that there are 4 beats per bar and the bottom number signifying that each quarter note gets a single beat.
There are different note types which indicate how many beats the note gets.

Sticking with our 4/4 time signature, here are the most common note types and their duration.

Whole Note - Lasts for four beats.
Half Note - Lasts for two beats.
Quarter Note - Lasts for one beat.
Eighth Note - Last for half of a beat.
Sixteenth Note - Lasts for one quarter of a beat.

Dotted Notes and Triplets
There is also a way to extend note duration by a half by adding a dot to each note type. For example a dotted half note receives three beats; a dotted quarter note receives one and a half beats. There is also a way to divide note duration into three, or triplets. Triplet quarter notes represent three notes that last two beats. Triplet eighth notes represent three notes that last one beat. Look at the rhythmic notation below to see how these note types are counted.

Rests
Music is not made up of just notes. It is also made up of spaces – times when the instrument is not making a sound. These are called rests and have equivalents to the note types. In the staff below, the note is followed by its comparable rest symbol. So just as the whole note sounds for four beats, a whole rest means silence for four beats. The half rest lasts two beats, the quarter rest a single beat, an eighth rest a half a beat and a sixteenth rest lasts one quarter of a beat.

Strumming Notation
There are a number of different features of guitar playing that can be notated including hammer ons, pull offs, bends, etc., but for these lessons we are going to keep it simple. You’ve got down strokes which are represented by a symbol similar to an upside down U showing the string strummed on the down stroke and you’ve got upstrokes which are shown by a large V shape. This is a representation of a string being played on the upstroke. In general, use down strokes on downbeats and upstrokes on offbeats.
The example below demonstrates strumming notation symbols, in particular, the down stroke symbol and the upstroke symbol applied to eighth notes. This is on a single line and so does not represent the pitch of the note, only the rhythm.

Counting Rhythms
In standard 4/4 time, a quarter note lasts for one beat. Four quarter notes would then be counted – 1, 2, 3, 4. But what if you had some eighth notes that only last for half a beat or sixteenth notes which only last for a quarter of a beat. How do you count that?
Go through the following exercises to find out. See you there.