Let's look at some different ways that we can divide the beat up.
If you watched lesson four we talked about note values, whole notes, quarter notes, half notes, eighth notes
and sixteenth notes.
If you haven't watched that go back and take a look at that section because we are talking about subdividing a beat
and doing things strumming wise that are different than just holding out a note.
So if I'm going to play this chord progression here with quarter notes I'm going to be playing on every count if I'm in four, four.
One, Two, Three, Four. (x 8).
So there's quarter notes.
If I want to get a little bit more creative let's say I'm going to strum the first two chords as quarter notes
and I'm going to strum the second two chords as eighth notes.
I'll play the first part of that again.
One, Two, Three, Four (x 4). One and two and three and four ( x 4).
As you practice with the track try doing transitions and as you get comfortable with that
try mixing up the note values that you are placing on your strums.
You can get even more creative with it and add sixteenth notes in if you are feeling up to it.
Again, sixteenth notes are counted:
One ee and uh, two ee and uh, three ee and uh, four ee and uh.
So it would be: One ee and uh, two ee and uh, three ee and uh, four ee and uh.
If you were to play that against quarter notes and eighth notes it can sound kind of cool.
Example. I am going to do a quarter note for G and then I'm going to do eighth notes for A minor
and then sixteenth notes for C and D.
(Listen)
The most important thing is that you are getting your transitions correctly.
Once you're feeling good about that start practicing with subdividing the beats on the track and be creative with that.
In lesson number seven we will get more into strum patterns
and we will be writing out strum pattern ideas for you to practice over these tracks.
For now work on getting the chords and just experiment on your own a little bit with that.
Stay tuned for bar chords next.