Rhythm guitar skills

Divide the beat and refine your rhythm chops

The ‘beat’ is the regular pulse in music that you tap your foot to – and beats are grouped together into bars. Most music has four beats in a bar, which is why people count ‘1 2 3 4’ before a song starts. Beats are most commonly divided into two or four, giving a potential eight or 16 notes per bar. This way of dividing up the beat is the foundation of rhythm playing. Try out the following examples to understand the process and hone your chops.