Q: I watched your country guitar seminar video on YouTube and was wondering if you could do more of a beginners level video all about playing basic country bluegrass strumming. I just seem to only strum guitar with one or two basic strum patterns and could really use something fresh in my playing.
- Thanks, Jake - New Albany, IN.

A: Basic beginner level strumming is a great way to develop the popular open position chords on guitar. And, the country/bluegrass style works fantastic to help players achieve this. I've composed a very straight-forward piece in a simple country rhythm style. Hopefully it will help you learn a few new techniques to use in your own playing!

The complete lesson article for this video, (along with a PowerTab chart of the chord changes plus a FREE MP3 audio play-along track of the progression heard at the start of the video), is available on the Creative Guitar Studio website.

Andrew Wasson from Creative Guitar Studio answers a viewer's question:
Q: I was wondering if you could do a lesson about playing the 80s hard-rock rhythm styles of; Van Halen, the Scorpions, or Whitesnake (that stuff). They all seem to use a low drone E or A string, but I get a little bit lost on the chords. Especially the Van Halen songs. They seem to use chords that are not inside of the key of the bass-note that is the lowest pedal tone, (the E or A strings). Can you PLEASE talk about this! I posted this question on a Guitar Forum but there weren't very good answers to the question in all of the replies.
Thank you,
Dustin, Victoria BC

A: Dustin, I've created a three-part series to answer your question. The concept of doing this is rather complex since it involves borrowing chords from parallel running modes of the same tonality. Groups like Van Halen, Def Lepard, etc., apply this concept on a regular basis. They also primarily focus on triads built off of the fourth guitar string to perform the parts. And, you are certainly correct when you mentioned that there is ample use of the droning bass notes of both "E & A" (6th & 5th) strings.
Thanks for your question.

Follow the links below to get:
"80's Rock Rhythms Video 2"
"80's Rock Rhythms Video 3"

In this rhythm guitar series video lesson I explain the use of two-note chords, (known as Double-Stops & also sometimes called Dyads), and I discuss how to combine them with single note melody lines to create interesting supplemental guitar parts.

This approach is great if you are a second or third guitarist in a band or if you are doing recording and want to loayer additional guitar parts on top of pre-existing tracks.

Handout materials, as well as, jam track MP3's (2 MP3's) are available from off of my website, just follow the link below:
Double-Stops & Single Note Melody

Part One of this video lesson covers the basics of quarter-note and eighth-note rhythms. The focus is simple strum patterns. Part two of this Rhythm Guitar Series (available off of the Creative Guitar Studio website), examines syncopation and anticipation in rhythmic feel. If these terms are unfamiliar to you; Syncopation is the accenting of weaker up-beats. And Anticipation, is the act of placing a chord just before where you would expect to hear it.



For the complete handout package, and the 9.5 min. Part-2 video please follow the link below:
Rhythm Guitar Basics - Part 2

Q: "I have played guitar for 3 years and strumming with a pick is all that I mainly do when it comes to the playing hand. I have tried strumming with my fingers but, I prefer a pick. I keep hearing of two techniques that do not make sense to me and none of my friends who play guitar around where I live know much about them, because they all do not use a pick.

The techniques are called the, Hybrid technique, and the, Comping technique. I have read a few things online and watched a few YouTube videos about each one, but since I trust your knowledge and teaching abilities above most others, (because you went to G.I.T.), I would really like to hear you explain each one of these in a video."

Thank you very much,
Hector - Cordoba, Argentina

A: It is important to take a good look at the techniques of Comping and Hybrid Picking together, since the two techniques play off of other. Plenty of demonstrations as well as practice exercises are discussed in my 17 min. video guitar lesson.

COMPING:
The comping technique has to do with accompaniment rhythm guitar. Made popular by jazz guitar players performing typical chord progressions that are encountered in most jazz tunes.


HYBRID PICKING:
When it comes to applications around Rhythm Guitar the Hybrid Picking technique works extremely well to fill in melodic statements during comping of the accompaniment performance of rhythm guitarists. The Hybrid approach also offers double-duty since it has amazing applications for very fast lines (that would sometimes be next to impossible to perform by flat-pick alone).

- Andrew Wasson

The response from Andrew Wasson of Creative Guitar Studio to;

"I have just started playing in my first band and I feel that my rhythm guitar skills are weak. Can you offer me any suggestions for what I can practice on to help my rhythm guitar get better. I have a pretty good idea of the general rhythms in music, like; eighths, sixteenths and triplets, but I find I have trouble maintaining the groove in a really smooth way through an entire song during a band rehearsal."

Thank you,
Anthony

Andrew discusses the way guitarists can quickly improve their rhythm guitar skills by applying sixteenth-note exercises, (such as those used in Funk & the Caribbean Soca music).