Griff’s best lesson on counting?

Monty

Blues Newbie
Hope this is the right forum for this question.
I really need help with counting with regard to playing guitar. Can anyone point me to Griff’s best lesson on counting and rhythm?
Thanks!
 

Paleo

Student Of The Blues
On the Blog:

1) Rhythmic Note Reading (Most complete lesson on reading rhythm @ 42 minutes)

http://bluesguitarunleashed.com/blog/rhythmic-note-reading/

2) Practicing Eights, Sixteenths and Triplets (most complete on playing: after 5 minute "intro")

https://bluesguitarunleashed.com/blog/practicing-for-better-rhythm-in-solos/

3) Straight vs Swing

https://bluesguitarunleashed.com/blog/straight-feel-vs-swing-feel-beginners/


Courses in which Griff has sections on counting:

1) Strumming & Rhythm Mastery - The entire course.

2) Acoustic Blues Guitar Unleashed - Lessons 4 & 5

3) Classic Rock Unleashed - Lessons 1 thru 5

4) Pentatonic Scales & Technique Mastery - pages 17 & 18

5) How To Read Music On The Guitar - Parts 1 thru 7

6) Beginning Blues Guitar - pages 24-29
 
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Monty

Blues Newbie
On the Blog:

1) Rhythmic Note Reading (Most complete @ 42 minutes)

http://bluesguitarunleashed.com/blog/rhythmic-note-reading/

2) Practicing Eights, Sixteenths and Triplets (after 5 minute "intro")

https://bluesguitarunleashed.com/blog/practicing-for-better-rhythm-in-solos/

3) Straight vs Swing

https://bluesguitarunleashed.com/blog/straight-feel-vs-swing-feel-beginners/


Courses in which Griff has sections on counting:

1) Strumming & Rhythm Mastery - The entire course.

2) Acoustic Blues Guitar Unleashed - Lessons 4 & 5

3) Classic Rock Unleashed - Lessons 1 thru 5

4) Pentatonic Scales & Technique Mastery - pages 17 & 18

5) How To Read Music On The Guitar - Parts 1 thru 7
Thanks! I will check these out!
 

Paleo

Student Of The Blues
Griff always focuses on counting.

I try to keep an ever growing list of blog posts and lessons within courses that specifically introduce you to note values and counting their subdivisions.

If anyone knows of others let's add them to the list.:)
 

jmin

Student Of The Blues
Griff always focuses on counting.

I try to keep an ever growing list of blog posts and lessons within courses that specifically introduce you to note values and counting their subdivisions.

If anyone knows of others let's add them to the list.:)
When the issue of “counting” comes up here it almost always involves “reading” the transcription and assigning the correct “count values.” I’ve always contended that this is “reading.”
If you can put on a metronome and “count” with the clicks, you can count. I think it gets very confusing to try to learn a new solo, how to read the music, and then count it out while you’re trying to play it. That’s a lot of stuff! (But that is the end goal of “counting!”)
 

Shodai

Blues Junior
When the issue of “counting” comes up here it almost always involves “reading” the transcription and assigning the correct “count values.” I’ve always contended that this is “reading.”
If you can put on a metronome and “count” with the clicks, you can count. I think it gets very confusing to try to learn a new solo, how to read the music, and then count it out while you’re trying to play it. That’s a lot of stuff! (But that is the end goal of “counting!”)

It's all part and parcel of the same thing. Reading the notes doesn't do much good if you don't know the interval values (time spacing/rhythm). Knowing the rhythm doesn't do much good if you can't play the melody. One doesn't just compliment the other, they are intertwined and become music only when you have them together.
 

Paleo

Student Of The Blues
I see no reason to differentiate between reading and counting rhythm.

Unless you're counting when not reading.o_O
 

Paleo

Student Of The Blues
In some of the above lessons Griff teaches you to count rhythm while reading chord charts and strumming chords.

In others you play different note values of a single pitch shown on a staff.

In others he teaches the names of the notes on the staff as well as note values.

Some lessons don't involve reading at all.

He might just tap a beat on the neck and count subdivisions.

He might turn on a metronome and play a single note or notes of a scale with different values on various subdivisions of the beat.

In every exercise and solo in every course he will count you through it, usually providing both standard notation and tab. But he won't always go back through the basics.

When reading a score the time signature and note values will establish the count.

You can also be counting when playing and there's nothing written in front of you to read.

Or when you're just listening,

Why and when one wishes to count, or not, will be a personal choice.

I only know that if someone is asking for help they can find it in Griff's materials, regardless of the "level" that they are currently on.

The more specific the question, the more we can narrow down the options of where to look.

If not specific, I'll always suggest starting at the beginning.

Any opinions expressed are those of the author.

We can not be held legally responsible for his behavior.
 
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jmin

Student Of The Blues
I see no reason to differentiate between reading and counting rhythm.

Unless you're counting when not reading.o_O
You’re right. It’s just a semantics thing. I guess it just depends on what you’re counting.
 

Monty

Blues Newbie
In some of the above lessons Griff teaches you to count rhythm while reading chord charts and strumming chords.

In others you play different note values of a single pitch shown on a staff.

In others he teaches the names of the notes on the staff as well as note values.

Some lessons don't involve reading at all.

He might just tap a beat on the neck and count subdivisions.

He might turn on a metronome and play a single note or notes of a scale with different values on various subdivisions of the beat.

In every exercise and solo in every course he will count you through it, usually providing both standard notation and tab. But he won't always go back through the basics.

When reading a score the time signature and note values will establish the count.

You can also be counting when playing and there's nothing written in front of you to read.

Or when you're just listening,

Why and when one wishes to count, or not, will be a personal choice.

I only know that if someone is asking for help they can find it in Griff's materials, regardless of the "level" that they are currently on.

The more specific the question, the more we can narrow down the options of where to look.

If not specific, I'll always suggest starting at the beginning.

Any opinions expressed are those of the author.

We can not be held legally responsible for his behavior.
I listened to the first link you suggested, Rhythmic Note Reading. I found this to be what I am looking for. Your correct, being specific helps narrow the focus for a solution, unfortunately, at the time I was unable to put the correct words on what I am struggling with. Turns out its not the counting part that hangs me up, its the ability to apply the correct timing to the notes when I'm trying to learn a piece of music in its written form. I know how to read the notes, but the rhythm is missing. To me its like being able to read words, but I can't work out the punctuation. I can play the notes but it just sounds like a string of notes vs music. I can listen to a solo and work it out by ear, but have always struggled when I did not have a recording of what its supposed to sound like. So when Griff recommends to put the rhythm on it before even touching the guitar I found myself saying "Thats what I can't do!!
So thanks for that suggestion, I will also go through the others, but Im going to focus on the first one until it gets into my old brain....
 

dwparker

Bluesologist
On almost all other instruments from the first day one learns to read the actual notes on the staff and their time values, and one begins to develope their sense of timing when playing music. Then we come to the guitar with its chord diagrams and tablature, neither of which forces the student to assign time values to the notes one is reading on the page. I think one of the outcomes of this is many guitar students really struggle with keeping time.

I know I personally find tablature to be both a blessing and a curse. With tabs, I get to skip the whole process of looking for the lowest and highest notes in a song to help determine position, and I don't have to struggle with those high notes with so many hashes under them that I sometimes get them wrong initially. But I also miss immediately knowing the time value of a note from the tab and am constantly having to glance up to the staff notation to make sure I get it right.
 
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dwparker

Bluesologist
I also know that in a jazz forum I used to participate in, you sometimes heard the advice to learn to play a percussion instrument such as the djembe or darbuka to really help you get your timing and sense of rhythm down. Maybe some day...
 
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