Introduction:
Now that you have an understanding of the various rhythm symbols that we use in music, let’s have a look at the rhythm exercises for Step 2.
There are 16 in total and they can be played through just about any method – you could clap, pick or strum them. It doesn’t really matter, what’s more important is that you play the correct rhythm.
Even though we’ve already worked on the various rhythm symbols, the video below will go through all 16 of the exercises and revise the symbols. It is quite a long lesson, so al always, feel free to come back to this and work through it over time.
The Video Lesson:
Notes:
- Make sure you know all symbols and their definitions by name
- Ensure that rests are complete silence, which means you may need to mute your strings
- Practice these 16 exercises regularly
- It’s greatly beneficial to count the beats as you play these exercises
- When counting the beat, the numbers 1 2 3 4 are counting the beat of the bar, rather than the duration of each singular note – this means that you’ll always be counting the numbers “1 2 3 4” but the notes will go for various lengths within those numbers
- Semibreve rests look a lot like minim rests – remember that the “sinking” one is the heavier of the two and therefore goes for more beats
- For increased difficulty, try playing all 16 of these without stopping – or even play them in reverse!
- Feel free to download the exercises below so that you can access them from your device at any time
