Hey there! Understanding time signatures is the foundation of learning strumming
patterns on the guitar. Now we're going to start with the music theory part of
it but I'll go right into a practical application very quickly.
We'll use the 3 most common time signatures that you're likely to use in
your guitar playing so that's what we call 4/4 time, 6/8 time and 3/4 time. Now
you're probably wondering if this is new to you what those numbers mean? So that's
the music theory part. The top number is actually saying there are 4 pulses or
beats in each measure. So let me define first of all a pulse is when you hear
duh duh duh you keep the beat or pulse. Now this is different from tempo. Tempo
is used to refer to how fast or slow you're going so the beat could be a high
tempo that's fast tempo or a slow tempo. Slow,
it's all relative of course. Now that bottom number means which note gets one
beat. In this case a 4 means 2 quarter note gets one beat. Don't worry
too much about that right now. The 6/8 time says there are six beats in
each measure and the bottom number 8 means an eighth note gets one beat and
then finally we have 3/4 time. The 3 means there are three beats in the
measure and the bottom number means a quarter note also gets one beat. So let's
start with 4/4 or the top one which is by far the most common one in pop rock
influenced music so 4 beats in the measure. I've written it out. These are
quarter notes my version of quarter notes and I number them1 2 3
4 so if you were keeping the beat it would sound like 1 2 3 4 and
then the next measure 1 2 3 4. I'm gonna teach you a very basic strum
that'll kind of ingrained this idea of 4/4 time. So I'm not going to make a
chord I'm just going to put my left hand over the guitar to see you hear
rhythm of it. It's gonna be 1 2 and 3 and 4 and - and the next measure
1 2 and 3 and 4 and. You noticed that I added an AND that's a way
to keep track of the upbeats so I'm going the number on the down and end on
the way up that's very common and we'll use that a lot in describing strums. So
try this with me. We're gonna just do 4 rhythms and again don't worry about
which chord you use right now just cover the strings to make a sound.Here we go,
ready hit it. One now down up 2 and 3 and 4
and, and start over 1 2 and 3 and 4 AND. Okay so that's a simple strum
in 4/4 time. Now let's go on to 6/8. 6/8 has 6 pulses so it could
sound like this 1 2 3 4 5 6 - 1 2 3 4 5 6. That was 2 measures.
You'll notice that even though these are eighth notes and these
are quarter notes it doesn't really make a difference in terms of feeling the
pulse. It does make a difference when you go on to reading music
but for now not to worry. You'll also notice I put a little underline on the 1
and the 4 that's because we put a little extra emphasis on those two beats. In
essence it makes a 6/8 sound kind of like 2 beats with each beat being
3 subdivisions so like this 1 2 3 4. I'm trying to show you I put a little
extra emphasis on the 1 and the 4. Now my strumming I do it like this - a
little extra volume on the 1 and 4. So let me give you an idea of what
this would sound like in the song. The House of the Rising Sun uses a 6/8 beat
at least the Animals version does which is very popular. So it would be 1
Hey and so on. So go ahead and just try that rhythm pattern with me. We're just
going to do 6. Remember put a little extra effort on 1 and 4. I'll count
that out 1 2 3 4 and go 1 2 3 4 5. It's subtle actually
but I'm over emphasizing now just to get the point - 1 2 3 4 5 6.
Okay, now let's go on to 3/4. This is used a lot in older songs holiday
song, Christmas songs, hymns and a lot of folk songs.
What song most everybody knows that uses 3/4 time it's Happy Birthday - 2 3 1
2 3 1. So you could do something similar to 4/4.
We're gonna use the strum that's down, down, up, down, up or 1 2 and 3 and
and again when I say end it's just a way to keep track of the upbeat . So try that
with me. We're going to do it together. Mute your strings and we'll go slow.
One ready play 1 2 and 3 and 1 2 and 3 and 1 2 and 3 and 1 2 and 3 and. I'm Tomas Michaud,
thanks for joining me. This is one lesson out of a course in my Real Guitar
Success academy. If you enjoyed this lesson, I'd encourage you to check it out.
I'd love to have you. I'll put a link in the description. If you prefer to stay on
YouTube go and subscribe so you can get my next lessons as they come out. Bye for
now.