This lesson features samples of the unique rhythm guitar approaches used in the following styles, all stated in the context of an Am-F-C-G progression (click on the hyperlinks below to be taken directly to each category):

ROCK (POWER CHORDS) x2
FOLK/ACOUSTIC (STRUMS AND OPEN CHORD EMBELLISHMENTS)
COUNTRY (TRAVIS PICKING)
PUNK (BASIC BARRE CHORDS)
SKA/REGGAE (FOUR-NOTE INVERSIONS)
HENDRIX-STYLE RHYTHM GUITAR
JAZZ COMPING RHYTHMS AND CHORD MELODY x2

NOTE: I'm intentionally leaving out rhythm guitar styles like funk and blues, due to the fact that these styles typically revolve around chord cycles (I-IV-V) or static chord vamps unrelated to the Am-F-C-G (“i-bVI-bIII-bVII”) progression used in the examples contained herein.

What's the point? Hopefully, by hearing a variety of rhythm guitar approaches stated over the exact same progression, you'll better hear (and grasp, from a theoretical standpoint) the specific devices used that help differentiate each style. Maybe you'll also see the importance of knowing numerous types of chord voicings/inversions (power chords, triads, seventh chords—many played using voice leading), scales, and techniques (strumming patterns, fingerstyle playing, palm muting, fret-hand muting, using the fret-hand's thumb for certain chords, etc.) as it pertains to the art of rhythm guitar. In short, the more bases you're capable of covering as a rhythm guitarist, the more diverse your accompanimental pallette will be. This can pay off handsomely, whether you're creating a backdrop for your own songs or someone else's.

Ready? Let's rawk...

(PS: Though a theoretical understanding is not required to play the following examples, the text in this lesson assumes you already understand basic music theory terminology like “chord tones,” “1-3-5,” etc.)

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TWO-NOTE, ROOT-POSITION POWER CHORDS

Power chords—two-note sonorities containing only a “root” (or “1”) and “fifth”—are at the core of virtually ever rock/metal tune under the sun. Given that these chords do not contain a “third” (a key ingredient in imparting a chord's minor/major tonality), they produce a relatively “hollow” (or ambiguous) sound and a minimum of unpleasant (dissonant) overtones, making them prime candidates for crushing distortion!

As these chords relate to this lesson's core Am (1=A, b3=C, 5=E) - F (1=F, 3=A, 5=C) - C (1=C, 3=E, 5=G) - G (1=G, 3=B, 5=D) progression, the “root/fifth” combination used to imply each chord is as follows:

A5 (1=A, 5=E)
F5 (1=F, 5=C)
C5 (1=C, 5=G)
G5 (1=G, 5=D)

Note that only the chord's root is palm muted, while when the full chord is stated (played with an accent), it is not muted. Also, in the MP3 of the example below, downstrokes were used throughout.

(You can hear this rhythm guitar passage by clicking HERE)

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POWER CHORDS AND PARTIAL TRIAD INVERSIONS

If your band's bassist plans on banging out each chord's passing root in an “Am-F-C-G” progression (producing an A-F-C-G bassline), consider weaving two-note versions of triads into your power chord-based rhythm guitar approach. In the example below, by using voice leading (minimal movement between notes used to create each passing chord), our previous “F5” chord is replaced with an “F/A,” while our “G5” is substituted with a “G/B.” In these “slash” chords, a bass note (each cohrd's “third”) is specified to the right of a slash (e.g., “F/A” = “an F chord with an A in the bass”). The fact that these new shapes introduce each chord's “third” into the equation gives us enough harmonic info to imply full-fledged major chords (as opposed to the ambigous-sounding F5 and G5 shapes). Again, using these types of chords in conjunction with a root-oriented bassline will create a vastly different effect than the standard power chord approach used in the previous figure. Try it!

(You can hear this rhythm guitar passage by clicking HERE)

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BASIC STRUMMING (OPEN POSITION CHORDS)

Of course, we all know that the most direct way of implying a basic Am-F-C-G progression is to use the actual chords themselves! The example below uses universal open-position fingerings, strummed in a common folk rhythm, counted “one-and, two-and, three-and, four-and” and strummed “down, down, down-up, down-up.”

(You can hear this rhythm guitar passage by clicking HERE)

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OPEN STRING CHORDS WITH MELODIC EMBELLISHMENTS

Wanna impart a nice melodic edge to your otherwise mundane open-position strums? Juice your voicings up to reflect sounds like “Am7” and “Fsus2” and try your hands at adding tasty embellishments into the mix. In the passage below, for the most part, each chord is spruced up with little hammer-on/pull-off ornaments stemming from the pentatonic scale that relates directly to each chord's root—A minor pentatonic (A-C-D-E-G) over Am7, F major pentatonic (F-G-A-C-D) over Fsus2, C major pentatonic (C-D-E-G-A) over C, and G major pentatonic (G-A-B-D-E) over G. Keep this concept in mind as you experiment with your own improvisation, à la the example below:

(You can hear this rhythm guitar passage by clicking HERE)

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TRAVIS PICKING (OPEN-POSITION CHORDS)

One of the hippest ways to outline the chords of any given country tune is to use what's referred to as Travis Picking—using your pickhand's fingers (or fingers + thumbpick, hybrid picking, etc.) to create a 1/4-note bassline (using alternating chord tones) and melodic movement. In case you're curious, the technique is named in honor of the legendary Merle Travis, the first to popularize the technique. In addition to country, Travis Picking also worked its way into the Rockabilly sounds of early Elvis recordings, courtesy of the great Scotty Moore.

In the example below, played using pick-and-fingers technique on the accompanying MP3, the pick is used to play bass notes on strings 4-6 (the downstemmed notes, all played with slight palm muting, using downstrokes throughout), while the pickhand's middle and ring fingers pluck notes on the higher strings. [For a more in-depth lesson on Travis Picking, click HERE.] Obviously, the key characteristic of this style is the type of bassline used: Alternating either between each chord's root and fifth (in the case of the Am and F6 chords), or all three chord tones (in the case of the C and G7 chords). Regardless, the chord's root is stated on the downbeat (beat “one” of each measure).

(You can hear this rhythm guitar passage by clicking HERE)

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PUNK STRUMMING (BASIC BARRE CHORDS)

Barre chords can also be used to outline this lesson's central Am-F-C-G progression, providing a host of other options. Got some punk rock angst pent up in ya? Stomp on your stompbox and strum up a storm, à la Green Day's Billy Joe Armstrong, in the following figure. The key to this passage is the rapid 16th-note strum used to precede the downbeats of measures 1 and 3. In each case, use a quick “down-up” strum to coincide with the “four-ee-and-uh” counting pattern included between the notation/tab staves. For your remaining strums, use a “down” strum on each individual beat (beats “one,” “two,” “three,” and “four”) and an “up” strum on the “and” portion of each beat.

(You can hear this rhythm guitar passage by clicking HERE)

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SKA/REGGAE-STYLE STRUMS (FOUR-NOTE CHORD INVERSIONS)

If you've done some behind-the-scenes work studying triads and their various inversions (same chordal notes, stated in a different low-to-high arrangement), try putting them to work in a ska-like scenario, à la the example below. [For info about my book on Ska, click HERE.] Notice that each of the shapes below features four notes (meaning one of the “1-3-5/1-b3-5”chord tones is doubled somewhere), stated in a manner dictated by voice-leading—again, shifting from one chord to the next, while moving each individual note a minimal distance to imply the next chord. Also, since each chord's attack (consistently on “one-ee-and-uh, two-ee-and-uh, three-ee-and-uh, four-ee-and-uh”) is offset by muted scratches (consistently on “one-ee-and-uh, two-ee-and-uh, three-ee-and-uh, four-ee-and-uh”), you'll need to release your fret-hand's pressure on the neck just enough to cease the chord's ringing, facilitating a muted scratchy sound (denoted by “x” in notation/tab).

(You can hear this rhythm guitar passage by clicking HERE)

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HENDRIX-STYLE RHYTHM GUITAR

Waaaaaay back in August of 2001, I uploaded a pair of Hendrix-oriented rhythm guitar lessons focusing on major chord and minor chord applications. In the example below, your ability to use these types of doublestop/chord partials is put to the test. Interestingly, at least in terms of theoretical concept, this type of Hendrexian approach is not unlike that explored back in this lesson's 4th example—little hammer-on/pull-off ornaments stemming from the pentatonic scale that relates directly to each chord's root: A minor pentatonic (A-C-D-E-G) over Am, F major pentatonic (F-G-A-C-D) over F, C major pentatonic (C-D-E-G-A) over C (w/sus4), and G major pentatonic (G-A-B-D-E) over G (w/sus4).

(You can hear this rhythm guitar passage by clicking HERE)

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BASIC JAZZ STRUMMING (SEVENTH CHORDS)

Of course, our user-friendly Am-F-C-G progression can also be spruced up, simply by replacing its routine triad-based shapes with chords borrowed from a list of A minor's diatonic seventh chords—Am7, Bm7b5, Cmaj7, Dm7, Em7, Fmaj7, G7 (i.e., Am7-Fmaj7-Cmaj7-G7). Clean up your sound, tone down your treble a tad, play with a swing feel, and strum one of several “standard” jazz comping rhythms (replete with well-placed accents) and you'll be primed for your neighborhood's next “jazzy” jam session!

(You can hear this rhythm guitar passage by clicking HERE)

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JAZZ CHORD-MELODY STYLE

Of course, there's much more to generating jazz-based accompaniment than simply strumming seventh chords. If you have a host of seventh chord inversions up your sleeve, as well as an awareness of any given chord's possible extensions/alterations/substitutions (e.g., Am7 = Am9, Am11; Cmaj7 = C6/9, etc.), plus know the neck well enough to connect them in a manner that outlines a tasty melody on the higher strings *and* posses a reasonable amount of fingerstyle finesse, you can venture into “chord melody” territory—play in an exciting “stand alone” jazz guitar style that covers harmonic, rhythmic, and melodic bases. Bop 'n' roll!

(You can hear this rhythm guitar passage by clicking HERE)

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To help support this site's free online guitar lessons, please check out my brand-new “full band” album of original compositions, MANNERISMS MAGNIFIED (now available through CDBABY.com, iTunes and AMAZON.COM), featuring me performing all the instruments (voices, guitar, bass, real acoustic drums, piano, accordion, and mandolin). I also produced, arranged, engineered, and did all the artwork/illustrations—intimate audio AND visual, lol! (Details can be seen in my YouTube: ALBUM PREVIEW/documentary.) I’d love to hear your thoughts! Thank you :)