Exciting rhythm guitar

dean111music

I realise that i spend a lot of time playing or practicing lead guitar. But thought this might a good resource for people wanting to pitch in a share tracks that they have learnt that was a real benefit to there learning rhythm. I pay in cover bands so the styles are varied but sometimes you want more exciting parts than just strumming open chords!

Here a few that i have learnt that love! It can be any style too.



Bold as Love - John Mayer version

Good track to take basic chords and do the hendrix thing over the top creating melodies.


Minor Swing - Django Reinhart

Up tempo using 6 chords



Soul Man - Sam and Dave

Lots of 6th intervals. Good groove and timing


Back in Black

Tight rock track. Anyone else play the C" on the A Chord? 

Danny1969

C# on BiB ?

I like the rhythm playing on the end of Hendrix's All along the Watchtower, awesome bit of rhythm playing that really stands out

Van Halens Panama is another great bit 

Loads of Knopler stuff

I should practice rhythm playing more than I do

dean111music

The intro riff. When it gets to A5 there is the C# in the bass. So a 1st inversion of A. 

Yeah agree. I find rhythm playing a lot of fun but it's easy just to play what you know and not advance! So thought this would a fun way of listing tracks people like. 

stratman3142

A few off the top of my head:

Pretty much anything by Nile Rodgers: Le Freak, Lost In Music, Good Times...

Loads of Hendrix Stuff: Wind Cries Mary maybe

Thin Lizzy: The Rocker (The Eric Bell version)

Extreme (Nuno): Get The Funk Out, etc...

Reef: Place Your Hands

Rose Royce: Car Wash

Earth Wind And Fire: September

SRV: Cold Shot

Prince: Kiss

Lenny Kravitz: Fly Away

HAL9000

Pretty much anything by Pete Townshend. 
Wilko Johnson's playing is interesting - thumb on the upstrokes, and hints of a Spanish roll on the downstrokes. 

digitalscream

The best tracks I've found for getting the groove on are all by Extreme. Nuno's a monstrous lead player, but his rhythm work is where all the cool stuff is, probably because he was originally a drummer.

Get The Funk Out is fun to get you started (and fairly easy). He Man Woman Hater is much more challenging, though, and not just technically - the timing in the verse is really weird, and you don't really hear it until you try to play it.

Cupid's Dead has a nice vibe to it, too, and a lot of the stuff on Waiting For The Punchline is really fun to work with (Cynical and the bonus title track are my favourites there).

viz

dean111music said:

Back in Black

Tight rock track. Anyone else play the C" on the A Chord? 

Absolutely - don't know if it's the correct fingering but I used to play x7999x, x5777x, x4222x

dean111music

It's funny I have been playing A5 for years. It's only until you really listen to something you hear these things. I guess it's best to use ear than tab 

stickyfiddle

The C# in BIB only really works if you have 2 guitars and bass, at which point one of the guitars can play the C#. If you're on your own it just sounds odd.

Danny1969

dean111music said:

The intro riff. When it gets to A5 there is the C# in the bass. So a 1st inversion of A. 

Yeah C# but you initially said C" ... that would sound a bit off

The Nile Rogers thing gets boring for me, I mean I appreciate what he does but it tends to be the same thing every time. 
Caleb Followill from Kings of Leon plays some interesting rhythms

Bernard Butler, the original Suade guitarist played some amazing rhythm parts

The Edge has got some serious rhythm chops, check out The End of the world, Pride, Vertigo etc 

dean111music

C" - the " was supposed to be a sharp sign haha

tony99

need tips for my "all along the watchtower" to stop morphing into "dreadlock holiday"

Kebabkid

For more arpeggio based stuff, try some Police, like "Message in a bottle" or "Every breath you take". "Mr.Brightside" is another goodie.

The Doobies "Long train running" and "Listen to the music"

Another +1 for Eddie Van Halen - fabulous rhythm guitarist. In a similar vein, and not sure if it's your bag but look at Steve Vai's work from the Dave Lee Roth solo albums or Nuno Bettancourt of Extreme or Vito Bratta of White Lion. There's some great stuff on Whitesnake's "1987" album.

bigjon

Rosanna by Toto
Alive and Kicking by Mr Big
La Grange by ZZ Top
Venus Isle by Eric Johnson
Road Games by Allan Holdsworth
Confidence Man by Jeff Healey
Atlas Overload by Carl Verheyen
Wanted Dead Or Alive by Bon Jovi
Rio by Duran Duran
In A Garden by Murrumbidgee Whalers

MagicPigDetective

I've been working on a few tunes to improve my rhythm and timing:
Funk #49
Stop by Janes Addiction
Can't Stop and by RHCP. 
 Need you tonight by INXS

robinbowes

House! 

Oh, sorry, I thought this was Cover Band Bingo  

Reverend

Interesting rhythm? Try
Voivod - Tribal Convictions
Drudkh - Summoning the Rain
Dark Angel - Ancient Inherited Shame
Confessor - Condemned
Trouble - The Tempter
Death Angel - Shores Of Sin

EricTheWeary

tony99 said:

need tips for my "all along the watchtower" to stop morphing into "dreadlock holiday"

Ha, I know what you mean. Although I think you should embrace it, as others have done

tony99

EricTheWeary said:

tony99 said:

need tips for my "all along the watchtower" to stop morphing into "dreadlock holiday"

Ha, I know what you mean. Although I think you should embrace it, as others have done

nice, but I really haven't got the hair for that!

djspecialist

Even Flow by Pearl Jam has a nice groove in the rhythm part.

Evo

Check out Jairus Mozee, Chalmers Alford and some of the other gospel guys. 

They will kick your ass to the kerb by playing a regular Am chord you never even knew existed!