The pulse: counting and tapping your foot

The pulse

When you tap your foot to a song without thinking about it, you’re following its pulse: a steady beat, like a heartbeat. Each of those pulses is a beat. The tempo, in BPM (beats per minute), tells you how fast they go: 60 means one beat per second.

In most songs, beats come in groups of four: that’s a bar of four beats. The first beat of each bar is a little stronger than the others: it’s the “1,” your landmark. The page Rhythm and time signatures explains all this in detail.

Counting out loud

1. Start a metronome at 60. Listen to ten clicks without doing anything.
2. Count along: “1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4,” leaning a little on the “1.”
3. Tap your foot on every beat, heel down, toes lifting and dropping.
4. Close your eyes every other bar: your foot should stay right on the click.

Sounds too simple? Yet it’s what sets apart a guitarist people want to listen to: they don’t rush, and they don’t drag.

The march: one strum per beat

Your first strumming pattern: one downstroke on each beat, counting as you go. Between strums, your hand comes back up without touching the strings, at the same speed: that’s already the motion behind every pattern to come.

Hit “Listen”: the slot being played lights up with an orange outline, and each bar moves on to the next chord. Then play along, foot and strumming hand together.

The traps

• You speed up. It’s the most common one, especially on things you know well. Listen to the click: it should never be “behind” you.
• You stop to change chords. Your foot keeps going. If your fretting hand isn’t ready, strum the open strings: time keeps moving anyway.
• Your foot stops when you concentrate. That’s normal at first. Go back to point 3 of the list (foot only), then add the guitar back in.

Exercise: the disappearing metronome

Play the march on G and C, then turn off the metronome (the checkbox) while you’re playing. Keep going for eight bars on your own, counting, then turn it back on: you should land right on it.

You’ve got it when…

• You count 1, 2, 3, 4 while tapping your foot, right with the metronome
• You play the march on G, D, Em, C at 70 without stopping at the changes
• You keep going for eight bars without the metronome and land right on it