Watch the Body of Rhythm online guitar lesson by Vicki Genfan from Body of Rhythm

Developing rhythmic chops and a strong sense of Groove is not just about practicing with a metronome, watching videos of your favorite grooving musicians or even playing with other groovy people. These are all really important aspects of becoming a better rhythmic player, but a piece of music that makes us tap our toes and wiggle our hips does so because the rhythm is embodied in that player or band. Without involving our body in the process and practice of Rhythm, I believe we are missing one of the most important elements of GROOVE.

Whether you're trying to learn a new strumming pattern, nail a melody or solo from your favorite song, or keep time with other musicians, in this course, I'll provide you with the tools and practices to continually become more fluid and expressive rhythmically. No matter what level of guitar player you are, you'll benefit from the unique focus on ‘body centered rhythm’ throughout the course.

I've broken this course into 4 sections.

We'll start in section one with a review of important concepts such as rhythm, beat, pulse and feel, as well as defining the basics of reading rhythm: note values, rests, ties, dotted notes, slurs and bends. I’ll also introduce you ‘Taki-talk’, a simple set of syllables we’ll use that are interchangeable with 1+2+, etc.

In section two and three our focus will be on getting into our bodies. I'll show you how to find your pulse, an exercise that will help you develop a new sense of flow and profoundly deepen your listening skills.
Then we'll practice what I call the ‘Walk & Feel’ exercises, exploring two archetypal musical feels, 4 & 3.

Finally, in Section four, we'll dive into our rhythm practice studies. These carefully crafted exercises will hone your coordination skills and help you vastly improve your ability to play more complex rhythms by integrating different combinations of strumming, clapping, stepping and speaking. Lastly, I'll show you how to apply this approach to 10 simple strumming patterns that you can use in countless songs.

In the final section, I'll share my thoughts on how you can continue using this course as a regular part of your practice routine, how to apply the principles to figuring out a new rhythm pattern, how to track your progress, a fun way to play with some of the ‘rhythm syllables’ we’ve learned to create unique and odd metered patterns, and I'll make sure you have important links and resources that I've used for the course.

You’ll have pdfs of all the material we cover and all of the performances and exercises are transcribed so you’ll be able to sync the TAB and notation to the video using TrueFire’s learning tools. The backing tracks for our ‘Walk & Feel’ exercises are included as well as an additional version for each of them using different percussion instruments. You’ll be able to loop or slow down the videos so you can work with the lessons at your own pace.
Ready to get started? Settle into your BODY and let’s make some rhythm!

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