Correct Rhythm

[Luke]

For straight 8ths stuff gotta understand this:

How to Tell if Your Rhythm Sucks (The Yardstick of Groove & Time)

[Get Your Groove and Time Right] I wasn’t one of those people just naturally born with great rhythm. Like Steve Martin’s character in the movie The Jerk , I had the gusto, but seemed to lack rhythmic DNA! I had a HARD time learning tricky rhythms . I thought the ability to groove was some mystical magic sauce, SOME people were born with it, and SOME (like me) weren’t. What a relief when I learned that GROOVE & TIME are actually mathematically quantifiable subjects that…

For swing stuff gotta understand this:

Rhythm Harmonica for Shuffles (Swung 8ths)

[Nifty Groove Trick] 8th notes are easy enough to count… We begin by counting quarter notes: 1 2 3 4 Next, just insert the word “and” exactly halfway between each number: 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 The numbers are called the downbeats… [image] …and the places we say the word “and” are called the upbeat 8th notes [image] (If you need a quick review, check out my forum post How to Count.) Much of popular music is played straight like this. In the Blues genre, the straight 8th note feel i…

And as with so many things in life, accountability is the key to success:

Rhythm

Do you have some Rhythmic accountability? Rhythm is at the core of all good music, and the notes that we choose to play are not as important as the groove. Groove is everything. If we break it we may have failed as a musician. This is why we must make best friends with our metronome. We must always try to use it when practicing, and must understand that it does not teach us to play in time but teaches us how to listen while playing! Listening to oneself and others when making music is one of …

Hope that helps. Rock on!