Fancy playing some killer guitar riffs? Though not as difficult as playing great guitar solos, playing great riffs is not as easy as it seems – not everyone can be a Keef, The Human Riff, after all. Guest blogger Joseph Nicholls shares some valuable tips.

Music lovers that are fans of rock and metals know that the killer guitar riffs are the basics of what makes the rock and metal genres of music so lovely. Any song blended with this rhythm can be a total sold out to its fan. If you want to make your killer riffs, dig in on this article and discover how you can effectively and practically learn rhythm guitar. 

How to Take Care of Your Guitar In Any Weather

Before going straight to the subject of discussion, you need to understand how to properly take care and maintain your guitar so that in any weather, you can also have it in good condition to practice with. Generally, most acoustic guitars are built to withstand temperature changes. Make sure you get an acoustic guitar with winter protection to make it still sound perfect and store it in a cool place that will not alter its humidity.

Focus on playing your notes perfectly

To start with, playing rhythm guitar is a different style than how you used to. So to master this new style quickly, you have to focus on how you play your notes than concentrating on the specific note that you will be using. One interesting fact is that you can add a note to any simple power cord to get you a fantastic sound. You don’t have to be in haste about this process. It is going to be a gradual step for you as a newbie.

You need to already know the basics of guitar playing before opting to practice the rhythm guitar; if not, you will have a bit of struggle in the process. If you are experiencing this, you would need to go back to the fundamentals and learn the rudiments of guitar playing to develop your skills. If you can master this, then you will be able to flow along in the course of your rhythm guitar practice. Here are a few tricks you can use to guide yourself in this exciting adventure. 

Blend your style with your guitar riffs

First and foremost, think of a way to merge the style of guitar you play to blend with the guitar riff. Most guitarists tend to overdo this, but the point is that you can create a fantastic guitar riff with one or two notes. Just keep it in mind that rhythm guitar is mainly about rhythm. You need to examine and cross out any excess notes. By doing this, you will find yourself centered in the main rhythm you want to play. Take a notebook and jot down four measures value of 8th notes. Then randomly remove six notes and replace them with the remaining. Now try using just one cord to play the rhythm you have just developed. After one or two trials, you would have built up yourself into creating different kinds of rhythm ideas for guitar riffs. You can move on to the advanced level (adding more difficult meters and rhythmic inspirations) when you have mastered this trick.

Make your rhythm clear and tight

Secondly, try as much as you can to make your rhythm guitar production clear and tight. If you need to be great in this niche, you have to practice this way. Every good guitarist knows that they have to play consistently to be good at rhythm guitar. But not all guitarists understand how it sounds when someone is playing tight rhythm and with a metronome. To make your rhythm guitar sound excellently well, you have to learn to play on time and do it consistently.

Discover new methods of blending chords

Learn new ways of how to blend your chords. This will help you develop different fresh ideas of how to group chords to produce good sound with your guitar riffs. This trick is much easier for those that are familiar with the concept of keys when utilizing chords. If you are a novice, the best way to grasp this is to blend several minor and major chords with power chords. Keep practicing with this idea to groom your power chord into full minor chords or major chords.

In conclusion, we all know that it will take much time to become a master in the act of rhythm guitar riff playing. But you need to take your lessons step by step to learn everything and make sure you make gradual progress from one level to another. Learn how to write your rhythm guitar riffs and see how great you will become in a short while. 

WATCH: 100 Riffs (A Brief History Of Rock’n’Roll)

Feeling inspired yet? Watch this excellent video by Chicago Music Exchange, showcasing the history of Rock’n’Roll in 100 classic guitar riffs…