Give It a Groove
The same four chords can sound like three different songs. What changes is the tempo, how many beats there are before the count comes back, and how each bar gets played. All three are yours to pick. Follow the interactive lesson below to learn more.
Put a rhythm under it
The same four chords can sound like three different songs.
What you just learned
- Set the clock
Your chords loop four bars
Your chords play one per bar, four bars that loop. Everything else in the groove sits on top of that.
C · F · G · C - Set the clock
Tempo and meter reshape it
Pick 70, 100 or 130 bpm, and four or three beats a bar. Three turns the same chords into a waltz.
70 · 100 · 130 bpm - Pick a pattern
Same notes, three patterns
Play the chord once a bar, on every beat or on the offbeats. Offbeats are what a guitar does when it strums.
1 · 1 2 3 4 · + + + + - Pick a pattern
A backbeat sits on 2 and 4
Accent beats two and four and the loop starts to walk. Take it off and the tempo stays the same.
1 TWO 3 FOUR - Move the bass
Give the bass more notes
Add a bass note on beat three for two a bar, or play every beat for a walking bass.
1 · 3 or 1 · 2 · 3 · 4Read the full answer ↓ - Move the bass
Four bars of four is sixteen
Your loop is four bars of four beats, sixteen in total. That is the length most sections come in.
4 × 4 = 16 beats
Where to go from here
Every part of the lesson, answered in full
Open any question to read the full answer.
What you end up with
A four-bar loop that moves: your chords, a pattern, a backbeat and a bass line that lands more than once a bar.