If you are just starting out learning guitar one of
hardest things can be getting a good rhythm and keeping that rhythm going while you change chords with your left hand.When I first started learning guitar I would strum along happily until chord change and then my right hand would stop while I changed position of left.
This makes your playing sound terrible. In fact if you can keep that right hand strumming or picking sequence, you will sound good. If you are a bit slow with your chord changes and strum some open strings in between you will still sound good. But lose that rhythm and everybody knows that you are messing up.
Here are my top three tips for getting past this learning stage.
#1 Play open strings for last beat in bar so you have time to change chord shape. For example if your are to play | G G G G | D D D D | C C C C | instead play | G G G O | D D D O | C C C O | where O is a strum of open strings. Listen carefully and you will notice a lot of guitar players do this. And it sounds just fine.
#2 Move your body to rhythm. When I started out I was told to tap my foot to rhythm. 1 2 3 4 | 1 2 3 4 | 1 2 3 4 I just couldn't do it. It seemed like one more thing to remember and overloaded my system. Then I learned to move my head to rhythm and immediately my timing improved. I would nod to beat and move side to side a bit as well. I guess it's just horses for courses. You need to find what works best for you but if you can't tap your foot try nodding your head or even bouncing whole of top half of your body. Get beat rattling through your bones!
