00:00Okay, so I'm back again talking about the intermediate rhythms.
00:05Again, always an essential reminder, you must be 100% comfortable with the fundamentals or the beginner six rhythms.
00:15So just a reminder, common time, march, waltz, syncopated, ballad and swing.
00:19If you're not 100% comfortable, fully relaxed and very experienced with those six fundamental rhythms,
00:27you may find that these intermediate strumming patterns are too difficult.
00:32But if you've absolutely nailed those beginner level rhythms, then you should be ready to move on to these.
00:39So I'm going to focus today on the swing.
00:42What you'll notice about the pattern of this academic pathway is that when you get to intermediate level,
00:52they are actually based on the fundamentals.
00:54They're just elevated slightly, so they're made slightly more difficult.
00:58They may be technical elements or they may be changed somehow,
01:02but essentially they root back to the fundamentals somehow.
01:07So today we're focusing on the swing.
01:09Now at beginner level, you'll just simply be putting a swing on the upbeat.
01:15So...
01:16Or the offbeat.
01:21So you have a strong down for the beat.
01:24Always a down for the beat.
01:27And then a weak or late or delayed upstrung offbeat.
01:33And that's simply how you would do swing at beginner level.
01:38In my opinion, one of the more difficult beginner level rhythms because you need to be super relaxed with your
01:44wrists.
01:45Again, a reminder, if you're using the elbow, that's not going to work.
01:49So let's find out how we elevate the swing up to intermediate level.
01:54It's made more difficult.
01:55It starts to utilise the guitar as a percussion instrument.
02:02So not only are you swinging...
02:10You're actually hitting the strings with the right hand and the plectrum,
02:15creating a snare sound.
02:18So this gives the impression of there being a snare drum involved.
02:24So highly effective, but technical.
02:27Usually, as a student, you'll find you won't be able to do this rhythm immediately.
02:32It may take a week of a few minutes per day just trying the technique out before it comes relaxed.
02:41So the song we'll study is Passenger by Iggy Pop, which uses this technique.
02:56So there it is.
02:57So nice and slow, you'll do a down strung, which hits the strings percussively.
03:05And then you'll do an offbeat, a beat, and an offbeat in standard swing pattern.
03:11And you just repeat that.
03:16One essential element of this rhythm is that the plectrum must land below the strings.
03:24There's a reason for that.
03:26The following strum is an offbeat and an up.
03:29So like that.
03:31If you land with a plectrum above the strings, the next up strum is not going to happen.
03:36So once again, this is the intermediate swing.
03:42Or the percussive swing, if you like.
03:48Once you've got the pattern, it's straightforward because it just continues always the same.
03:54It's just that repeated over and over again.
04:01After a week of five minutes a day, you should be able to speed that up.
04:12There you have the intermediate or percussive swing.
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