How do you work out the speed of a song?

This is a common question I hear from beginner guitar students.  

Knowing when to strum or if the strumming pattern you are practising is at the right speed is a real right of passage.  It’s a super skill to develop and as you work on it, it will become like second nature. No more guessing…

This is aimed at beginner level guitarists. We’re not looking at calculating the bpm just yet.  We’re looking to develop an ear first. 

Let’s take this back to basics.

 

BUILD YOUR FOUNDATION, BUILD YOUR EAR

Start by

• Listening to the recording of a song you’re working on.    Can you hear the tempo?

 

What is the Tempo?  Tempo = the speed of a piece of music.  It’s measured in Beats per Minute (bpm). 

 

• Find the tempo by clapping along / tapping your foot / tapping or clicking your fingers. (This is the pulse of the song) 

 

(Some songs are easier to hear the beat in.  Find a song that you can clearly hear the beat in. This will help significantly. You will know if you have a good song to do this exercise with as you will be able to hear the place where you would tap your foot / clap your hands).   

You will get a sense that you have the claps / taps in the right place or not.  Work on this skill first. This is a listening, responding and coordination skill. Try this with a range of songs. (It doesn’t have to be songs you’re learning to play). The more practise you get at listening and responding accurately the better you will develop this as a skill.

You don’t need a metronome for this.  You need to be able to hear / feel the music and you need some patience.

Take your time here.  Listening is a VERY important part of playing an instrument.  

 

NEXT STEP –

Introduce your guitar

You now have your sense of rhythm. How songs are moving. How fast they’re moving.

The most basic place to start with your guitar is by playing down strums in the place of where you would’ve been clapping in the exercise above.  Even if you know a more complicated strumming pattern, start by playing just the down strums on each beat in the right place. This has to be a song you’re learning on the guitar as you will need to know the chords and have to have your chord changes smooth enough to keep up. Choose a song with only 2 or 3 chords to begin with. A slow – ish paced song.

Play along to the song like this until you feel like you have the down strums lined-up and in time. 

MOVING ON…

Once you feel comfortable and confident with the above exercises you will be able do the same but add in a more complex rhythm (not too complicated, build this up slowly).

If you feel like you’re really not getting it feel free to comment below any questions you have

Have fun playing with this basic exploration of getting to know music and your guitar.

 

See you next time

Jo