Should You Count While Playing Guitar? Understanding Rhythm, Timing, and Feel
Many guitarists struggle with rhythm and timing, wondering if they should actively count beats while playing. A great question came in recently from a fellow guitarist:
“Had a quick question I was hoping you could answer. Do you actively keep time and count while you’re playing? I play with backing tracks or just to the songs I’m trying to learn, but I rarely count, if ever. I kind of just feel the music. If you keep time, is there a benefit to it I’m missing? When I try to count, the whole process of playing just seems very mechanical and arduous to me. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.”
Do You Need to Count While Playing Guitar?
Great question! The short answer? Most of the time, no—I don’t count beats while playing. Like many musicians, I feel the rhythm naturally. However, when I’m struggling to lock in a groove, I absolutely count it out.
Why Counting Can Improve Your Guitar Playing
Even though I prefer to feel the music, learning to count rhythms has helped me tremendously, especially when tackling complex timing. One of the biggest benefits of learning to read standard notation is that it trains you to recognize and internalize rhythms that might not come naturally.
If you’ve never worked on this before, a great place to start is Mel Bay’s Modern Guitar Method Grade 1.
When Counting Is Essential
While I can usually internalize tricky rhythms after some practice, there are some cases where counting is a must. A perfect example is “Couldn’t Stand the Weather” by Stevie Ray Vaughan.
In the song’s intro, the breaks are incredibly tricky:
- Break 1 (0:26 mark): The band comes back in on the “and” of 3 after two and a half beats of rest.
- Break 2: Same as the first—right on the “and” of 3.
- Break 3: This one is even tougher! It holds for four and a half beats, landing on the “and” of 5 in an odd time signature.
Try playing this with a band without counting—good luck! Even Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble likely counted those rests in their heads.
Final Thoughts on Counting and Feeling Rhythm
If a rhythm isn’t coming naturally to you, count it out until you feel it. This method has helped me (and countless other guitarists) improve timing, groove, and overall musicianship.
Thanks for the response to my email! I’m glad to hear (or read) I do pretty much the same thing as you. I started to worry perhaps I was missing something key in my development. I understand time signatures and can bang out rhythms to a metronome, thats how I learned to play, but I hated it. For me it’s just so much more enjoyable to throw on some actual music and create some actual music noodling around.
I really want to buy your fretboard ll to add to all of your dvd’s and book, but I dog-ear pages, underline, use colored markers, and carry book around house as necessary, e-book doesn’t do it for me-please print copies real soon
Desi i have a chord progression
am,g,f,g ,f,g,dm,am,g,f,g,c ,g
am is the tone center am i in the key of c ????
thanks art
Yes, those chords fit into the C major scale.
C Major Scale
C D E F G A B
I ii iii IV V vi vii?5
C Dm Em F G Am Bm?5
But it looks like the Am chord is probably the tonic (tonal center of the music). So it would be better to call this the A minor scale. A minor is relative to C major. The minor scale is the 6th mode of the major scale, Aeolian.
If you renumber the chords putting Am in the first position then the key looks like this:
A minor Scale
A B C D E F G
i ii?5 ?III iv v ?VI ?VII
Am Bm?5 C Dm Em F G
These are still the very same notes and chords from C major. The only difference is that you’re counting everything from A. Notice that the Roman numeral designations changed to properly reflect the chords in this new order.
Hi nick you can print out pdf files so you have a physical copy its well worth buying by the way
Nice post…just tweeted! I’ve always found it tricky to talk with my students about rhythm. It really does at some point have to be felt, even if it starts with counting.
Except maybe “Couldn’t Stand the Weather” :) I always have to count that break too.