Riff combining half notes & quarter notes
With
Tommy Webb
What's in the course
47 lessons (1h 40m) · 1 free
01. Welcome to the Course
1:41
02. Meet Your Teacher
0:40
03. Guide to the Guitar
6:52
04. Sitting with Your Guitar (Acoustic)
3:29
05. Sitting with Your Guitar (Electric)
0:49
06. How to Tune Your Guitar
4:57
07. How to Use a Guitar Pick
2:49
08. Make Your First Sound on the Guitar
2:45
09. How to Strum a Guitar
2:02
10. How to Read Music - Tab
Free lesson1:52
11. How to Read Music - Notation
3:03
12. Note Values and Rhythm
5:08
01. Introduction to Rock riffs and melodies
1:47
02. How to get a clean fretted sound
3:19
03. Riff using the E&G notes
3:30
04. Riff using the E&G notes (performance)
1:10
05. Riff accenting the strong note
1:34
06. Riff accenting the strong note (performance)
0:58
07. Riff using half notes
1:44
08. Riff using half notes (performance)
0:50
01. Intro to Rock pt2 and my Gibson Les Paul
1:10
02. Riff combining half notes & quarter notes
You are here1:36
03. Riff combining half notes & quarter notes (performance)
0:56
04. Melody A combining 4 notes
4:00
05. Melody A combining 4 notes (performance)
0:57
06. Melody B combining 4 notes
2:32
07. Melody B combining 4 notes (performance)
0:55
08. Rock City - bars 3&4
2:18
09. Rock City - bars 3&4 (performance)
0:58
10. Well done on the Rock section
0:17
01. Intro to the pop section and rests
1:14
02. Riff with rest on beat 3
3:36
03. Riff with rest on beat 3 (performance)
1:04
04. Riff using F note with rests
2:53
05. Riff using F note with rests (performance)
1:05
06. Melody using C note and rests
4:59
07. Melody using C note and rests (performance)
0:54
08. Summary of Pop part 1
0:55
01. What is a Fender Telecaster
1:05
02. Melody with a D note
3:51
03. Melody with a D note (performance)
1:10
04. Melody using whole notes
2:34
05. Melody using whole notes (performance)
0:57
06. Riff combining note values
2:32
07. Riff combining note values (performance)
1:03
08. Party People bars 13-16
2:23
09. Party People bars 13-16 (performance)
1:22
Lesson transcript
Example One: Combining Quarter Notes and Half Notes
So, jumping into example one, we're continuing with the same notes we've used before, E and G from exercises 1, 2, and 3.
Rhythm Overview
This time, we're combining quarter notes and half notes:
- Quarter notes are played on the beats: 1, 2, 3, 4.
- Half notes last for two beats each: 1, 2, 1, 2.
Starting Slow
It'd be a good idea to take this section really slowly and clap out the rhythms. You can see that:
- In bars one and three, we have two half notes.
- In bars two and four, we have two quarter notes followed by a half note.
Clapping the Rhythm
I'm just going to clap you the first two bars. See if you can join along with me:
- Clap: 1, 2, 3, 4.
- Clap: 1, 2, 3, 4.
- Clap: 1, 2, 3, 4.
That's the rhythm of our riff. It might take a little bit of time getting used to switching between those rhythms, so take it nice and slowly and work on it before you try and play along with the riff.
Notes Breakdown
- In bar one, we've got an open E string for two beats, followed by the third fret on the E string (G) for two beats.
- In bar two, we have the same set of notes, but we're playing the open E string twice as quarter notes, then following it with a G on the third fret, which will sound like this.
Combining the Two Bars
Combining the two bars, you'll notice that the backing track is a little bit slower at 90 bpm, so don't be surprised if the counting feels a bit slow when you first start playing with the backing track.
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Meet your guru
Meet your guru
Tommy Webb is a London-based guitarist who completed a BA(Hons) Degree in guitar at the Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford, studying under Sandy Beales (One Direction, Wheatus) and Nicolas Meier (Jeff Beck). His own playing moves freely across rock, pop, indie, hip-hop, country and metal - the exact ground his guitar methods cover.
Tommy has worked with a wide range of artists and bands across the country, including Jarki Monno and Indira May, sharing stages and sessions with guitarists Paul Murray (Jess Glynne, Zak Abel) and Adam Chetwood (Paolo Nutini, Mark Ronson), and drummers Alex Woodward (Black Honey), Luke Robinson and “Bambi Music” (N-Dubz, Lethal Bizzle, Wretch 32, Tinie Tempah).
On stage, he has performed at the Jazz Cafe opening for soul singer Jocelyn Brown, plus venues and festivals including Ronnie Scott's, Troy Bar, The Watford Colosseum, Camden Assembly, Kensington Roof Gardens, Notting Hill Arts Club, Meraki Festival and Sundown Festival.
On record and radio, Tommy has played live sessions for BBC Three Counties Introducing, Vibe FM and Pulse 88, with tracks featured on BBC Radio 1 and Radio 2. He has recorded at studios including South Lanes Brighton, Hempstead Road and Titan Studios with producers such as Steph Carter (Gallows, Lyoness) and TMS / Froe Barnes (Lewis Capaldi, Dua Lipa).
In his guitar methods, Tommy passes all of that working-musician know-how on to you - teaching the techniques, tones and feel behind real styles, from rock and pop to indie, hip-hop, country and metal, so you can play the music you actually love.
