Finding Rhythm Guitar Lesson
Finding Rhythm
In this lesson, Jessica starts talking about the first building block of making music: rhythm. Using yourself as a drum, you will feel the beat and find the rhythm within yourself.
Taught by Jessica Baron in Basic Guitar with Jessica Baron seriesLength: 9:46Difficulty: 1.0 of 5
Supplemental Learning Material
Basic Guitar with Jessica Baron
Found in our Beginner Lesson SetsJessica Baron, founder of Guitars in the Classroom, brings her very own unique series to JamPlay. In this highly interactive, easy to follow set, Jessica invites students of all ages to journey through fun, song-based instruction taught in ways she feels we best learn.
Lesson 1
Introduction to Gentle Guitar in G
Jessica kindly introduces herself, her background, and her approach to this series.
Length: 6:48 Difficulty: 0.0 FREELesson 2
Breathing & Visualizing
Jessica takes a moment to share a breathing technique. Then, she asks you to envision who you want to be as a musician.
Length: 5:30 Difficulty: 0.0 Members Only
Finding Rhythm
In this lesson, Jessica starts talking about the first building block of making music: rhythm. Using yourself as a drum, you will feel the beat and find the rhythm within yourself.
Length: 9:46 Difficulty: 1.0 Members Only
Rhythm & Your Guitar
In the first part of this lesson, Jessica takes some time to explain all the parts of your guitar in detail. She then flips it upside-down and makes a bongo out of it! Grab your guitar and enjoy drumming...
Length: 14:36 Difficulty: 1.0 Members Only
The Right Guitar
Jessica takes some time to talk about finding the right guitar for you. She explores different sizes and talks about the correct and most comfortable sitting position.
Length: 10:03 Difficulty: 0.0 Members Only
Why G Guitar?
Jessica Baron discusses "Gentle G Guitar" and explains why it is such a great learning method for beginners.
Length: 9:12 Difficulty: 0.0 Members Only
Tuning to Open G
In this lesson, Jessica Baron explains how to tune your guitar to open G with or without an electronic tuner.
Length: 12:31 Difficulty: 1.0 Members Only
Guitar Stringing Part 1: Steel String
In this lesson, Jessica Baron shows how to string a steel string guitar.
Length: 11:34 Difficulty: 1.0 Members Only
Guitar Stringing Part 2: Classical
In part 2 of Jessica Baron's restringing lessons, you will learn how to string your classical guitar, which is a little different from a steel string.
Length: 9:36 Difficulty: 1.0 Members Only
Ear Training & Singing in Tune
Jessica Baron delights in sharing a fun lesson that is all about ear training and singing in tune.
Length: 21:24 Difficulty: 1.5 Members Only
Vocal Warm-up Part 1
Jessica Baron shares some fun and effective vocal exercises to get you warmed up before singing. This is very important for those of you who would like to sing while playing.
Length: 14:15 Difficulty: 0.0 Members Only
Vocal Warm-up Part 2
Jessica Baron shares part 2 of her vocal warm-up lessons with some fun new exercises to prepare you for singing.
Length: 16:07 Difficulty: 1.0 Members Only
Strumming
In lesson 13, Jessica Baron introduces you to strumming technique.
Length: 15:03 Difficulty: 1.0 Members Only
Your First Chord
Jessica Baron introduces your first easy chord, Gsus4.
Length: 2:47 Difficulty: 1.0 Members Only
All About Chords
Jessica Baron talks about patterns and chord charts. She also provides more exercises for the C note you learned in the previous lesson.
Length: 19:57 Difficulty: 1.5 Members Only
Simple D
Jessica Baron introduces a new chord she calls the "Simple D" and provides a song exercise for practice.
Length: 9:07 Difficulty: 1.5 Members Only
The Old Chisholm Trail
Jessica Baron teaches techniques in the context of "The Old Chisholm Trail." Learn about the pluck-down strum, practice changing from "Open G "to "Simple D," and learn about capos.
Length: 29:51 Difficulty: 0.0 Members Only
Simple C
Jessica introduces the "Simple C" chord and incorporates it into two fun songs, "Camptown Races" and "The Green Grass Grows All Around."
Length: 21:33 Difficulty: 1.5 Members Only
Fun Strums
Jessica takes some time to show you a variety of different strums to use in your playing. She teaches the song "I'll Fly Away" to demonstrate the different feel of each strum.
Length: 19:37 Difficulty: 1.5 Members Only
Two Finger C Major
Jessica Baron teaches the C major chord using only 2 fingers and provides some fun song exercises for practice.
Length: 9:21 Difficulty: 0.0 Members Only
Your First Minor Chord
Jessica Baron introduces your first minor chord! Learn the beautiful E minor chord and play along to "This Little Light of Mine."
Length: 17:28 Difficulty: 2.0 Members Only
The Earth Is Our Mother
In this lesson, Jessica Baron provides some good, fun practice using a traditional Native American chant called "The Earth Is Our Mother."
Length: 6:53 Difficulty: 2.0 Members Only
3/4 Time
Jessica Baron explains time signatures with a focus on 3/4 time. She uses fun and interactive song exercises for practice.
Length: 11:11 Difficulty: 2.0 Members Only
I'm On My Way
Jessica Baron teaches one final song in open G tuning called "I'm on My Way" before moving on to standard tuning.
Length: 8:52 Difficulty: 2.0 Members Only
Standard Tuning
Jessica Baron introduces standard tuning in this lesson! Be ready to tune your guitar and learn "You've Got to Move" for practice.
Length: 19:45 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
A Minor
Jessica Baron introduces the A minor chord in standard tuning and invites you to play along to the fun song "Drunken Sailor."
Length: 9:29 Difficulty: 2.0 Members Only
A Major
Jessica Baron introduces the A major chord in standard tuning. Practice it with the catchy song "A Tisket, A Tasket."
Length: 11:35 Difficulty: 2.0 Members Only
D Major
Jessica Baron teaches the D major chord and "Down By The Riverside" for practice.
Length: 14:32 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Over the River and Through the Woods
Jessica Baron is excited to provide more practice changing from D to A7 with the fun song, "Over the River and Through the Woods."
Length: 8:29 Difficulty: 0.0 Members Only
The Crawdad Song
Jessica Baron teaches a new chord, B7, with "The Crawdad Song" for practice.
Length: 7:31 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
G Major
Jessica Baron helps you play the full G major chord by using the song, "I've Been Working on the Railroad."
Length: 12:02 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Full C Major
Jessica Baron is excited to finally teach the full C major chord with the bluesy song "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child" for practice.
Length: 16:52 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Composing Part 1
Jessica Baron takes all the knowledge you've learned throughout her series and helps you express yourself through your own compositions.
Length: 8:05 Difficulty: 3.0 Members Only
Composing Part 2
Jessica Baron continues her discussion on composition with a songwriting exercise. In addition, she also takes a closer look at finger picking with one last picking pattern.
Length: 11:46 Difficulty: 3.0 Members Only
Yoga for Guitar Players
In this unique lesson, Jessica presents some fantastic tips on how to prep your mind and body to be fully relaxed and ready to play and learn guitar. She provides breathing and self awareness tips as well...
Length: 16:09 Difficulty: 0.5 Members Only
Guitar Yoga - 90 Second Prep Routine
This lesson is essentially a compressed version of Jessica's 35th lesson, but presented in a way that will allow you to prep yourself using "Yoga for Guitar Players" within about 90 seconds.
Length: 4:26 Difficulty: 0.5 Members Only
Proper Fret Hand Positioning
Proper positioning of the fret hand is key to developing correct technique and playing clean and clear chords. Jessica explains how the angle at which the guitar neck is positioned affects left hand technique.
Length: 6:07 Difficulty: 0.5 Members Only
Understanding Chords: Finding the Notes
Jessica starts a mini series on understanding chords by explaining how and where to find the notes needed to build a certain chord.
Length: 14:35 Difficulty: 1.5 Members Only
Understanding Chords: Where's the Root Note?
Jessica continues her "Understanding Chords" mini series by explaining how to find the root note within commonly used chord shapes.
Length: 15:26 Difficulty: 1.5 Members Only
Understanding Chords: What Is Voicing?
This lesson will link all the past lesson content into one by helping you understand how to find alternate voicings of chords on the guitar neck.
Length: 13:36 Difficulty: 2.0 Members Only
Nashville Number System
Using the song "Down by the River to Pray," Jessica explains what the Nashville Number System is and how it is used to quickly learn a new song.
Length: 13:46 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
All About 7th Chords
What are 7th chords? How and where can they be used? Jessica answers these questions and demonstrates some popular 7th chord shapes.
Length: 10:31 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Mole in the Ground
Using the song "Mole in the Ground," Jessica applies the Nashville number system and demonstrates how to create new, unique lyrics that compliment your chord progression.
Length: 9:54 Difficulty: 2.0 Members Only
Choosing Accent Chords
Utilizing Major 7th chords and a song called "The Ashgrove", Jessica will demonstrate some great tips on how to chose the right accent chord to spice up your playing.
Length: 13:57 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Adding a Sus 4
Jessica will demonstrate how to add a Sus 4 to a chord to change its tone. This can be used to spice up and get creative with standard chord positions.
Length: 7:49 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
To Pick or Not to Pick?
Jessica discusses the difference in tone between playing with the pick and playing with the fingers.
Length: 21:27 Difficulty: 1.5 Members Only
Bass Runs with No Pick
Jessica now presents the option of adding bass runs while utilizing the fingers to pluck and strum the strings.
Length: 11:18 Difficulty: 2.0 Members Only
Tricky Chord Changes - F Chord
Jessica taps into a mini-series that demonstrates how to navigate tricky chord changes. This first lesson focuses on the F chord.
Length: 7:59 Difficulty: 2.0 Members Only
Tricky Chord Changes - Partial Barre F
Time to learn the tough partial barre F chord! Jessica covers many of the basics needed to help train your fingers for the shapes needed to complete partial barre chords.
Length: 11:33 Difficulty: 2.0 Members Only
Tricky Chord Changes - B Minor Chord
Jessica continues to demonstrate tricky chord changes by moving on to the B minor chord.
Length: 11:58 Difficulty: 1.5 Members Only
Power Chords
Power chords can be utilized up and down the entire fretboard. They achieve full bodied chord voicings that are neither major nor minor. Jessica demonstrates a few of the positions in which power chords...
Length: 13:22 Difficulty: 2.0 Members Only
Full Neck Movement with One Chord Shape
Jessica demonstrates how easy it is to play a full I, IV, V song by only moving the familiar E major chord shape up and down the fretboard.
Length: 9:01 Difficulty: 1.5 Members Only
Accents in Blues Music
A lot of the techniques Jessica shows in this lesson can be applied within any genre of music. However, she demonstrates hammer-on and pull-off techniques and how they are applied within blues.
Length: 33:53 Difficulty: 0.0 Members Only
Fingerstyle Folk Blues
Jessica now dives into fingerstyle techniques, specifically Travis picking.
Length: 14:08 Difficulty: 2.0 Members Only
Basic 3 Finger Picking
Jessica now works on picking hand techniques. She starts with the basics of using 3 fingers to create arpeggio patterns.
Length: 11:16 Difficulty: 1.5 Members Only
Quick Chord Changes
Still working within finger picking techniques, Jessica now demonstrates how to navigate more chord changes while still keeping a steady picking rhythm.
Length: 13:19 Difficulty: 2.0 Members Only
6/8 Fingerpicking
Continuing along with fingerpicking techniques, Jessica now adds the unique time signature of 6/8 into the picking rhythm. This requires adding extra finger strokes. Jessica demonstrates how to make this...
Length: 7:04 Difficulty: 2.0 Members Only
6/8 Picking Part 2
Jessica continues her 6/8 fingerpicking techniques by adding yet another step in the full picking progression. However, she will still utilizes the same song from the previous lesson.
Length: 8:00 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Travis Picking
Demonstrating yet another widely popular fingerstyle picking technique called Travis Picking, Jessica breaks down this technique and applies it to a very catchy song that is easy to play.
Length: 13:30 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Song Arrangement
It's time to apply the techniques that have been taught so far to understanding and creating a song arrangement. In this lesson, Jessica discusses how to create a song beginning and ending.
Length: 17:36 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
About Jessica Baron View Full Biography
Jessica believes in making your introduction to the guitar easy and pain-free. She is a developmental educator who understands how positive early experiences can motivate us to keep learning. Jessica Baron founded and serves as Executive Director for Guitars in the Classroom, an organization that brings music making to education by integrating singing, strumming and songwriting with learning throughout the school day and across the curriculum. Jessica created the first developmental guitar instruction method and she has written six groundbreaking books in the field of music and guitar education. She believes that we are each unique musical and creative beings with individual pathways we can choose to discover and follow if we are given instruction in the ways we best learn. This vision informs and fuels her dedication to service through teaching.
Jess spent several years in California teaching music in public and private schools; she also worked for a long time as both a human development educator (at Crossroads School of Arts and Sciences) and as a private educational therapist treating children and teens with learning disabilities. These experiences, combined with Masters level training in Clinical Psychology from Antioch University helped her develop an approach to teaching music that creates access to musicality through people’s dominant learning styles while helping them strengthen the others. This, combined with her philosophy that musical learning can be fun and stress free, define her work as an author, teacher, and non-profit leader.
In addition to her years teaching in the classroom and counseling young people, Jess co-authored the highly successful MusicMakers curriculum for the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, as well as the International House of Blues Foundation’s Make an Impression guitar program. Her best-selling guitar method, SmartStart Guitar as well as her parenting book, YOUR MUSICAL CHILD: Inspiring Kids to Play and Sing for Keeps (Hal Leonard, 2004) are soon to be followed by The Green Songbook & CD from Alfred Music Publishing. This compilation of music for living lightly on the Earth is now available at www.greensongbook.com.
Jess lives in Encinitas with her teen-age son, Elias, their three birds, two lizards, and one ridiculously adorable dog named Homer. You might have known Jess by her published and formerly married name, Jessica Baron Turner, a last name she went by during her marriage to Eli’s dad, luthier, Rick Turner. These days she goes by Jessica Anne Baron. Jess is also an incidental songwriter, an enthusiastic gardener, a vegetarian, and lover of literature.
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Member Comments about this Lesson
Discussions with our instructors are just one of the many benefits of becoming a member of JamPlay.Heads.... shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes!
Hi Jessica - I just started yesterday and decided to try out your lessons. I am a 50 year old total newbie - so I need all the basic help I can get - I like how you are starting this program. Thanks
All I can say for those who are n a band or go see one. The Drummer really is the most important member of the band. Let's show our respect for him/her for they are what truly makes music great. No percusion..No rhythm.
You almost lost me with the lead up but caught me with the... Stock Still on board, still thankful.
I'm a teacher and have done this kind of stuff naturally with kids, but now I can actually explain why it's important thanks to you! awesome!
I love these lessons. I am a complete beginner and you are giving me the hope that one day I will be a skilled guitarist as long as i put it in the effort and time and believe in myself. Thanks Jess! :D
I just gave myself a black eye. ;>} I love your style and content!!!
Hi Jessica one of my biggest flaws with playing guitar;has always been rhythm . I like your rhythm lessons because not only will it help me with rhythm on guitar , but also it's a great way to warm up before playing . The head exercise with over and under I am having trouble with , but the exercises are fun
H Jessica , I have a lot of spare time for guitar lessons so I can definitely commit more then 1 hour a day on your lessons. It's very important that I not only build muscle memory but that I also retain it. I also don't like to move on to a new lesson with new techniques until I have retained and mastered the the goal I set in each lesson. My first goal is to have the foundation laid down in rhythm and breathing techniques. So my question is it better to commit to just working one applying one technique for just 1 week or given how I have a lot of spare time or is it better to apply maybe 2-3 lessons in a week and set an amount of time. My worry is that I would burden myself by setting myself too many tasks thus making music wouldidn't be fun anymore. I want to focus a lot on the building blocks of music as you have said because it will definitely in laying the foundation and obtaining the skills I need to have so that I may excel in my journey of music.
Amazing lesson can't wait for more. Just a perfect fit! thank you :)
I've just started going through this lesson set. I really enjoy the approach; it seems more refreshing than learning scales and stuff. I was a bit worried when I started to go through this lesson though because my mind couldn't cope and my arms were going alll over the place. I think I'll try again tomorrow and see if I can improve. Thanks for the lessons Jessica.
I thought this was silly until I tried it. Try it to a backing track (slow). You can get into it. I started learning guitar 1 year ago. I am rhythmically challenged. I want more!!!!
So grateful you found my thread... many of us are time challenged this way. That steady practice, especially if you get the rhythm into your whole body, can really help. Even doing things like working out on a treadmill or elyptical machine to BASIC rhythmic music (NOT African polyrhythms, hiphop, jazz) can help a bunch. I hate to say it but.... this might be a great reason to get some old disco. Donna Summers is good on that 1-2-3-4. We'll get there!
yeah my cat thought I'd lost my mind, that last exercise woz pretty challenging! liking these lessons : )
OMG. Try it with yarn next time!!!!
I feel a little like Daniel while washing and waxing Mr. Miyagi's car. But Daniel eventually won the All Valley Championship!
ROTFL!
jessica's approach is wonderful......can't wait till the next lesson.
This is so great. I'm getting messed up with my hands though at the end. Shows I need it! Thanks you!
can't wait for the next installment
This is wondeful stuff. So refreshing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Somewhat feels like meditation. I like it A LOT! Fascinating approach, with each lesson I get more happy with your lessons on Jamplay. Wonderful addition on the already excellent catalog of teachers here.
You even have cliffhangers now to keep us going to the next? Fascinating approach
My cat looked strange at me as i was doing the exercises :-)))