How to Play Complementary Rhythm Techniques by Stuart Ziff (Guitar Lesson)
What are you waiting for? Get your membership now!
Complementary Rhythm Techniques
In this lesson, Stuart demonstrates how to create complementary rhythms that accompany the rest of the band or layer in while a soloists takes over.
Taught by Stuart Ziff in Blues Guitar with Stuart Ziff seriesLength: 11:39Difficulty: 2.5 of 5
Video Subtitles / Captions
Supplemental Learning Material
Blues Guitar with Stuart Ziff
Found in our Beginner Lesson SetsStuart will demonstrate his own unique style of Blues guitar. He will talk about the genre and demonstrate why this unique style is a staple of American music.
Lesson 1
Flat Tire Shuffle
Stuart doesn't waste an ytime diving into blues as he starts his series off by demonstrating one of the most iconic and recognizable blues rhythm patterns, the "flat tire" shuffle.
Length: 13:34 Difficulty: 1.5 FREELesson 2
Rhythmic Foundation
Rhythm in blues is essential, and Stuart provides some tips on how the foundation for blues rhythm can be built.
Length: 11:44 Difficulty: 1.5 Members Only
Complementary Rhythm Techniques
In this lesson, Stuart demonstrates how to create complementary rhythms that accompany the rest of the band or layer in while a soloists takes over.
Length: 11:39 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Supportive Single Note Lines
Stuart demonstrates how simple single note lines can really influence rhythm within blues music.
Length: 17:24 Difficulty: 2.0 Members Only
Minor Pentatonic Scales
Stuart moves forward in his blues series by demonstrating the minor pentatonic scale. He explains how some major artists have influenced its use within blues music.
Length: 17:02 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Minor Blues
Even though they are less common than major keys, minor keys play a huge part in blues music. Stuart discusses and demonstrates minor blues concepts.
Length: 13:13 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Soloing over Minor Blues
This lesson provide tips on soloing over minor blues progressions. Stuart uses a backing track to help demonstrate some basic fundamentals to keep in mind while soloing.
Length: 20:06 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Adding Swing to Blues
Adding a "swing" to eighth note groupings is the subject of this lesson. Stuart demonstrates how this simple rhythmic technique gives blues music part of its signature feel.
Length: 11:17 Difficulty: 3.0 Members Only
Uptown Blues
Stuart utilizes the swing technique to help demonstrate how "uptown blues" has its own unique sound that stems from larger, urban east coast cities.
Length: 15:15 Difficulty: 3.0 Members Only
Blues with ii-V Change
Stuart demonstrates what a ii-V change is and explains how it is such a widely used turnaround within blues music.
Length: 16:53 Difficulty: 3.0 Members Only
Pentatonic Scale Theory
Stuart takes an in depth look at pentatonic scale theory and demonstrates many different ways it can be applied within blues music.
Length: 34:05 Difficulty: 3.5 Members Only
2 Bar Phrase
Stuart will demonstrate what a 2 bar phrase is and how it can be used within the blues genre.
Length: 15:43 Difficulty: 3.0 Members Only
Slide Blues Guitar
Stuart will now demonstrate what bottleneck slide blues guitar is, some of his favorite artists, and the techniques on how to achieve that unique twang sound.
Length: 7:24 Difficulty: 2.0 Members Only
Slide Blues Part 2
Stuart will now dive much deeper into the many different techniques that are needed to create a Bottleneck Slide Blues sound.
Length: 14:14 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Intervals for Open Tuning
Stuart will continue his slide blues techniques by demonstrating how to find intervals within an open tuning.
Length: 9:54 Difficulty: 3.0 Members Only
About Stuart Ziff
View Full Biography
A veteran guitarist fluent in, Blues, R&B, Funk, Rock, Reggae and everything in between. As a Studio Musician playing guitar on numerous commercials, demos for singer-songwriters and records.
A career as a songwriter that began with Warner Bros recording artist David Ball’s first Nashville CD in 1994 “ Thinking Problem .“ Stuart was co writer on the hit song “ Thinking Problem.” Also playing on the record supplying acoustic and electric guitar. Since 2000, He’s been living in Los Angles.
Presently the Guitarist for the band WAR, touring and recording with them. As a songwriter for Film & TV: “ National Lampoons Cattle Call ,“ Americas Funniest Home Videos and Bad Girls. Songs on recordings by Eric Burden, Johnny Adams, Gary Hoey and Theresa James. Since 2005, a member of the faculty at Musician’s Institute in Hollywood.
Acoustic Guitar Lessons
Our acoustic guitar lessons are taught by qualified instructors with various backgrounds with the instrument.
David Isaacs
JamPlay welcomes David Isaacs to our teacher roster. With his first lesson Dave explains his approach to playing guitar with...
Free LessonSeries Details
Greg Greenway
Greg kicks off his series telling a little about himself and introduces the C9 tuning.
Free LessonSeries Details
Randall Williams
In this lesson Randall introduces the partial capo (using a short-cut capo by Kyser) and talks about how it can make the...
Free LessonSeries Details
Nick Amodeo
Nick explains how to play some of the most commonly used chords in the bluegrass genre.
Free LessonSeries Details
Rich Nibbe
Rich Nibbe takes a look at how you can apply the pentatonic scale in the style of John Mayer into your playing.
Free LessonSeries Details
Mario DaSilva
Free LessonSeries Details
Justin Roth
In this lesson Justin introduces his series on playing with a capo and dishes out some basic tips, including how to properly...
Free LessonSeries Details
Eve Goldberg
Eve talks about the boom-chuck strum pattern. This strum pattern will completely change the sound of your playing.
Free LessonSeries Details
Robbie Merrill
JamPlay welcomes bassist and founding member of Godsmack, Robbie Merrill. In this short introduction lesson, Robbie showcases...
Free LessonSeries Details
Miche Fambro
Miche introduces several new chord concepts that add color and excitement to any progression.
Free LessonSeries DetailsElectric Guitar Lesson Samples
Our electric guitar lessons are taught by instructors with an incredible amount of teaching experience.
Jane Miller
Jane Miller talks about chord solos in part one of this fascinating mini-series.
Free LessonSeries Details
Tom Appleman
Tom Appleman takes a look at a blues in E with a focus on the Chicago blues style. The bass line for Chicago blues is very...
Free LessonSeries Details
Jeff Gunn
Now that we have explored the various distances needed to sound artificial harmonics, will learn how to move between artificial...
Free LessonSeries Details
John DeServio
JD teaches the pentatonic and blues scales and explains where and when you can apply them.
Free LessonSeries Details
David MacKenzie
David MacKenzie introduces the tapping technique and teaches a fun exercise. This lesson includes a backing track.
Free LessonSeries Details
John Shannon
Meet John Shannon and his approach to rhythm guitar. John discusses why he put this lesson series together and what his...
Free LessonSeries Details
Brad Henecke
Free LessonSeries Details
Michael Ripoll
Michael "Nomad" Ripoll dives deep into the rhythm & blues, funk, and soul genres that were made popular by artists like Earth...
Free LessonSeries Details
Bumblefoot
Guns N' Roses guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal pulls out all the stops in his blistering artist series. Dive into the intense,...
Free LessonSeries DetailsJoin over 517415 guitarists who have learned how to play in weeks... not years!
Signup today to enjoy access to our entire database of video lessons, along with our exclusive set of learning tools and features.
Unlimited Lesson Viewing
A JamPlay membership gives you access to every lesson, from every teacher on our staff. Additionally, there is no restriction on how many times you watch a lesson. Watch as many times as you need.Live Lessons
Exclusive only to JamPlay, we currently broadcast 8-10 hours of steaming lesson services directly to you! Enjoy the benefits of in-person instructors and the conveniences of our community.Interactive Community
Create your own profile, manage your friends list, and contact users with your own JamPlay Mailbox. JamPlay also features live chat with teachers and members, and an active Forum.Chord Library
Each chord in our library contains a full chart, related tablature, and a photograph of how the chord is played. A comprehensive learning resource for any guitarist.Scale Library
Our software allows you to document your progress for any lesson, including notes and percent of the lesson completed. This gives you the ability to document what you need to work on, and where you left off.Custom Chord Sheets
At JamPlay, not only can you reference our Chord Library, but you can also select any variety of chords you need to work on, and generate your own printable chord sheet.Backing Tracks
Jam-along backing tracks give the guitarist a platform for improvising and soloing. Our backing tracks provide a wide variety of tracks from different genres of music, and serves as a great learning tool.Interactive Games
We have teachers covering beginner lessons, rock, classic rock, jazz, bluegrass, fingerstyle, slack key and more. Learn how to play the guitar from experienced players, in a casual environment.Beginners Welcome.. and Up
Unlike a lot of guitar websites and DVDs, we start our Beginner Lessons at the VERY start of the learning process, as if you just picked up a guitar for the first time.Our teaching is structured for all players.Take a minute to compare JamPlay to other traditional and new methods of learning guitar. Our estimates for "In-Person" lessons below are based on a weekly face-to-face lesson for $40 per hour.
 |
||||
| Price Per Lesson | < $0.01 | $4 - $5 | $30 - $50 | Free |
| Money Back Guarantee | Sometimes | n/a | ||
| Number of Instructors | 127 | 1 – 3 | 1 | Zillions |
| Interaction with Instructors | Daily Webcam Sessions | Weekly | ||
| Professional Instructors | Luck of the Draw | Luck of the Draw | ||
| New Lessons | Daily | Weekly | Minutely | |
| Structured Lessons | ||||
| Learn Any Style | Sorta | |||
| Track Progress | ||||
| HD Video | - | Sometimes | ||
| Multiple Camera Angles | Sometimes | - | Sometimes | |
| Accurate Tabs | Maybe | Maybe | ||
| Scale/Chord Libraries | ||||
| Custom JamTracks | ||||
| Interactive Games | ||||
| Community | ||||
| Learn in Sweatpants | Socially Unacceptable | |||
| Gasoline Needed | $0.00 | $0.00 | ~$4 / gallon! | $0.00 |
Mike H.
"I feel like a 12 year old kid with a new guitar!"
I am 66 years young and I still got it! I would have never known this if it had not been for Jamplay! I feel like a 12 year old kid with a new guitar! Ha! I cannot express enough how great you're website is! It is for beginners and advanced pickers! I am an advanced picker and thought I had lost it but thanks to you all, I found it again! Even though I only play by ear, I have been a member a whopping whole two weeks now and have already got Brent's country shuffle and country blues down and of course with embellishments. Thank you all for your wonderful program!
Greg J.
"With Jamplay I can fit in a random session when I have time and I can go at my own pace"
I'm a fifty eight year old newbie who owns a guitar which has been sitting untouched in a corner for about seven years now. Last weekend I got inspired to pick it up and finally learn how to play after watching an amazing Spanish guitarist on TV. So, here I am. I'm starting at the beginning with Steve Eulberg and I couldn't be happier (except for the sore fingers :) Some day I'm going to play like Steve! I'm self employed with a hectic schedule. With Jamplay I can fit in a random session when I have time and I can go at my own pace, rewinding and replaying the videos until I get it. This is a very enjoyable diversion from my work yet I still feel like I'm accomplishing something worthwhile. Thanks a lot, Greg
Bill
"I believe this is the absolute best site for guitar students."
I am commenting here to tell you and everyone at JamPlay that I believe this is the absolute best site for guitar students. I truly enjoy learning to play the guitar on JamPlay.com. Yes, I said the words, ""enjoy learning."" It is by far the best deal for the money.
Member Comments about this Lesson
Discussions with our instructors are just one of the many benefits of becoming a member of JamPlay.Anyone who's taken lessons from an instructor do you stand behind the teacher and look down over their shoulder at the guitar to see what they're doing? No? interesting.
Clear as always and really fun lesson. Thank you so much!!
most enjoyable and a big help with my timing in general, Thanks Stuart
Great Lesson. Hands on! Nice and easy... Thanks Stuart
Great Lessons
Thanks Stu, this is what I think I've needed, to really to get into a groove along with my timing.
SMOOTH !
Great stuff Stu - keep em coming !!
Great series Stuart, I especially like your playing with the backing track which demonstrates the music better for me. I have a question about your left-hand. You seem to play with the fingers quite flat to the fingerboard, is that because you're muting unwanted strings? In the C triad of example 1 it looks as though you may be muting the 5th string with the tip of your 3rd finger and the 6th string with the middle finger.
Great lessons Stuart, looking forward to more.
These lessons are gold, please keep them coming!
my rythem has needed these lessons thank you-stuart
That's the stuff, the meet & potatoes! and Stuart not only plays well, he teachs you like you are hangin' out together at the local blues jam. More! Scott
Love these chord riffs Stuart!!! Awesome!
very Fun to play !
Stuart, you are the man :)
Excellent stuff Stuart! Thanks for this. Really like the way you start simple and build on the first ideas (and how to make it greasy!). Looking forward to what's next. Jay