Introducing the concept of subdivisions to develop rhythm (playing whole notes and half notes)
So now, you can play A5 and G5 using both whole notes and half notes. We should now mix up these two notes so as to create rhythm. There is a lot of rhythmic work to be done on the guitar and we develop rhythm by using different subdivisions.
Subdivisions are the different ways we break up the bar with notes. In other words, we have divided the bar into one note (whole note) and we have also divided the bar into two notes (using half notes)… subdividing!
So let us now look at our next example which requires you to play both whole and half notes. If you look at the exercise below, you play two bars of half notes with an A5 chord, followed by two bars of G5. Now the first bar of G5 has two half notes and the second has a long power chord - played for the whole bar using a whole note. Repeat the exercise over and over to develop your ability to change from playing half notes to whole notes.
Ensure you do this accurately by counting very carefully and using the multimedia files as always.
Next: Understanding and playing quarter notes