A sense of rhythm, in my opinion, is the single most important aspect to guitar playing which separates the good guitarists from the bad ones. I even feel that rhythm is more important than the choice of notes, believe it or not. After all, it’s not what you play that’s important – but how you play it. You could play the blues in an entirely wrong key but if your rhythmic phrasing is good, it will still sound good. Unfortunately, rhythm is an area which beginners tend to neglect. They prefer to practise fancy tapping techniques or sweep picking rather than getting the basics of rhythm. And the result – sloppy guitar soloing.

So how can this be corrected?

You must train yourself to have a good sense of rhythm and the best way of doing this is by using a metronome. What I like to do is to play the major scale (or any other scale that you prefer) up and down the fretboard whilst keeping to the beat of the metronome. I would play the scale using quarter notes, eighth notes and sixteenth notes, and I would also try varying and combining the rhythmic phrases. Doing so trains you to recognize the differences between the different note durations. Once you’ve got the hang of these basic rhythms, you could try playing the scale in a swing rhythm or even triplets – the trick is to be aware of your rhythm and having full control of the timing of your notes. Remember – sloppy rhythm makes a sloppy guitarist!