How to play varied and unique accompaniment

Although lead guitarists seem to have most of the fun (not many people strum a chord progression behind their head!), rhythm guitar playing actually offers a huge amount of opportunities for creativity.

It’s rare that a song’s chord progression and strumming pattern need to be followed strictly. They often benefit from some tasteful variations and ‘added touches’ which allow you to put your own unique take on a song. Below are some step-by-step exercises to help you explore your options with a chord progression. The chords are simple (G, D and C) so that you can focus on the strumming, picking and rhythm approaches. Enjoy and please add your own ideas too!

Exercise no.1 introduces the chords and a basic strumming pattern. Familiarise yourself with this before moving on to the variations.

Exercise no.2

Exercise no.2 doesn’t change any of the rhythms but does introduce a Country-style approach of starting each chord with it’s root note (eg. the first note picked in bar 1 is is ‘G’). This is a good first step for moving beyond strumming a full chord all the time. It also adds variety, and by starting with root notes we put emphasis on the movement of chords – G to D to C.

Exercise no.3

Exercise no.3 continues the Country-style approach (which by the way, is a great approach in virtually all genres, not just country!) but makes one further change. This time, rather than strumming the full G and C chords after their root notes, we strum just part of the chord instead.

This more selective approach creates the sound of two distinct parts – a bassline (root notes) and chords (but only in the higher pitches). By creating a clear separation in these parts you start to sound more like a ‘one-man-band’. This is an effective way to create a more nuanced and varied rhythm accompaniment. Let the bass notes keep ringing if you want to keep the progression flowing and sounding smooth.

Exercise no.4

Now we’re building on the previous example by adding something that might seem strange at first…

A kind of unwritten rule with rhythm guitar is that you can strum open strings just before a chord change (usually with an up-strum). This is very helpful for ‘buying you some time’ when making quick chord changes and it also sounds natural once you’re used to it.

You can use this trick as a stylistic effect or to help you play fast strumming patterns between chords.

Exercise no.5

Here, we’ve added a 2nd note after each root to develop our bassline further. This increase the ‘one-man-band’ feel by further separating bass from chords. You can experiment with which notes you choose and notice how that adds emphasis to the harmony in different ways.

For example, in the final bar we play the root and then the Maj 3rd of the C chord. Because the 3rd is the defining interval in a basic chord (the one that makes it either Major or minor), emphasising it like this creates a strongly Major sounding bassline.

These 5 exercises should hopefully help you to see chord progressions and rhythm guitar playing in a less rigid and more creative way.

Look out for part 2. of Creative Rhythm Guitar coming soon! 

For more ideas on developing creative guitar parts, check out my improvisation and composing E-courses here: TomHuntMusicTuition | Teachers Pay Teachers

(c) 2025 www.tomhunt.co.uk – Friendly and experienced music tutor based near Ipswich, Suffolk UK

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Learn to improvise on guitar easily and quickly with my new ‘Jam Along With Tom’ improvisation course!

I’ve put a lot of time and love into developing this and so it’s great to finally ‘put it out there’. Please see below for more information and if you’d like to buy a copy please visit: https://tinyurl.com/zfrzwjx5

Improvising can be one of the most creatively and emotionally satisfying parts of music, yet many students find it daunting and are unsure how to start. The freedom it brings can feel more like uncertainty – ‘what do I do?!’.

This course provides a very step-by-step approach covering 8 key methods that provide an accessible way for beginners to start creating guitar solos. It is also a framework for guitarists of all levels to develop improvisation effectively for years to come.

‘Bouncing ideas’ off of other musicians is a great way to learn to improvise and so each method comes with a ‘virtual jam’ with me! Each of these 8 videos  has a format of taking turns with licks – I’ll improvise a phrase using the relevant method and then leave a space for you to do the same. You can play something similar to my ideas or try something different. If you prefer to improvise on your own there is also a separate audio file of the backing track included.

By the end of this course I hope you will feel confident to experiment on your own and will also gain a very rewarding, creative and expressive part of learning music.

This course contains the following:

– 16 page PDF E-Book containing all 8 methods and a scales sheet. Each guitar solo/lick example comes with TABs and notation.

– 9 videos (8 ‘jam along’ videos based on the methods and an intro video). Each suitable as a music video for class or for personal use.

– 8 audio files including method examples and the backing track

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This one is called ‘Where The Storm Ends’ and is about the importance of staying present and remembering good advice in tough times. I hope you enjoy listening and look out for more songs soon (I have 2 others nearing completion), Tom

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The other bands/artists on the show were brilliant and so I definitely recommend tuning in regularly to hear whats going on musically across Hertfordshire!

Look out for an acoustic session on Mix 92.6fm from me at some point in the future too!

Here is a link to the show:

https://player.autopod.xyz/359502

And you can listen to my full EP here: https://tomhunt.bandcamp.com/album/into-the-unknown-ep

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Although many Deaf people have some degree of hearing and can enjoy music through sound, I was keen from the start to make lessons highly visual. This would hopefully give students the fullest experience possible.

As a hearing person and BSL student, I have sometimes had to discover the best teaching approaches through trial and error.

Fortunately my students are very enthusiastic and vocal about what excites them most! Their feedback has been invaluable in giving me a clear idea of which approaches work best.

Finally, I’m sure that the list below is also very relevant to hearing students! I have definitely enjoyed using these resources in my spare time as well.

1. Sound/Music Visualisers

From the start I was keen to find software that would translate sound into exciting and meaningful visuals. I imagined fiery red patterns accompanying Rock power chords and beautiful serene colours moving with the sound of pretty fingerstyle guitar.

It was a little trickier finding something as perfect in reality, but one App I do recommend is Whitecap Platinum. This software uses your computer’s microphone to translate sound into very expressive and varied visuals. Shapes move with both the volume and pitch of the guitar and there are plenty of shapes to choose from. I would still like to see a clearer representation of pitch in a music visualiser, but Whitecap definitely seems like one of the best for the moment.

2. Rocksmith

Rocksmith was a revelation for my students! For those who have played the video game ‘Guitar Hero’, this software is very similar but is controlled with a real guitar. Students choose a song and then musical notes slide towards the screen and must be picked on the guitar at the right time.

Each string is shown with a distinct colour and the words for each song scroll past at the top of the screen. This means students can both ‘see’ their playing and sing along at the same time! This software has been a huge hit with my students and can be purchased for either PC or PS4 (make sure to buy the accompanying Real Tone Cable – required for playing the game).

3. Sign Song

This will already be familiar to many Deaf and hearing people and there are some fantastic examples of Sign Song already on Youtube. I found it most useful for the student to play guitar chords in time with my signing. This is an enjoyable way to play together at the same time and a good method for training a strong sense of rhythm.

4. Coloured strings with matching coloured TAB

This one is perhaps more useful for me as a teacher! I caused some confusion to begin with in lessons because I pointed at which guitar string should be played. Sometimes students misunderstood and thought I was referring to a fret rather than a string, or that I was asking them to perform a new technique. Whilst this may have something to do with my limitations in sign language (I’m still learning!), multi-coloured strings have been very useful for making things clearer; particularly with younger students.

It is quick and easy to refer to the ‘red string’ or the ‘yellow string’ and they look great too! The strings I use have the same colours as those used in the Rocksmith software and can be purchased here. I have also designed my own TAB paper with the same colours used (click below for an example)

5.Learn music that feels good (literally!)

An electric guitar may have a big sound, but a lot of the physical work happens on a small scale. Flashy guitar solos sound huge but are often played with tiny strokes of a plectrum. However, even subtle guitar techniques can have a very strong and satisfying feel to them.

For example ‘strumming’, in which the right hand rapidly brushes a plectrum across the strings, or ‘vibrato’, in which a string is bended up and down repeatedly, are both very expressive sensations. For beginning students strumming simple chord progressions is a nice way to use big and exciting movements – particularly if they are interested in Rock music. Strumming through a powerful Rock guitar riff is one of the great pleasures of electric guitar. See below for a few of my lesson handouts that are especially tactile!

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PLEASE TURN ON SUBTITLES IF REQUIRED. This is a BSL video that I have created to let Deaf students know that they are welcome in my music lessons. My main teaching areas are guitar, bass and music production and I am currently a level 4 BSL student.

I have been teaching, composing and performing music for over ten years. However, as I am new to teaching Deaf students I am offering the 1st lesson free so students can check that they are happy first (afterwards the fee is £30 per hour or £15 per half hour).

For more details please explore my website and you can contact me via: lessons@tomhunt.co.uk or tom@tomhunt.co.uk.

The post BSL Music Tuition (Deaf Students Welcome!) appeared first on Tom Hunt.

Although I’ve already shared one of his songs, the other 3 are far too good to stay hidden away. So here are all of his songs so far – enjoy and please share around!

‘Architect of Decay’

‘Dusk til Dawn’

‘Blinded by Reality’

‘Poisoned by Words’

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