How to Be a Good Rhythm Guitarist 

I really wish someone told me early on I didn't have to play all six strings all the time.

So sad that folks are thinking they aren’t skilled enough to jam with others. One of the best memories I have is how I met my best friend from high school. He lived a block away and he overheard me (the new kid) sharing that guitar was my hobby. I sucked; He sucked. Neither of us could play a single song and we had no amps but we figured out how to get sound out of stereo speakers while we were plugged in. Our early recordings from 1983 are so funny. Out of tune; not playing in any one key etc. But we grew together and learned so much. We are still friends in our 50s and we both still play guitar

He's like the Bob Ross of music

Eric Haugen is a master class in dynamics. He can make the simplest playing sound so beautiful. Great touch and a great right hand.

Cant get over your tele, it looks cybernetically enhanced

I was that way about playing with others - I hung back thinking I wasn't yet "qualified" to do anything ... and never developed. Came back home after college and my buddy, whom I taught a song to before I left ("Psycho Killer"!), had STARTED A BAND and WAS WRITING HIS OWN MUSIC. He remembered me as the teacher so invited me to play with them, so I showed up with my barre chords and cowboy chords and ten little songs I'd worked out, and it was SO GOOD. They didn't know those songs, they taught me theirs, I was inspired to start writing - I grew more in the first four months playing with them than I had grown in the previous four years! And you kept me alive with your SWEET FLOWING LIES!

The actual best teacher in guitar. These videos feel like an real 1 on 1 lesson

I would add one thing as a major plus ... as a rhythm guitarist for over 40 years, you are an extension and compliment to the drummer. I also play drums and feel the two are the tightest bound instruments that form the base and timing of a song. Liken yourself to being a metronome and sync to the drummer for immediate improvement when jamming with other musicians. Just my humble observance of 46 years. Most important thing to do is HAVE FUN! Cheers!

I have a BS in Chemical Engineering but I’ve loved music my entire life. I’ve played guitar since my Dad bought me a 3/4 sized guitar at age 12. One of my sweetest college (1970s) memories was playing in group of other nerds. We had guitars, mandolin and banjo. We played lots of Loggins and Messina and Seals and Croft. Playing, eating pizza, drinking beer and flirting with our girlfriends was the best.

1:36 Clean Chords 4:16 Deep Feel 8:30 Picking Accuracy 12:00 Have Good Tone 15:17 Be a Good Hang

I think we all appreciate the anti-clickbait of telling us at the start exactly what the video will be about

Don’t let Mr. Haugen’s calm demeanor fool you. He is one of the best guitar teachers and players on RU-vid. “Be A Good Hang”. As a (retired) recording engineer for 20+ years, I’ve taught this idea to my four kids as they prepared to go out into the world. Working on sessions 10,12,15 hours a day, nobody wanted to be around someone who is a jerk or is constantly stressed out. ESPECIALLY in a creative endeavor. Finally, Eric’s sense of pocket and clean playing is top notch. Another thing that goes overlooked…Eric has a large repertoire of songs in his head. That is a huge resource for playing and teaching. I’m a huge fan!!!

Thank you! The art of rhythm playing is so undervalued. Sometimes I find when I’m jamming that I give the lead player a nice bed to lay on. But when it’s my turn to lead, I don’t always get the same love back. A lot of players just don’t know how to support. It’s a shame because some of my favorite memories of playing aren’t when just I ripped off a killer solo. It’s when I felt oneness locking in with everybody else. Rhythm playing ain’t complicated, but it can be magical.

I’m glad you think Slash chords are important for everyone to learn. The ones he plays in Paradise City are amazing!

One of the best videos I've seen in a while. More than just a guitar lesson. It's a lesson in life.

The man always has killer tone and the right feel.

I needed this video 20 years ago.

So many guitarists need to hear this

You went from giving very good guitar advice to giving very good life advice. You make even the simple stuff sound good too! Lots to learn from you

I tell young musicians to never miss an opportunity to play with people better than you! Anybody worth learning from won’t mind that you’re inexperienced, and will be happy to help you grow! Love this video and your approach. Thanks, brother! Keep it up! ❤💪🏼

That’s a beautiful and positive lesson Eric! One thing along these lines I’ve always preached to people just starting to play with others is also how your playing will skyrocket. Playing for an hour with other humans is worth like six hours on your own. And steeping out and playing live somewhere for an hour is worth six of those hours practicing etc etc. it really does elevate the player

I played rhythm with guys and handled lead and backing vocals until a guy showed up with amazing talent and played rhythm with some feel. What a difference. He told me I had good timing and style also but thought I could use it better if I played base. So I did .We filled out the sound. Your lesson is great and easily understandable. Thank you.

That amp crunches so nice. Gas reignited

"if you dont know what to do in a jam situation, you can just shut up, is ok, you don't have to play" I wish this is more often in the guitar youtube channels instead, go to the jamm session and show to everybody all you can do. Thank you for this video.

Pixies are good to learn for both rhythm and lovely sounding solos hey in particular

"Be a good hang" This is a great rule for life. I first heard it from the RU-vid bass player Adam Neely.

I have been playing rhythm since late '91. Could never get along with scales and it bored me to tears, so I consoled myself that lead isn't my thing and just be happy being Lennon-like on Rhythm. He was why I picked up the guitar in the first place. Rhythm got me going on guitar a lot faster. I started writing progressions and rhythm studies just to get better at it and to challenge myself. I'm self-taught, so I'm sitting here watching this video as a check to know that everything I ever learned, I'm doing it right and didn't fuck up😄 Playing rhythm requires a nuanced touch for the right hand. My band leader at practice last month told me I don't play aggressively enough and really beat on my guitar like punk rockers do. For example, use my entire arm to strum up and down. I had to tell him that typically beginners beat the shit out of their guitars. A better player has nuanced feel and play at the wrist for strumming. I'm not beating on my guitar for that. I can achieve the same punk feel without needless fatigue and sloppiness.

Sir, I do believe you might be the Bob Ross of guitar learning. Cheers.

somebody commented that Eric is the Bob Ross of guitar instructors. I get that, but really, he's the Mr. Rogers of guitar instructors. And I mean that in a very complimentary way. He's so easy to listen to and learn from. Thanks for not trying to be somebody other than who you are, bro. Diggin' all your vids, big time.

I needed that “if you know your bar chords and open chords you can play with others “

At 74, I'm still playing the simple stuff with other oldsters, and it's still fun. That Carr amp sounds glorious. If I was still buying stuff I'd get one (but I'm not....)

Preach! 🙌 Love your videos dude

Wow Eric. Your opening line about what it takes to play out with people is the best thing I have heard on RU-vid for quite a while. 🙏🏻

And just when you think you’re done with YT and the usual suspects, along comes a channel like this and inspires you within the first 5 minutes. What a wonderful teacher, full of insight and real world wisdom. 👌😎🎸🙏

I almost cry every time I see you play that tele. It was the first fender that I ever bought myself (early 2000's japanese 50's reissue with the bigsby) and it was smoooooooth. Had bills in my mid 20's and had to say goodbye. biggest regret of my life!

Being a rhythm player kept me working constantly !!!!

34k views and it’s been published less then 24 hours?! As a fan who has gained so much knowledge from Eric’s lessons over the years, I’m so stoked to see this channel get this kind of deserved recognition. May you be continuously rewarded for the generous knowledge you’ve bestowed upon the universe. 🤘🙏❤🎉

Eric has nice clean, practical playing. I love it. Everyone usually has super deep theory or crazy solos or focuses on one skill but this is the stuff I wish I had like 20 years ago.

I can't believe there exists an Eric Haugen Guitar, but not an Eric Bugenhagen Guitar.

Ive been playing for 45 years. Early on the one thing I should of focused on was playing in time, great lesson!

If someone would have said to me 10 years ago what you said in the first minute of this video, I would have so much more stage time under my belt now. Thank you.

Eric, brother, you are, without a shadow of a doubt, on the Rushmore of RU-vid guitar instructors. Absolutely top notch knowledge, playing, teaching and production. Many thanks and much love. Peace brother

I know exactly what your talking about, I played in a successful cover band as a rhythm guitarists for many years,we strived to play every note, chord and nuance of the songs we covered, they had to be perfect when I stopped gigging I realized I hardly knew anything, just had those cowboys chord's and bar chords down, and played a few simple riffs when needed, took some encouragement to get me to play in a band, because I thought I wasn't good enough, I would practice by playing along to the songs on the radio, figuring out the chords, learning the parts, and just played at home, I'm far from being a good player, but you only can know what you know, playing guitar is a constant learning experience, never under estimate your ability to play in a band,if your following along with the songs on the radio, your in that band at that moment, make your playing count,if you can follow along with every song ,then you can play rhythm guitar.

If I try to play relaxed the pick just wanders or rotates out of my grip. This is the most frustrating thing for me as a beginner.

You're an inspiring teacher and a good dude. Thank you for what you do.

I gotta say, this is one of the best guitar-oriented videos I’ve ever seen in my 49 years of life. Lots of lessons and real life situations. Thank you Eric and please, excuse my broken English.

Retirement 🎉 in surfing the guitar tutorial vids !!! Enjoyed the relaxed presentation of this vid !!! I started my guitar playing career 50 plus years ago with a single pickup Fender Music Master , Sunn Alpha Amp, and a Mel Ray chord book.. Made a very nice living playing rhythm guitar 🎸 !!!! These days , I smile with technology !!!!! 😊 Thanks for your efforts in helping others 🙂

"this is music youre allowed to.." awesome. Love the video. Thanks

Eric - great reminder to anyone that needs to hear it that if you can play your chords, you're good enough to jam with other people and partake in the gift of playing music. Thanks!

"Music is a collaborative event... It's about what's happening in the room." Yeah Eric. Words of truth as always :)

Playing for 40 years now this is the best guitar video I have ever seen.!

Personally I think this guy is one of the best tutors on RU-vid. Because he actually understands that ultimately it's about playing MUSIC. And being musical. I have a theory that people who basically don't have the talent, end up compensating with just learning to play "shredding", or incredibly fast with tons of compression see you can't hear any of dynamics, that they don't have. Sport not music.. Eric is a great PLAYER also, and this is easy to hear as soon as you hear the first few notes

Many years ago on Austin City Limits, Michelle Shocked said "music is too important to be left to the professionals".

Great lesson. That Emaj9 sent me on a rabbit hole of chord construction because I couldn't understand why the 7th was there. Understand now the difference between Emaj9 and Eadd9 👍

Thank you Eric, just now stumbled across your channel and felt as if I had entered a time machine back into my beginning days. I am now 70 years old ((( 😎unsupervised adult😎))) , And quietly/push the limits,, enjoying all my guitar toys, twin reverb-deluxe reverb-Vox-Fishman,, a stereo pedal board specifically built for tone Of yesteryear. I currently have everything hooked up stereo, and it's definitely a bone-marrow stimulative experience when I dig-in.... I treat every string as an individual voice, and love to massage each note allowing it to linger, anyway, stay blessed and be safe, I obviously subscribed and look forward To researching out your past postings for gold nuggets.

So important. Be a good hang!

Wow, man, you look like Richard Dreyfus (aka Matt Hooper) in JAWS. Outfit and all. When he's not slaying massive Great Whites, he's slaying the six string! I love your channel, your approach, your playing, your tone... etc. I've been playing for quite a while, and I hit ruts where things just feel boring for a while, and then I'll snap out of it eventually. You seem to find the fun in everything and anything and share it with your viewers. I had to grab my guitar, unplugged, rewind the vid a few times, and play that Cinnamon Girl lick because I'd been playing it differently for the past two decades, lol. The wood on that Daniel Fields fretboard looks gorgeous. Those gold foils sound great in D. 👍

Number 6 for rhythm guitar. Have about 8 guitars and 9 amps to get different sounds :) love your lessons Eric

Well Eric, JK here from the Basque Country. Just a quick word to thank you for your endless generosity and your very valuable work. I have bought a few of your courses and follow your youtube page. I can say I have learnt to understand guitar with you. Even for those not have English as our native lenguaje, It´s easy to follow you. Your verbal cadence , relaxed and encouraging, is gold for people like me. Just wanted to say that. If you eve come over this side of the world you have beer and nice food waiting for you if you feel like it. Cheers! JK

Fantastic lesson Eric. And such positive and encouraging words so well said. The story about what you played vs what you don’t cracked me up. Enjoy your videos and Patreon lessons immensely. Thank you.

I cut my rhythm guitar teeth through a Neil Young songbook decades ago and still use Ohio when I teach string zone playing. Great to see you use it here.

I keep coming back to this one. Me and a couple of guys started a music club so we have players of all levels. This video is so perfect because it touches on the humanity of playing with others which for me and a lot of the other people is a new experience. After a year and a half we played several gigs in our retirement community in front of some pretty large crowds…like 200 or so. I’ve learned a lot of stuff in a short amount of time. Learning to not play or not sing sometimes is so important to the sound. It’s about the song, not you. Learning that sometimes a well timed strum or stab is way better than flailing away. Staying in time is the number one rule for everyone…Musical collaboration is the coolest thing on the planet. Musical collaboration can be work. And yes everyone is good enough if they learn the basics. Practice. Be prepared. Smile a lot. Play with feeling. Sing with feeling. If you make a mistake move on nobody really cares. Be kind to yourself and others. Eric, love your work. It’s good and important to us all. ❤

Your channel is always a good hang. Thanks Eric

Eric, just wanted to send some encouragement your way. Thanks for being so encouraging and authentic with us. Your style is second to none. Cheers!

Your guitar playing is awesome and inspiring and you are a GREAT teacher. I am happy I found your channel.

As a Guitar Instructor I can say your video is SPOT ON! I am sure your lessons are GREAT! ✌️😎🎸🇨🇦

The years have ravaged us!! But in high school we had a walk home; done right in my world this came with a detour to what would become the garage for our future garage band. In the time after we got home and BEFORE! His dad came home, we would play vinyl and lift the needle and play again that one part of a Beetles song that we were trying to figure out. Then out to the garage to plug in and listen to ourselves trying to replicate the magic we heard. Trying to replicate every aspect of our inspirations. These sessions could end with volume inflation on amplifiers to the point of being reported to parents arriving home. Not all days had happy endings; which is why you have to love what you do, love it so much you do it for no money and even when the moment is a bad memory about to be made.

Brilliant video Eric - Possibly the best and most informative, balanced lesson I have ever seen - You captured it all in one lesson - Thank you

Another amazing video Eric! Speaking about rhythm guitar in these times of so much show off in social media is so much needed. By the way, what a tone those gold foil pickups deliver! Loved your sound on that guitar!

I just looked thru your catalog of videos and you have so many that I need to see since they fit my musical tastes. Thank you.

Love your lessons! So laid back. So inspiring! Thank you so much for this. Never stop!!!!!!!

The right (strumming) hand is soooo underrated. Thanks for the morning’s dose of zen calm and great tips.

Always enjoy seeing and hearing the tele, but that "Dogwood" is *gorgeous*. Fantastic lesson, thanks so much.

That Tele is beautiful! Dream guitar for sure.

Eric, you are a true gem! Always a pleasure watching your videos.

"playing slow makes it more deliberate and intense" - totally! I learned that great lesson from Low :)

What a master class this is. I had the good fortune of forming a band with a group of novices at similar ability level when I was young. Playing music with friends really is the most fun and the best way to learn. Wish I’d had a teacher like Eric to guide me though!

I like the vibe n how you explained every thing smoothly

Absolutely great video, Eric!! Thanks for sharing!

You’ve been really saving my life man, thank you so much ❤ greetings from Brazil! 🇧🇷

This lesson made me realize that rhythm parts should be played with as much intention as solo lines. I often get lazy on my rhythm parts and think "close enough" if I don't strum/mute the right strings or on the right beats. Thanks for the great video!

Needed this today. Thank you

I'm so glad you talked about this! I've never seen someone talk about rhythm guitar more! I'm glad I found your channel.

I love what you said at the beginning of this video because that’s pretty much where I am as a guitarist and I was starting to think the same thing but this confirms it that I’m good enough and I need to be playing with other musicians.

Such a great vibe here. Love it. And so cool to see you play that Gimme Shelter riff so effortlessly in two tunings!

You explain things in a way that makes me have fun learning! Cheers brother

love that you through "being a good hang in there"!

Great video. Appreciate the work that goes into making these. This one reminds me of a Keith Richards interview I saw during which he said something to the effect of: "Everybody learning guitar forgets about the right hand, they focus on the left." He talked about a guitar part being a story that requies both hands to tell, left and right. I've heard other playing say that focusing on right hand technique will have a more immediate impact on improving your playing than learning how to do gymnastics with the left. Interesting ideas to think about.

Man you nailed it !!! Rhythm guitar is so under rated . I love playing rhythm , laying down the groove, Keith Richards style. I've just subscribed to your channel. Keep up the great work.

Sooooo nice you showed CSN&Y...love it. Thanks for that.

Worth my time. Man there were so many ideas so well conceptualized

Hey Eric, I've been playing guitar for 40+ years and should be a damn sight better than I am, so I started looking for tutorials to get me out of my rut. I ran across your channel and inside of about 2 hours, I picked up more tips than I have in years. I really appreciate your style of playing and teaching, and in fact I signed up for a year of TrueFire (happy customer, not shilling!) just so I could get more of your content. Keep on doing what you're doing, because it's good shit!

Such a great lesson! You are the master! Only thing I would add is that to be a good rhythm guitarist, you need one more thing: to listen. So many players forget to listen to the rest of the band and that's SO important.

I really love this video, Thanks so much Eric, its difficult to find great videos about rhythm guitarist, its pure gold, please make more videos like this!!!!

I LOVE your tone.

Great chops...😉👍 😎✌👍❤🖖

I have been learning a lot of swing and Bacharach lately and really have had to learn some new chords. Lots of major 7s and diminished chords. I didn’t even know what a diminished chord was until recently. The time consuming thing is figuring out when give up trying to play an open chord and just going to a bar chord. I love Eb, for example, suits my voice, but that is one hard key on open chords.

Great lesson. Great tone!

Eric! You do this brilliantly! Keep on rocking!

Dude !! Thanks insane how warm and welcoming your video is ! I could here you play all the day ! And damn, your guitar sounds 😍😍