Reading, Rhythm and Rockin' for Guitarists

  Playing music by sight reading on guitar is just about the most
  challenging task for any player. I would suggest that the large
  majority of guitarists could not do it, especially in the case of
  notation of wide chords written on a single musical stave.
  
  This having been said, reading music is important for all guitarists
  and it becomes much more easy when you know how to read and play the
  rhythmic aspect of music. Probably the first thing to attempt and master
  are the many eighth note and sixteenth note rhythms that are used in
  rock. One of the most tricky things is the way that strumming or picking
  directions change with tempos, and also how the same rhythm may appear 
  different in written notation.

  Rhythms and Counting for Strumming and Picking
  Look at any book of sheet music for rock or popular, and you'll find a 
  predominance of 4/4 bars of mixed eighth and sixteenth groups. You need
  to be able to count these rhythms, and a good way to learn is to pencil
  in the pick directions over a bar as I'll show you.

  counting a bar full of eighths;
  "one and two and three and four and"   - out loud
    1   +   2   +    3    +   4    +     - written

  counting a bar full of sixteenths;
  "one e and a two e and a three e and a four e and a"   - out loud
    1  e +   a 2   e +   a 3     e +   a 4    e +   a     - written


  picking and stumming; "up"   written u
                        "down" written n
  
 Common Rhythm Patterns found in Rock and Pop Songs
 Here are some of the elements of rhythm that appear time and again, while
 they may be in the vocal, drums, the piano left hand or piano right hand,
 if we can strum of pick these sounds correctly at any tempo reading music
 becomes that much easier. Practice strumming any chord or just mute your
 strings with the left hand. Count out loud and strum the rhythm at the
 same time (don't count what's in brackets). You should tap your foot the
 four times for the 4/4 bar. Start slowly.


      "TIME"                           n  n  n  n  - slow to medium
      n    n    n    n                 n  u  n  u  - faster      
     ____________________             ________________________
    |                    |           |                        |
4/4 | 1    2    3    4   |           | 1  +  2  + (3)   (4)   |
    |____________________|           |________________________|
                                                                 

                                                                 
                                       "MAMBO"
       "TWO AND FOUR"                  n        n
           n         n                 n        u
     ____________________             ________________________
    |                    |           |                        |
    | (1)  2   (3)   4   |           | 1    (2) + (3)   (4)   |
    |____________________|           |________________________|
                                                                 

                                                                 
                                       "BACKBEAT" (REGGAE OR COUNTRY)
                                          n     n     n     n 
      n              n                    u     u     u     u 
     ____________________             ________________________
    |                    |           |                        |
    | 1   (2)  (3)   4   |           |(1) + (2) + (3) + (4) + |
    |____________________|           |________________________|



     A two bar example ("BOSSA NOVA") quick tempo
     _____________________________________________
    | n       u       n  |        n       u       |
    | 1   (2) +  (3)  4  |  (1)   2   (3) + (4)   |
    |____________________|________________________|


                    PART 2 - sixteenth note examples

  One sixteenth note bar (at half the tempo) is
  equal to two eighth note bars. 
  ___________________________________________
 | n       u      n           n       u      | ("BOSSA NOVA")
 | 1   (2) + (3)  4     (1)   2   (3) + (4)  | notice picking is the
 |                                           | same as previous example
 | 1       a (2)  +     (3)   +   (4) e      |  
 |___________________________________________|



  _____________________________          _________________________
 | n u        n u              |        | n   u     n             |
 | 1 e   (2)  + a (3)  (4)     |        | 1   a (2) + (3)   (4)   |
 |_____________________________|        |_________________________|
                                                                 
                                                                  
                                                                   
  _____________________________          _________________________
 |       n u n u       n u n u |        | n u               u n u |
 | (1)   2 e + a (3)   4 e + a |        | 1 e  (2)  (3)  (4)e + a |
 |_____________________________|        |_________________________|
                                                                   
                                                                    

  ____________________________          ____________________________
 | n u  u n  n u   u n  n  n  |        |     n     n u    u n     n |
 | 1 e  a 2  + a(3)e +  4  +  |        | (1) + (2) + a (3)e + (4) + |
 |____________________________|        |____________________________|