CAPITAL and SMALL letters in the Rytham patterns of the song

[Davor]

Dear All,

 

Could somebody help me to understand why in the Rutham of the songs are used Capital and Small letters.

Thank you / Davor

[TheAthenA714]

Hi, it's quite simple actually, it's just meant for french visitors. Let me explain :

 

A "b" is a downstroke, an "h" is an upstroke. If it is capitalized, you should play it, if it is a small letter, you don't play it, you just make the stroke without actually strumming the strings. That way we're not just telling you what to play, but also what NOT to play, in order to keep the correct rhythm.

 

You'll occasionally encounter others symbols : an "X" is a dead note or a percussion, and an "S" is a rest, meaning you should mute the strings. Both replaces either a "B" or an "H".

 

A few exemples :

BhBhBhBh => you just play 4 downstrokes

BhBHBhBH => you play down down-up down down-up

BhXhBhBh => downstroke, then a percussion, and two other downstrokes

BhShbHBH => downstroke, you mute the strings instead of doing a second downstroke, then it's up-down-up

[Davor]

Great, Great,Great.....THAK YOU VERY MUCH.

 

Ciao, anoyher small thing.

 

For the Hotel California Strumming Bh bh Bh BH bH bH Bh BH, the first is downstroke (Bh) and the second one (bh) is not to be played. Right?

[Cahaya]

Yes, exactly. You only play when it's in capital letters.

Just to let you know (and maybe you know a bit of french) B stands for "bas" which is the equivalent of "down" and H stands for "haut" which is the equivalent of "up"

 

By the way, good choice I love Hotel California

[Davor]

Thanks Patati.

I'am a biginner and for me defining of strumming of a song is bigiest difficulty. Somebody know strumming of Vasco Rossi's "Quanti hanni hai"?

[Cahaya]

Hi Davor,

how long have you been playing ?

The strumming pattern is indeed one of the most difficult things for a beginner.

For the Vasco song the chords are not that easy for a.very beginner and the strumming goes a bit fast so if you're a very beginner you can try only downstrokes just to practice your chords change at the right time.

But if the chords change is not a problem for you anymore then you can try this :

DudUDUDudUDUDUDU and over and over again.

Add accents when you feel or hear them in the original song : I personally would insist (strum harder) on the 1st and 3rd downstroke played (ignore the ones that are not played when you count)

I hope my explanations are clear enough

& Enjoy !!!!

[Davor]

Ciao!

I have been playing for about 15 months. I am doing it by my self for about 45min/day more or less. Enough to know something but considering my age and poour talent the progress is quite slow. But, important is that I liked it.

As for the song I am able to change the chords quite good but uncapable to catch the pattern. I saw some guys in you tube playing the song introducing the mute (stopato-in italian). I'll try with your suggestion.

 

Thank you very much for the answer and patinet. A warm saluto from Udine.

 

 

 

 

 

[josephlarson]

In rhythm notation, capital letters are often used to represent strong beats or accents, while lowercase letters are used for weaker beats. For example, in 4/4 time, the first beat is typically the strongest, so it might be notated with a capital letter "X" or "B", while the weaker beats would be notated with lowercase letters "o" or "x".

Here's an example of how rhythm notation using capital and lowercase letters might look for a basic rock beat:

In this notation, the capital "X" represents the strong beats on the first and third counts, while the lowercase "o" represents the weaker beats on the second and fourth counts.

It's worth noting that there are many different systems of rhythm notation, and some may use different symbols or conventions for representing strong and weak beats. It's important to be familiar with the specific notation system being used in the context of the song you're playing or writing.