Practice This Rhythm Exercise to Improve Your Groove | Bass Guitar Lesson

Looking to improve your groove on bass guitar? Here’s a helpful exercise to practice your rhythm and timing.

Dividing a Measure into Four Quarter Beats

Let’s look at a measure with 4 beats. These are quarter notes, so you count them 1, 2, 3, 4, then it’s back to the one on the next measure.

Exercises

1. As a basic starting point, work on playing a note on each beat.
2. Then, play only on the 1st and 3rd beats.
3. Lastly, play on only the 2nd and 4th beats.

Dividing a Measure into Eighth Beats

Now, let’s add another count in between each quarter note. These are eighth notes, and we count them by saying “and”. So, it’s 1 AND 2 AND 3 AND 4 AND.

Exercises

1. Play on each eighth note.
2. Now just play on the AND.
3. Now just play the 1 AND and 3 AND.
4. Now just play on the 2 AND and 4 AND.

Dividing a Measure into Sixteenth Beats

Now, let’s add a count between each of the eighth notes. These will be the sixteenth notes.

We count the first sixteenth note after the quarter beat by saying E. This is not the note E but the sound “EE”.

The third sixteenth note after the quarter beat is is noted as the letter A and is counted with an “uhh” sound. Again, this isn’t the note of A, but the sound “uhh”.

So, the quarter notes are counted as 1, 2, 3, 4.

Eighth notes are counted as 1, and, 2, and, 3, and 4, and.

And sixteenth notes are counted as 1, E, and, A, 2, E, and, A, 3, E, and, A, 4, E, and, A.

Exercises

1. Play the first 4 sixteenth notes of the measure: 1 E and A
2. Now take the 1 out and play: E and A
3. Now take the E out and just play: and A
4. Now take the E out and just play: A

Summary

Practicing these types of exercises will help you count the beat in your head and improve your sense of rhythm and timing and overall groove.

Follow along with YouTuber Bo Boswell as he plays through each of these practice exercises.