A Classic Blues Rhythm Pattern

Blues and rock are two styles that are heavily intertwined, and the rhythm pattern in Example 3 instills more of a bluesy sound into your rhythm simply because it’s a common rhythm pattern in blues tunes. Try it with a swingy triplet feel to sound like the Beatles on “Revolution.” Or, try it with straight eighth notes to get a blues-rock feel like Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode” or the Beatles’ “Come Together.” You could play this with all downstrokes on slower songs, but you’ll likely find alternating between down- and upstrokes much easier for uptempo songs. Stretch out your little finger to grab the five-fret span in the third measure and—if you find this stretch too difficult—you can play the regular G5 power chord throughout the measure.