I’ve been listening to a lot of prog rock recently and since I’m a guitarist, I also want to learn the songs I listen to. Now, I have a good ear for melody, but where I always fall short is getting the correct rhythm down. I cannot for the life of me figure out how to count time signatures, and believe me, I’m trying.
In: 4
Focus on finding 1 first. Listen to songs with odd time signatures, and focus *just* on clapping on the downbeat: 1… 1… 1…
Then as you build up that skill, start counting the other beats, still just focusing on quarter notes: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
Once you can feel where the beats are, it’s no different than however you subdivide beats in your head in 4; “1-e-and-a-2-e-and-a-3-e-and-a-4-e-and-a” except now you add a “5-e-and-a-“ (or 7, or 13, or what have you.)
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