I’m still very much new to 16th note strumming and the thing I’m struggling with is how to map what I’m hearing onto a 1/16th note strumming pattern… when I hear a note in the pattern working out which of the 16 slots it fits in (if that makes any sense).
Does anyone know of any apps / tools / websites that can help with this? I’m imagining a grid of 16 slots that I can put notes or gaps in and then listen to see if it matches against a song I’m trying to create.
I know that eventually a seasoned guitarist will be able to scribble down a pattern, play it, adjust it and try again if need be but I’m not there yet which is why I’m asking about tools.
I will say that I’ve found the iPhone voice notes app helpful in this even if it doesn’t do exactly what I’m asking for above.
I can play and record my strumming pattern and adjust the speed (to see if it sounds right brought up to speed) and likewise I can do the reverse with what I’m trying to match, record it and slow down to see if it sounds like my strumming. I think I’m somewhere close with the particular song I have in mind now
The best way that I found for learning any 16ths strumming pattern was the old fashioned way (which could translate to a computer version) of writing it down with pen and paper.
1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a written out in full with marks underneath those moments when a strum (marked either with down or up arrow as appropriate) or a scratch (marked with a X and an arrow) was made and a gap where it was a missed strum.
Yeah this was my starting point but I don’t have either the experience or maybe imagination to picture what that’s going to sound like. Even if you’re only half a beat off then it sounds so wrong and as I say I’m at an early stage with 1/16th strumming so it can take me an afternoon to work out if I’ve got the pattern wrong or if I’m just playing it badly/slowly!
Can you clarify please.
Are you trying to transcribe a piece of music that you are listening to?
Or are you trying to write out a rhythm that you are hearing in your musical imagination?
I’m trying to transcribe something I’ve heard. In this case, it’s actually from a YouTube lesson where the person has even given the strumming pattern but it doesn’t quite add up to 16 so I’m trying to figure out where the extra gaps are. Now that I’ve messed around I think the gaps were at the end which was why it wasn’t obvious. I had the gap in the wrong place so I was connecting beat 8 to beat 1 which was why it was sounding wrong
In this case I think I’ve worked it out now, so it’s more of a general question about how people go about this process in the most efficient way (but definitely more related to transcribing than writing music)
You’re in good hands here with @Richard_close2u , but I thought I’d just add something that has helped me along the way. May help.
Instead of thinking all 16th notes, think 4 quarters notes of 4 parts each. Sounds the same, but it really isn’t.
So you have 4 'anchor’points. Lock into the groove of these anchor points first. Then you can work out how each of the 4 quarters are divided up internally.
Much clearer, and you’ll find, much quicker to work out as you keep doing it.
