Toby, where do you feel the beat?
Is it the sensation of your feet hitting the running surface, in time with the music?
Or is it some internal sensation? I had a guitar teacher who said he mostly felt the beat as a pulse in his stomach. But he also said he could move that sensation to any part of his body at will.
I tried to create this sensation within myself…and failed miserably. But now - many years later - it sometimes happens.
Or is it some other feeling?
Tom
Its the feet hitting the “track”, the arms pumping in unison on opposite sides and its also a more spiritual feeling that resonates in the whole body, not necessarily a physical feeling. A lot of time its an emotional connect and that is what can be reflected in playing. If all that makes sense.
Cheers
Toby
I totally agree, Toby. Apart from a theoretical or tecnical approach, we can try to develop our sensations of what is rhythm. E.g. blues, a big part of it is maybe technical stuff or mechanisms, but the soul of it is this certain inner movement and emotions it initiates.
Hi Toby and thank you for sharing this. What you do with running does appeal to me. When I decided to give guitar one more try back in September 2020, I did something similar…It will sound crazy but you have to consider that I felt kind of desperate about not being able to play on time and tapping foot seemed a good but partial approach (and in itself challenging to do it while playing!) I’m lucky enough to go to work by foot on a countryside path (not much people looking): headphones and…the metronome clicking (!!!), mindfully trying and knowing when left and right foot hit the earth, feeling it both with mind and body, having a bit of game with bpm and sloping passages. From that exercise, done everyday, I went to music with a clear drum beat and when it wasn’t challenging anymore I skipped to songs were the drum clues were not actually that clear. I did it everyday for about 15 minutes and on days I wished for silence I walked singing my favourite tunes in my head and putting the Rhythm in with my pace. Another exercise I did was to put a strumming or picking pattern with my (hidden) hand in connection with my foot pace. The purpose was exactly what you say
For me it’s not a specific part of the body, I need to give it focused mind attention to it when starting and then is like all the body is involved while the mind gradually subsides. But at the beginning it was definetely my feet hitting the walking surface.
Ha its not just me then and unhidden. I do the “strumming” thing on the treadmill, feeling the guitar patterns of songs that could be future projects but also when walking the dog, listening to music (left hand lead, right hand air strumming - works great for air guitar practice 
). Not just me that’s mad around here !!
I agree, but I think there’s something more than only the beat when you say
I felt a bit uncertained when writing this posts and asking this question…I thought it would sound silly and my ways would regarded at as silly and mad…now I’ m so happy to find out it’s not just me having crazy ways 
This is put down with very beatiful words and explains my feelings
@Helen0609 this is what I was trying to say 
…and it is exactely what I was trying to say, but Toby is spot on with his words, not so easy to find the right words in English 
.
Interesting question actually and difficult to put into words.
I’d probably describe the way I feel it as the relation (in timing & patterns) between notes when they’re played. I see/feel it like a wave.
Looking at easy drum patters for example (4/4 & 3/4):
count: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4
bass - snare - bass - snare
To put it in an image it would look as follows (bass is played when reaching the bottom and snare when reaching the top)
Once I feel the flow of the rhythm, it’ll look more like this
count: 1 - 2 - 3
bass - snare - snare
Would be the following, again bass bottom & snare top. The ‘v’ at the middle line is not being played, only the extremes at the top and bottom. (2 bars)
Don’t want to be spending too much time trying to make this into a wave
Hope this makes sense haha, also this is just how I experience it. Even if rhythms get more complex there will (almost) always be a general path the flow follows based on some key note timings or patterns.
Hey Silvia, good news, there’s nothing wrong with your rhythm. Rhythm is a part of being alive. Everybody and every living thing has rhythm. Every non living thing that moves has rhythm.
For there to be good rhythm there needs to be good balance and for there to be good balance there needs to be symmetry.
Grab your guitar and move your arm in a strumming motion but don’t strum the strings. Do it on your own or with a metronome or a recording and you’ll find that you have good rhythm.
The action of strumming the strings changes the symmetry of the arm movement which upsets the balance which affects the rhythm.
So I would say forget about trying to find out what rhythm is because you already know. Work on your strumming technique and as it improves, the rhythm within you will come out.
Good luck
David
This is another different definition, and one that I can understand. Also your drawings and waves make sense to me. Thank you
This is good news indeed! Thank you:blush:
So there’s dynamics in each single pattern…obvious…but my brain is a bit slow in the uptake 
Thank you, I’ m still keeping on reflecting on your comment
This proves to be true, thanks for pointing it out 