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Rhythm & timing · Advanced · 6 min

Syncopated Sixteenths

Keep your hand moving in sixteenths and let only the written hits sound.

How to play it
  1. Move your strumming hand down and up on every sixteenth, all the time, even when you are not hitting.
  2. Let the strings sound only on the cued hits. Mute everything else with your fretting hand resting lightly.
  3. The syncopated hits on the 'a' of the beat are the hard ones. Count 1-e-and-a out loud at first.

What the coach checks: Timing of each attack. It cannot tell a muted scratch from a chord.

Goal92 BPM · 80% accuracy
Your bestNo result yet
Rating–

Rhythm player

Hear the rhythm

1234

Tap any hit to hear it. Four clicks count you in.

100% is the goal tempo, 92 BPM. The speed presets climb from Learn to Goal about 10% at a time, and the practice slider below uses the same scale. Build a full ladder to your goal

Your practice room

Keep a steady pulse

Audio-attack timing feedback. This check does not identify chords or distinguish every background sound from a strum. Use a quiet room and visual beats.

This checkpoint needs 92 BPM or faster and the required accuracy. Slower Play attempts still produce practice scores.

Exercise map · 24 targets
  1. 1. 1 · ↓Bar 1 · beat 1
  2. 2. a · ↑Bar 1 · beat 1.75
  3. 3. & · ↓Bar 1 · beat 2.5
  4. 4. 3 · ↓Bar 1 · beat 3
  5. 5. a · ↑Bar 1 · beat 3.75
  6. 6. & · ↓Bar 1 · beat 4.5
  7. 7. 1 · ↓Bar 2 · beat 1
  8. 8. a · ↑Bar 2 · beat 1.75
  9. 9. & · ↓Bar 2 · beat 2.5
  10. 10. 3 · ↓Bar 2 · beat 3
  11. 11. a · ↑Bar 2 · beat 3.75
  12. 12. & · ↓Bar 2 · beat 4.5
  13. 13. 1 · ↓Bar 3 · beat 1
  14. 14. a · ↑Bar 3 · beat 1.75
  15. 15. & · ↓Bar 3 · beat 2.5
  16. 16. 3 · ↓Bar 3 · beat 3
  17. 17. a · ↑Bar 3 · beat 3.75
  18. 18. & · ↓Bar 3 · beat 4.5
  19. 19. 1 · ↓Bar 4 · beat 1
  20. 20. a · ↑Bar 4 · beat 1.75
  21. 21. & · ↓Bar 4 · beat 2.5
  22. 22. 3 · ↓Bar 4 · beat 3
  23. 23. a · ↑Bar 4 · beat 3.75
  24. 24. & · ↓Bar 4 · beat 4.5

Chord names and stroke directions are visual guidance. Rhythm scoring measures attack timing.

1 · ↓Target 1 of 24 · attack when the cue lights up

Keep counting through the spaces. Chord names and stroke directions are visual guides; only attack timing is measured.

Bar 1 of 5 · beat 1 of 4

1234

Tune first. Audio stays on this device.

Why this drill

Funk rhythm guitar rides on a constant sixteenth-note motion in which many strokes deliberately miss the strings. The groove lives in which strokes connect, and attack timing is exactly what the microphone checks.

Common mistakes

  1. The strumming hand stops between hits

    Fix: Keep the down-up motion going through all sixteen sixteenths of each bar, passing just over the strings on the silent ones. The two up-stroke hits only line up if the hand never stops.

  2. The 'a' hits land early

    Fix: The 'a' is the last sixteenth before the next beat. Count 1-e-and-a out loud and place the up stroke one sixteenth before beat 2, and again one sixteenth before beat 4.

  3. Strings ring through the gaps

    Fix: Release fretting-hand pressure right after each hit so the strings go dead. Lift the fingers just off the frets without leaving the strings, so the hand stays ready for the next hit. The groove comes from short hits and clear silences.

Tempo plan

100% is the goal tempo, 92 BPM. Each rung sits about 10% above the one before it, so every step up is one you can hold. The speed presets in the player above use the same rungs.

  1. Learn 69 BPM · 75%Practice mode keeps the microphone off and plays a metronome, so count out loud and lock in the motion first.
  2. Build 76 BPM · 83%Move to Play · full check and keep the wrist loose; tension is what makes the up strokes rush.
  3. Push 84 BPM · 91%Switch to Play · full check here. Two clean passes in a row earn the next rung.
  4. Goal 92 BPM · 100%Four bars, 24 hits, with the motion still relaxed at the end. A pass at 80% accuracy or better clears the drill.
  5. Stretch 101 BPM · 110%Run a few passes here, then return to the goal. Time above the goal makes the goal feel settled.

Build a full ladder to your goal with holds and back-off sessions, starting from the tempo you can play today.

Make it music

This is a complete funk rhythm part. Play the hits on a small chord shape such as E9 or Em7 on the middle strings, keep everything else muted, and loop it under a bass line or drum loop. The 'and' hits are down strokes and carry naturally; keep the two 'a' up strokes a little lighter for a push-and-pull feel.

Variation

Add a muted scratch on beats 2 and 4, the backbeat, which this pattern leaves open. The chord hits stay where they are and the part gains a snare-like pulse.

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