Chabenda wrote:
Sadly many of us get lumped with an amateur acoustic guitar player (or two) who has <snip...>
<unsnip> no concept of listening to any other member of the band.
That's a common folkie thing. They are used to percussionists following them, rather than the other way around.
They are playing, you are playing
with them. Even those with good basic timing often tend to drop beats coming into or going out of choruses or add an extra one to fit a particularly difficult vocal phrase.
I played at an unplugged jam evening on Thursday and for once found myself playing with a singer/guitarist who
could keep time well. Nice change and it lets
me mess with the timing and accents and try develop some actual grooves. Only problem was the percussionist, who was trying to follow me instead of following her own internal clock - but she started getting it by the end of the evening.
This is the crux of the matter as a rhythm guitarist (IMO), irrespective of the composition of the band - compliment the rhythm section, play in a different voicing, play a different rhythm, pluck, pick, strum.
I used to keep a high-strung guitar around for those times when I had to follow someone - lets you follow them and play the same thing they are, but still add a different dimension.
