3 Mistakes Rhythm Guitarists Make with Cory Wong

Modern funk master and host of Premier Guitar and Distrokid‘s hit Wong Notes podcast, Cory Wong took time from his busy schedule to talk through three common mistakes many rhythm guitarists make and the ways to counter them. Check it out!

#Sweetwater

[sweetwater]

How do you keep your rhythm playing funky fresh? 💥

[thelowmein]

Ok I can’t resist. Should have called this video “The Wong way to play rhythm guitar”

[Texasbluesalley]

That first piece of advice about thinning out the chord to avoid getting punished by the FOH person is pure gold.

[abassman]

I'm a bassist. I've been trying to convey this message for years, decades. Harmonic information. Uh, I'm just gonna refer this video to my peeps. It's well said, with intelligence. You have done a great service. And so much more good I go here.

[DiegoMoralesRoccuzzo]

His right hand deserves a Physics and Math Nobel Prize. Good god. He looks like an awesome guy, too. So humble. So gifted. So down to earth..

[andrewrice]

I saw Corey and his band at the Sultan Room a few months ago. I know this is a rhythm guitar lesson but really the ideas of “less is more” for note choices, consistent timing, and being musically aware of how you fit into an ensemble are the essential pillars for any successful musician who wants to play in a band.

[unstopology]

This is great. Awareness is probably the number one problem in amateur bands. Everyone just wants to be heard all the time instead of meshing and picking your spots.

[TheLateBoyScout]

Cory has become such an icon in the past few years. He's like a Nile Rodgers for the YouTube generation. Also, these are some outstanding tips!

Regardless of your instrument, everything Cory just talked about applies:
• The way individual instruments blend, and gel together in a band is CRITICAL! Get the mud out!
• Playing in time is how a band sounds tight and professional, and every instrumentalist needs to be expert at it.
• Lastly, players MUST listen as they play, and follow the band's dynamics as they happen. You're not robots.

I've played in some okay bands, and the best ones understood these points. The not so good ones—or the not so good players—couldn't do these things. I would add that the larger a band gets the harder it can be to keep this stuff under control, so the band leader has to be a VERY good leader, which Cory obviously is.

My best band experience was with a simple rock/funk 3 piece. Everyone had to pull their weight all the time, or else it fell apart. We got pretty tight because we had to be.

[GTX]

I play most of the solos in a two guitar cover band but when me and the other guitarist are both playing rhythm parts, I listen carefully to what he's playing on any given song and usually craft voicings that will blend with it. I don't just automatically dig my heels in and demand that he conform to what I'm doing but try to blend into what he's voicing in his rhythm parts. That's the sharing and give and take you have to have in a band with two guitarists.

[bradg]

Corey Wong at Sweetwater? Probably also filmed a demo for his new pedal with Jackson Audio. Can't wait for that video!

[RoyalSlash]

00:46 #1 Too many notes in voicing
03:13 #2 Right hand consistency and dynamics control
05:55 #3 Awareness

[ericjtomsky]

These are great tips! One rhythm tip I learned from listening to Keith Richards that I think may also be useful is keeping the rhythm dynamic-- you can write a rhythm part with a motif and slightly vary it as the song progresses to keep it engaging. I first noticed this with you cant alway's get what you want where Keith displaces the hammer on in the acoustic rhythm he's playing by a beat or 2 each time he plays it in the beginning

[WillsJazzLoft]

Cory is an excellent teacher. He definitely dispenses guitar wisdom. ' Sitting at his feet ' so to speak is time well spent

[peevee]

Great advice. I once was called in to session with a gospel choir where the dudes I played with had been playing together for years. And they used to start to shred their butts off for the heck of it.

I played less and less because the groove got so busy it was insane but I doubt they paid any attention to what I was doing on the guitar. Keep it phunky, Cory.

[reggiebdog]

Great tips. I've always tried to have awareness. I'm not the fastest or technically proficient, but I get lots of compliments on my ability to make a band sound better. Cory is awesome!

[jamesmarkham]

I played my first musical as a guitarist. All over the place i was playing 3 note chords on the highest 4 strings. Some weird voicings id never seen before. It was really eye opening.

[markregan]

I played for decades as a rhythm guitarist in bands where often I was the only guitar. When we would bring in a lead guitarist, they would usually fight me when I would say I need to modify what I was playing to accommodate a 2nd guitar. Alone, I was filling the sound with the one guitar, with 2 guitars, each needs to thin out in order to compliment each other, not fight against each other. During parts of a song, vocals, etc., where there is not actual lead guitar or a solo, even the lead guitar is going to want to, or should want to be contributing. If I am ripping 1/8 & 1/16’s to “fill it up”, anything other than a single strum may sound to full or muddy. Work together. Often less is more. A band is teamwork, not a constant “look at me” moment, although every member should be able to get the spotlight on occasion. Have fun and as always, enjoy!

[JackWGuitarLessons]

Great Lesson from Cory. He seems like a good guy

[JazzzRockFuzion]

I was just talking about Point #1 with a student last night — he plays in an originals band with another guitarist and keyboardist. Same issue, obviously — we discussed shell voicings on the three top strings, doing the Nile Rodgers kinda thing when things are sounding too ‘cluttered’

Cory is such an artist and killer musician - bravo! 👏

[christophertrogdon]

All good points. I'm not a musician, but the whole thing brings to mind something I heard a long time ago. "Play what serves the song the best".