Rhythm Playing Quotes

I've never been much of a guitarist. I mean, I've played forever, but I was always more of a rhythm kind of guy. I don't read music.

Pete Townshend is one of my greatest influences. More than any other guitarist, he taught me how to play rhythm guitar and demonstrated its importance, particularly in a three-piece band.

Lots of times I'll play lead and rhythm together.

Although I'm a lead guitarist, I'd say that a good 95 percent of my time onstage is spent playing rhythm.

I've had the chance to watch Metallica's James Hetfield from the side of the stage night after night, listening to his monitors, and his playing is so perfect. Slash is an amazing lead guitarist, but when you listen to his rhythm playing, you can hear how he pulls everything together with such a great feel, which is the most important thing.

I'm a rhythm player. I need to set people up, I need to be in the flow of the game.

As a musician, I don't think I'm the greatest guitar player. I'm a bigger fan of the drums than I am the guitar; I just happen to play guitar. I play drums almost every day at my house. I wrote a lot of songs behind the drum kit, just having the music and vocals in my head and playing the rhythm.

There are a lot of cases where I'm using, if not an acoustic guitar, an electric guitar more as a rhythm instrument. Rather than blasting away, I use it to create more of an acoustic feel.

As far as I'm concerned, it's no good being able to wail out smokin' leads if your rhythm chops hugg!

'My Friends Over You' has two guitars, but if you listen to us live, it's the same... I know how to hit a rhythm note and play lead at the same time.

I've got my own style on the guitar, sure, and I play rhythm in a certain way, and I use certain inflections. People have said that to me, and I understand it.

It's important for me not to peak before I hit the stage. In other words, I save all of my creative and physical energy for when I walk on stage. If I can get 45 minutes of just easy going, playing rhythm, songs, stuff like that, then that's what I do to make sure that I'm all stretched out and ready.

I always thought of myself as more of a rhythm player than a big soloist.

If anything, even though I can play in the sort of standard string-bending style, in the B.B. King mold and all of that, I've always had a great interest in the more primitive playing, the open chord playing, rhythm and figures.

I've never been a big soloist; I just put in what needs to be there. I'm more of a rhythm player who plays lead - or tries to play lead.

Most beginners want to learn lead because they think it's cool .. consequently, they never really develop good rhythm skills .. since most of a rock guitarists time is spent playing rhythm, it's important to learn to do it well .. learning lead should come after you can play solid backup and have the sound of the chords in your head

I don't like to waste notes, not even one. I like to put the right note in the right place, and my influences have always been those kinds of players. Keith Richards comes to mind, and I really like Nils Lofgren's soloing, because he's so melodic. I love John Lennon's rhythm playing, and George Harrison was an incredible guitarist.

Most people can do what I do - they can do guitar solos - but they can't do a good, hard rhythm guitar and be dedicated to it.

A great way to get your rhythm playing together is to work with a drummer, preferably someone that has a good groove and plays solidly in time.

The relationship in Pantera and with Damageplan is the opposite of the traditional rhythm section. It's me and Dime, not the bass, locking in always. Dime's such a strong rhythm player that we just walk in, and we're good to go. We've been playing together forever, and when he goes somewhere, I instinctively know where he's going.

I didn't think of myself as a lead player, especially when we did live shows, because me and Keith used to switch around all the time. He'd take a lead, I'd play rhythm. Sometimes even within one song. It wasn't strict and regimented.

I think the way I play the guitar is very percussive. I play a lot of rhythm chops as though I were playing congas or something.

When you're first starting out, there's always the temptation to hide behind distortion because it lets you get away with murder. But, when it comes to rhythm work, you've gotta back off that gain control a bit, especially if you're playing with another guitarist.

I'm a guitar player. Actually, I think of myself as a songwriter/rhythm-guitar player.