Improve your Strumming in 7 Days
Lock in your rhythm skills and time feel.
Beginner guitarists
You should be comfortable with basic open chords and simple chord changes to get the most out of these lessons.
7 days
Dan will guide you through 7 days of step-by-step instruction with daily practice plans and assessments.
Solid rhythm foundation
This class will help you build a reliable strumming feel so your playing stays locked in with the groove.
Take the next step
Once you've mastered this challenge, keep learning with more challenges and guided Learning Pathways.
What you'll learn
Staying on the beat while playing rhythm is one of the biggest challenges for beginners. In this class, Dan Kalisher breaks down essential rhythm concepts and techniques that will help you tighten up your internal metronome and strum with precision.
- Learn how to stay on the beat.
- Keep your strumming consistent.
- Play progressions without losing the groove.
- Add feel and dynamics to your strumming.
Curriculum
Stay focused with this step-by-step learning program designed by our expert team of music educators.
Your guided learning experience
In this 7-day Challenge, Dan will help you build a solid rhythm foundation so you can learn your favorite songs and add your personality to chord progressions.
The grid
Start the class off by learning about the rhythmic grid system.
Producers and musicians use the grid to understand how rhythm works within a single bar of music.
You’ll hone your rhythm and learn how to feel all the beats in a bar.
The engine
With the basics of the grid covered, you’ll now build an engine-like strumming motion that keeps your rhythm flowing.
You’ll start with simple downbeat strums and work up to a strumming pattern over a full chord progression.
16th notes and control
Use this new steady hand motion to unlock 16th-note rhythms and syncopation.
Then, tighten up your strumming accuracy and give your rhythm parts more character by controlling your dynamics.
Day 6. Finding the feel
Now it’s time to make the rhythm feel alive. You’ll learn how to listen to the track and create strumming parts that sit naturally in the groove.
Day 7. Swing feel
For your final lesson, Dan shows you how to give your chords a swing feel so you can lock into grooves that show up across a wide range of genres and styles.
Performances
Before you move on from this class, Dan will challenge you to learn a song and put everything into practice in a real musical setting. This is your chance to apply the techniques in context and start making them your own.
Day 1. The grid
You’ll start building a strong timing foundation with the rhythmic grid. Learn how to divide a bar into quarter and 8th notes before playing a strumming pattern.
To help you better understand how rhythm works, Dan introduces the grid: a way to visualize rhythm inside a bar of music. You’ll practice quarter notes, 8th notes, and a full strumming pattern while keeping your hand relaxed and consistent.
Day 2. The engine
Your strumming hand is a crucial ingredient for becoming a dependable rhythm guitarist. You’ll practice maintaining a steady strumming motion that acts like an engine and propels each song.
The secret to having great rhythm is to build a consistent strumming-hand motion that keeps your rhythm driving no matter what. Dan shows you how to build a reliable strumming engine from the ground up.
Days 3-5. Faster and more accurate strumming
In these lessons, Dan will show you how to take your rhythm playing beyond basic patterns. You’ll learn how to strum faster, land chord changes more smoothly, and control your volume. These lessons will help you make your strumming feel cleaner and more connected to the vibes of each song.
Day 3. 16th notes
You’ll learn how smaller subdivisions can open up more detailed and exciting rhythm parts. Dan will help you keep your hand moving through quicker patterns while using muted strums and syncopation to shape the groove.
Day 4. Strumming chords accurately
Now that you’ve dialed in strumming patterns, you’ll focus on making your chord changes land cleanly from bar to bar. Dan helps you coordinate your fretting and strumming hands so your progressions feel steady and smooth.
Day 5. Dynamics
Dan will guide you through crafting your rhythm parts with more control. You’ll explore how volume, accents, and chord choices can change the character of a progression and help your playing better fit the song.
Days 6-7. Feel and interpretation
In these final days, you’ll bring everything together by learning how to interpret a song to find your own rhythms and patterns. You’ll also learn another common rhythm throughout all of music: swing.
Day 6. Finding the feel
The final ingredient to make your playing really shine is feel. Learn how to interpret a song to create your own strumming patterns that fit perfectly within the track.
Day 7. Swing feel
To make you a truly versatile rhythm player, Dan will show you how to make your chords swing. You’ll find the swing feel in jazz, blues, rock, and even punk – so it’s an essential feel to get down if you want to fit in with any band.
Performances
Now that you’ve strengthened your rhythm skills, it’s time to show off all that hard work with some performance pieces designed especially for this class. Work on syncopation with Led Zeppelin, then create your own groove with DJO.
REAL students
Don’t take our word for it, take theirs
What guitarists love about this course
FULL REFUND, NO QUESTIONS ASKED
Improve your playing or get your money back
We’re so confident that we can improve your playing that we’re underwriting your membership with a 60-day satisfaction guarantee.
Your Instructor
Dan Kalisher
Dan is an expert session guitarist, pedal steel player, and producer who’ll help you become a more confident rhythm and lead guitarist.
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Frequently asked questions
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