Jazz and Funk
The simple four-to-a-bar rhythm is associated with Jazz guitarists such as Freddie Green, although they may subtly vary the chord on each beat.
A simple eight-to-a-bar rhythm is known as "straight eights" as opposed "swung eights", in which each pair are played as the first and third notes in a triplet.
The fretting hand can also be lifted off the fretboard to damp a chord, creating staccato and percussive effects. In reggae and ska, a few staccato "chops" are played per bar. In funk rhythm playing, the strumming hand keeps a fairly steady motion in 16th notes, while the left hand, basically holding down a jazz chord damps some of them in a syncopated pattern.
Read more about this topic: Strum
Famous quotes containing the word jazz:
“The further jazz moves away from the stark blue continuum and the collective realities of Afro-American and American life, the more it moves into academic concert-hall lifelessness, which can be replicated by any middle class showing off its music lessons.”
—Imamu Amiri Baraka (b. 1934)