Developing groove and pocket: Part 1

One of the points that I've tried to stress…in all these lessons so far…is what we'll call a rhythmic picking hand,…what we were calling--…when we start these exercises…we wanna have a settled sense…of how the rhythm is falling in these notes.…One of the ways to communicate these kind of tunes…and the flat-picking style of guitar…is to make it as, you know,…what we call, as groovy as possible.…Have a pocket that is felt.…A lot of these tunes were originally dances…and they're made to make people move.…And one of the things we discussed early on…of just rhythm and then going into an exercise…and how the bar are all eighth notes.…

You know: one and two and.…(strums eighth-note pattern)…And you can hear, and as a flat-picker…you should be able to feel that pulse.…(strums eighth-note pattern)…Right.…And so, and when it comes to practicing…some of these exercises and scales that we have so far,…a way to kind of deepen your sense of rhythm:…take a C Major scale,…(strums C chord)…with that sort-of sense of pulse,…with the down-beats or the down-strokes on the pick.…