Practice Steps

1. Play the C chord in the open position over the backing tracks below. Start with very simple strumming and try to fit the rhythm and style of the band.
2. Experiment freely with strumming and arpeggiating the chord. Improvise your rhythm guitar part while paying attention to what's happening with the rest of the band. Don't worry if it doesn't sound great yet 😀.
3. Try adding embellishments using the 2nd degree. Optionally use hammer-ons and pull-offs, if you can.
4. Replace the C chord with a Cadd9 and see how that affects the sound of the band.
   Note: This changes the harmony and may sound wrong in some cases. Let your ears decide 👂.
5. Remember to have fun and explore. Proceed to the next lesson whenever you want. You can always come back and practice this later, when you become more comfortable with embellishing chords and improvising rhythm guitar parts.

Backing Tracks

• In these tracks your role is to support the rest of the band.
• The spotlight is NOT on you. Your job is to serve the song. This means that sometimes you need to play less.
• Improvise your rhythm guitar part and explore. But when you find an idea you like, repeat it for a while before looking for a new one.