I’m not actually advertising the site…I just made the site in the past because it’s far easier than retyping the dang thing up every time.
So…I’ll post here the summary from the introduction
*NOTE
You will need this font from the Download tab to see parts of the site correctly…otherwise, it’s just not going to make sense.
What is GRS?
The Guitar Rhythm Shorthand (GRS) is a method of annotating the actual rhythm of a guitar riff or piece of music in a method that is visually representative of the rhythms actual dynamics.
Why did you start GRS?
I started the GRS system because I constantly forget rhythms that I would come up with while driving, walking, working, or any place that wasn’t directly in front of a guitar.
Actually, the truth is that even if it’s a rhythm that I’ve played on a guitar, unless I’ve played that rhythm several times over, I will most likely forget just how I was playing it.
This has always been a very annoying problem for myself, and I found there to be no true alternatives to an amazing memory for rhythm…which I obviously lack.
I looked into the idea of carrying a tape recorder with me everywhere I go and just “mouth-guitar” the rhythm where ever I happened to be, however, this seemed embarrassing, awkward, and really not that practical.
I looked into sheet music but found it to be really tedious for something as simple as a rhythm; it was an overboard system for what I wanted to annotate.
Tabliture is a joke when it comes to rhythm simply because any non-novice guitarist often doesn’t need to know where to put their fingers, but instead is just looking for how to treat the chords of the song.
Drum notation is a bit closer to what I wanted, but I still found no way to annotate interpret neck mutes, palm mutes, slides, tremolos, bends, etc…
I searched the internet for something that would accomplish this task and came up completely empty.
It seemed that if I wanted such an ability that I would have to design it myself.
What does GRS NOT do?
GRS does not handle single note notation very well, though it can be done. It simply was not designed with the concept in focus. I understand that it woud be ideal to have the ability to annotate single note notation and chord riff rhythm annotation at the same time, however the present method has not found a way to accomplish this using only the GRS system in a manner that is inherently clean.
A compromise can be done, however, of using GRS on the G line of a treble clef of standard sheet music where desired for chord riffs and filling out individual notes normally on the staff where single note annotation is desired. This is not a pure system, but it does work.
What does GRS do?
GRS allows a guitarist to transcribe the rhythm of a riff to the degree of expressing how the riff is supposed to feel and sound from tiny aspects of de-emphasized strokes to power slides across the neck; from neck muting to staccato; from palm muting to tremolo bar use.
Further, the “sheet music” that I put together adds another level on top of the GRS system in that it allows the guitarist to detail what settings the guitar and amps are on and what type of effects are used. Even more, it allows for the guitarist to annotate when effects are turned on and off throughout the rhythm.
Here’s the site link to read how it all works and what it looks like:
grsonline.wordpress.com/grs-handbook/
*note…some of the pages don’t link correctly to the next section, so you have to go back to the index to get to the next page…I know about the error, I just haven’t gotten around to fixing it.
Anyways, just thought I would throw this out there for any guitarists.