Becoming a GREAT rhythm player

[colder]

Hi everyone! 

One thing I've been working on lately is really trying to refine my playing in the area of rhythm. Looking at my guitar goals and observing people who are where I want to be, it's clear that being in rhythm is just as important as being in the right key or anything else. 

I found the L&M course to be very helpful in getting my start at this, and I've been working through a TrueFire course on this as well as working a lot with my Dr. Beat (an overgrown metronome ?)

But I want to take it even further - how do you go from being decent to being a great rhythm player? I'm thinking of things like being completely locked in even among a lot of different instruments, being able to play very complex rhythms that are beyond the more basic sixteenth note patterns, being great in time signatures besides common time, and applying great rhythm to all your playing, not just "rhythm playing" per se., developing the ability to be fast and very clean and articulate - etc. Just overall, taking rhythm to the next level kind of stuff ?  

For those of you who are very advanced in this area, what helped you the most? Any tools or learning materials that helped you move to another level in rhythm playing? Words of wisdom? Just want to tell me to get off the computer and go spend a million hours in the practice room? Any suggestions welcome! 

[Blue Dog]

Go slow and practice strumming patterns. that are complex. Like A 4 beat measure broke down . Like 1 beat D strum 2 Beat DU strum 3 Beat  DUDU strum 4th Beat DUDU . and change it around Learn to play 16 Th notes by Feel and not by count.  Use the Metronome  If you can master that then you are set. then you have to learn to palm mute in count . It takes work. practice 16th notes with a mute in between . hear how it sounds and get the feel.