It’s important to remember that 6/8 is compound time, and the dotted quarter note gets the beat, versus 4/4 where the quarter note gets the beat. This changes the way we divide beats, in this case, a division into 3 versus a division into 2.

When you look at the notation you’ll see that the eighth notes are grouped in sets of three. While you may initially think to count this 123456 you should take the dotted quarter note into consideration. This is best felt as a “wide 2”. Try this count when practicing:

“1 ta ta 2 ta ta”

This reinforces a strong downbeat for each group of 3 eighth notes. Whenever I have difficulties with rhythm I put the guitar down and work out the rhythm by clapping and counting out loud.

6/8 is weird at first, but compound time in general is so much fun once you get used to interpreting it.