Basic Strumming :)

Before we begin, make sure your guitar is in tune, and you have a guitar pick handy. Using your fretting hand, form a G major chord on the neck. Making sure you are holding your pick properly, and have a look at the strum above. 

This pattern is four beats long, and contains 8 strums. It might look confusing, but just pay attention to the arrows at the bottom of the graphic. An arrow pointing down indicates that you should strum downwards on the guitar. Similarly, an upwards arrow indicates that you should strum upwards. Notice that the pattern starts with a downstroke, and ends with an upstroke. So, if you were to play the pattern twice in a row, your hand wouldn’t have to vary from it’s continual down-up motion.

Now, try playing the pattern, taking special care to “keeping the rhythm”. You should be aiming for trying to keep the time between strums exactly the same. When you get done playing the example once, loop it, without any sort of pause.

 

Alternate between strumming down, and strumming up. When you get done playing the example once, loop it, making sure there is no hesitation between the end of the old pattern and the beginning of the new one. Count out loud “1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 1 and 2 and..” Notice that on the “and”, aka the “offbeat”, you are always using an upwards strum. Keep this in mind as we progress. Try listening to, and playing along with, an audio file of the strumming pattern.Here are a few things to keep in mind as you play the above pattern:

• If you are playing an acoustic guitar, make sure to strum directly over the sound hole
• On electric guitar, strum over the body (different locations will give you different sounds), not over the neck
• Make sure all strings are ringing clearly
• Make sure the volume of your downstrums and upstrums are equal
• Be careful not to strum too hard, as this often causes strings to rattle, and produces an undesirable sound
• Be careful not to strum too softly, as this will produce a “wimpy” sound.
• Listen again to the audio example to hear how your strumming should sound. Your pick should be striking the strings with a relatively firm, even stroke
• Think of your elbow as being the top of a pendulum; your arm should swing up and down from it in a steady motion, never pausing at any time.
• Rotate your wrist down slightly while strumming down. Rotate your wrist up slightly while strumming up. Be sure not to keep your wrist stiff when strumming.