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- It may seem easy, but it’s an essential strumming pattern that will help you develop your timing. Grab a metronome or pull up a jam track and work on the all downstroke strumming pattern using eighth notes. Be sure to watch your timing and keep all the eighth notes evenly spaced.
www.guitarlessons.com/guitar-lessons/guitar-lessons-for-beginners/5-essential-strumming-patterns
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In this first tutorial we're gonna break down and practice one of the simplest strumming patterns out there, and in this first lesson we'll look at the mechanics of it all. Now let's practice this with a metronome. A metronome is a device that creates a series of clicks with a steady rhythm.
- Southern Rock
- Light Rock
- Simple Reggae
- Country Waltz
- Driving Quarters
- Soul Sixteenths
- Gypsy Rock
- Funky R&B
- Funky Latin
- Folky Hop
The first we’re going to look at has a Southern Rock style. It combines down strokes and up strokes, with the downs striking on beats 1, 2 and 4 and the upstrokes happening on the ‘and’ after beat 2 as well as the ‘and’ following 3. It feels quite natural to play an upstroke after beat 2, as you’ve just played a downstroke, but adding the one after...
This light rock sequence introduces muting. This is achieved by flattening your fretting hand across the strings without pushing down onto the fretboard, then hit all the strings as usual. This is easiest to achieve when you use barre chords or power chords, as your first finger is already in the position to cover all the strings. The light rock pr...
Reggae rhythm is all about accenting beats 2 and 4, rather than 1 and 3. This one uses eighth notes, with the first two muted, the second two strummed. The third pair is also muted, whilst 4 has a strum followed by a rest. As there are muted chords here, it’s advisable to use barre chords or power chords when playing this. In the video demonstratio...
And now for something completely different. The Country Waltz is in 3 / 4 timing and introduces root note bass picking. When you see ‘R’ on the diagram below, it means to simply play the root note of the chord, which will be whatever the first note is that your pick strikes. This works well for ballads, but can also be sped up for lively 3 / 4 song...
Next up we have something a little more advanced and can take some time to truly nail. Despite the name, the ‘Driving Quarters’ sequence introduces sixteenth notes and hybrid picking. Hybrid picking is when you use your fingers to pluck the strings, at the same time as holding your pick. As you can see, the sixteenth notes are muted, and also just ...
More sixteenth notes! This time, there are only strums and mutes, but they move around in an interesting way which makes it exciting to listen to and fun to play. You’ll notice that it has a Hendrix-esque vibe, so you could try it with the trusty ‘Hendrix Chord’ – E7#9. However, in the example, Vicky does a bar on Em7 then A7, then repeats. It soun...
The Gypsy Rock formation is a bit simpler than the previous two (thankfully!), as it’s entirely made of eighth notes. It starts with a root note, then does two normal eighth note strums followed by two muted strums. To finish, there’s one more normal strum, then a mute. It’s easiest to follow by looking at the diagram. In the example, Vicky does a ...
This funky R&B combo combines root notes, sixteenth notes and rests. The two root notes at the beginning work best when played palm muted and staccato, hence the small dots and PMs beneath the ‘R’s, then it’s important to get the rhythm on beats 2 and 3 just right to get the funky, groovy R&B feel you can hear in the video below. It’s quite simple ...
This funky Latin number is two bars long, and it’s likely to take a bit of practice. It uses eighth and sixteenth notes, strummed barre chords and mutes. As with the other more complex patterns, we recommend that you tackle this in stages. Look at the diagram again, take your time, remember to change chord on beat 4 and you’ll soon be sounding supe...
The final progression combines folk and hip hop. It’s arguably the most complex here, though it’s only one bar in length. Try it with chords A, Em7, G5 and GMaj7.
Jun 2, 2022 · Strumming patterns are represented through symbols, arrows, or letters (U or D), either independently on the beat or alongside guitar chords in tab. In tabs, remember that strings are depicted from lowest to highest; for instance, an upward arrow signifies a downstroke.
- The 4-Beat Downstrokes. Difficulty Level: Easy. This is a really simple strumming part that is great for beginners. Since it’s so easy, it’s perfect for building your sense of timing and gaining confidence to move onto more complex strumming styles later.
- Add Two Upstrokes. Difficulty Level: Intermediate. Once you get the hang of the 4-beat downstroke, let’s add some upstrokes to the mix, shall we? This one is slightly trickier to play compared to the first strumming style.
- Add Three Upstrokes. Difficulty Level: Intermediate. Once you’ve mastered adding two upstrokes into your pattern, let’s add another up to make it a total of three upstrokes into this strumming style!
- Downstroke On Downbeat, Upstroke On Upbeat. Difficulty Level: Easy. By now, you may have figured out that we are playing all the downstrokes on what we can call the ‘downbeat’ – on the 1,2,3, and 4.
Strumming patterns help keep up with the rhythm of the song. The BMP (Beats Per Minute) shows how fast your strokes should be. For some chord tabs, you can find the strumming patterns below the...
The first pattern is pretty basic and has you playing a downstroke strum on every beat of a measure/bar. Start slowly and get a good strum for every beat. After each downstroke move your hand slightly away from the guitar and bring it back up to the starting position (above the sound hole/strings).
What You Should Know. How to count quarter notes. How to play first position chords. What You Will Learn. How strumming patterns are notated, including the symbols for upstrokes and downstrokes, and how rhythmic notation works. How to strum properly along with tips on correcting common problems. Simple strumming exercises in quarter notes.
