Strumming Technique
- Keep your right hand loose
- Use a lighter, more flexible pick
- To focus on groove and right-hand technique, just mute the strings with your left hand.
Table of Contents
Practice with one chord (or use Muted Strings)
Focus on your right hand and the patterns. Pick any chord you’re comfortable playing – or just mute the strings.
If you are having trouble with forming the chord, remember with strumming that it’s your strumming hand that is important. Just focus on that hand and don’t worry about the chord so much. In fact, you can just mute the strings and focus on your strumming hand.
For example, try strumming with a ‘E’ chord. (Or just mute the strings)
If you want to learn how play an E chord, go to Beginner’s lesson 2 and watch the video about playing an E chord!
Keeping the beat
Start out strumming down on each beat.
How to Practice
- Use a metronome, a drum machine, or mute the strings and play along with your favorite song!
- Try counting out loud while you strum!
- Remember to play a slow pace so you can focus on steady time and good, relaxed technique!
Just get that groove going with your right hand (or left hand if you are playing Jimi style!) (or right foot if you are playing with your feet!!!)
Pretend you are the drummer and everyone is dancing to your beat! The beat is the first fundamental part of music but sometimes guitarist overlook that fact of life! I didn’t realize how powerful an rhythmic acoustic guitar could be until I saw Rodrigo and Gabriela. Her rhythm playing sounded amazing – it had tons of bass as well as the top end, too.
Adding the “and” to each beat
Now strum up on the “and” of each beat. This gets you playing the fundamental up/down strum which folky-type guitar is pretty much based on!
Remember to use a metronome, drum machine, or muted strings playing a long to your favourite songs!
Syncopation – Take away parts of the strum
Once you have the up/down strum sorted out, (remember that groove!) you can skip playing some of the beats.
There’s all sorts of stuff you can do with this. This is what most people are doing (adding a bit of syncopation). You can create all sorts of different feels by skipping certain beats (and adding accents and dynamics).
Here’s a few possible strum patterns to check out:
Creedence Clearwater strum
Generic folk strum
Syncopated folk strum
More lessons
Here’s some other lessons you might be interested in! Best wishes!
- Folk Guitar Lessons Overview
- Adding texture to your strumming – part 2 of this lesson!
- Percussion and the guitar
- Better time, part 1 and part 2
- Playing alternating bass – part 3!
- Flamenco Rumba (How to Play a Basic Strumming Pattern)