Time To Find Out How Strumming Patterns Work
We’ve looked at why you need strumming patterns and what they’re all about. On this page I’m going to show you exactly how they work. Here’s the image we looked at on the previous page.
- 1. The time signature the song is in.
- 2. The actual rhythmic pattern using rhythm slashes.
- 3. The strokes you need to play.
- 4. Any other info like rests, chucks or accents etc.
The strumming pattern is written down in a bar which in this case has 4 beats. Those 4 beats get divided into various groupings of strokes which will then be the actual strumming pattern.
In the Note Values section we looked at the different note values. Quarter Notes lasts for 1 beat and in the example below you will see 4 consecutive quarter notes. Each one of those notes is played on every beat using a down stroke. Every time you play a down stroke you need to be counting along. One, Two, Three, Four, One, Two, Three, Four etc.
Pretty straightforward right?
Play that example a few times and then carry on reading.
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Now I want you to pay attention to your right hand in between every down stroke there’s a dummy upstroke. Which means your hand is going upward without strumming the strings. So you’re essentially missing the upstroke right? What will happen when we add that upstroke to the rhythm and actually play the strings instead of missing them?
For starters we will be playing two strokes for every beat which means we’re dividing the beat in two. So the 1/4 notes become 1/8 notes and it will look like this. Play that a few times and keep counting. This time you count “AND” for every upstroke. So it’ll be One AND Two AND Three AND Four AND One AND etc… Give that a go.
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Now that you’re rocking go here for more Strumming Patterns…
If you have played these two examples then you have the basics of strumming down and now you can read strumming patterns. Check out this page where you can learn a few different strumming patterns.
