In the last article we looked at a few tips useful when learning strumming patterns. In this lesson we’re gonna look at some actual guitar strumming for beginners, used in hundreds of songs in every genre. Before we do that however let’s remind ourselves of a few aspects we need to keep under control when we play these patterns.
In the last article we looked at a few tips that can help us when we practice strumming patterns. Let us remind ourselves of the most important ones.
1) Right hand movement. These examples are pretty easy and do not feature any tied rhythm or rest, they do however require your hand to keep moving at all times. So make sure that even when you don’t play the upstroke your hand moves up anyway.
2) Timing. Having a metronome always helps, but even just tapping your foot will do wonders. So remember to tap your foot on every downbeat.
Let’s check out the first example now.
Example 1
Using the familiar E major shape we follow the pattern of:
Your foot here should be tapping on every down stroke.
Example 2
A variation of the first example, in this pattern the DOWN/UP is shifted to the second beat, so when practicing pay attention to where the one 1 because essentially you are playing the same rhythms as above, the only difference is where the 1 beat is. A good exercise would be to alternate between example 1 and 2.
This example is is very similar to the previous one, the only difference is where you place the 1 beat. When playing this pay attention to this, in fact try to alternate between the two examples as you play.
Example 3
Here we sort of combine the two previous patterns, by playing:
DOWN/UP – DOWN/UP – DOWN – DOWN
These examples are really the foundation of guitar strumming for beginners, so spend some time getting used to them. One extra tip I can give you is this:
You’ll know when you are comfortable with these rhythms when you’re not looking at your right hand when playing them. Practice these rhythms carefully and you’re on your way to becoming a guitar hero…..
If become confident with these examples, you’ll have a perfect foundation for the future and you’ll be able to start playing your favourite songs in no time by mixing guitar chords for beginners with strumming patterns.
