Accents

Beats 2 and 4

In rock, pop and blues, the drummer hits the snare on beats 2 and 4. That’s what makes you want to clap along. On guitar, all it takes is hitting those two beats a little harder, and your strumming locks onto that backbeat.

Start with the march: four downstrokes, with 2 and 4 louder. In the grid, the bold slots are the accented strums.

Count out loud, leaning on the right numbers: “1, 2, 3, 4.”

Loud and soft

You don’t get an accent by tensing up. Two adjustments are enough:

• the speed of the motion: an accented strum starts a little higher and moves across the strings faster;
• how deep the pick goes: it digs just a tiny bit further into the strings.

The other strums get lighter, barely brushing the strings. It’s the contrast that matters: if everything is loud, nothing is accented.

The pop strum with accents

The pop strum from the previous lesson, with the same accents on 2 and 4. Hear how much better it moves.

Bass note, then chord

Another way to add some shape: on beats 1 and 3, play only the chord’s bass note, the lowest string of the shape; on beats 2 and 4, strum the whole chord. Bass, chord, bass, chord: that’s the “boom-chick” of country and folk.

The bass note of each chord is the note that gives it its name:

• G: low E string, 3^rd fret;
• C: A string, 3^rd fret;
• D: open D string;
• E minor: open low E string.

Aim for the bass note with a small, precise stroke, then let your hand fall through the other strings.

You’ve got it when…

• Your accents on beats 2 and 4 come through clearly
• You play the accented pop strum on G, D, Em, C at 60
• You find the bass note of G, C, D and E minor without looking