Strumming patterns

Reading a pattern

Each bar is split into slots. Under each slot is the count; above it, what your strumming hand does:

• ↓: downstroke, from the low strings to the high strings;
• ↑: upstroke, mostly on the high strings;
• ·: your hand swings past without touching the strings;
• ✕: muted strum, fretting hand relaxed on the strings: all you hear is a “chk”;
• ●: the bass note of the chord, played alone;
• underlined ↓: a palm-muted downstroke.

The golden rule: your hand never stops

Your strumming hand swings like a pendulum from the start of the song to the end: down on the beats, up on the “ands.” When a slot is empty, you don’t stop: you just swing past the strings without hitting them. That steady motion is what keeps you in time.

Count out loud

Count while you play, at least at first. It’s the surest way to know where you are in the bar:

• in eighth notes: “1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &”;
• in sixteenth notes (funk): “1 e & a 2 e & a…”;
• in 6/8: “1 2 3 4 5 6,” leaning on 1 and 4.

If counting feels fuzzy, go back over rhythm and time signatures.

What order to learn them in

Each pattern builds on the one before. The suggested order:

1. the march, then the pendulum;
2. the pop strum, the do-it-all pattern;
3. the shuffle, for the blues;
4. the 6/8 ballad;
5. alternating-bass folk;
6. palm-muted rock;
7. the reggae skank;
8. sixteenth-note funk, the most demanding.

The first three are also taught in the course, in the lesson Your first 3 strumming patterns.

Play them in the Studio

Once you’ve got a pattern down, try it over other chord progressions in the Studio: pick the chords, the pattern and the tempo, and play along.