The pop strum

What it’s for

If you only learn one strumming pattern, make it this one. You’ll hear it in countless pop, folk and acoustic songs, often over a four-chord progression like G, D, E minor, C. It works with almost anything, from ballads to upbeat tunes.

Its secret: the missing strum on beat 3. Your hand swings past the strings, and the upstroke that follows lands off the beat. That little syncopation is what gives the pattern its lift.

To memorize it, say it out loud: “down, down-up, up-down-up.”

How to practice it, step by step

1. Muted strings first. Fretting hand flat across the strings. Start the pendulum, down-up nonstop, then drop the strums on the “and” of 1 and on beat 3 while keeping the motion going. Your hand swings past; it doesn’t stop.
2. On one chord. Play it on E minor, slowly, until the two upstrokes in a row (the “and” of 2 and the “and” of 3) come out effortlessly.
3. With a chord change. G then D, one bar each. Change chords during the last upstroke: it can ring on open strings.
4. Up to tempo. The full G, D, E minor, C progression at 60, then go up 5 at a time to 90.

Common mistakes

• Your hand stops on beat 3. This is the trap in this pattern. If your hand freezes instead of swinging down past the strings, the next upstroke turns into a downstroke and everything shifts.
• Upstrokes too loud. Three of the last five strums are upstrokes: if they hit hard, the pattern gets heavy. Just brush the high strings.
• Beat 1 isn’t marked. Accent beat 1: it’s your landmark in every bar, especially when the chord changes.
• You speed up. The syncopation makes you want to rush. The metronome will tell you right away.

You’ve got it when…

• you can play the pop strum while saying “down, down-up, up-down-up” without slipping;
• you play G, D, E minor, C at 80 without stopping your hand;
• you can play it while talking about something else.

You’ll find it in the lesson Your first 3 strumming patterns, and you can try it over any progression in the Studio.