This free chord guitar lesson gets you started with guitar strumming patterns. Read the instructions and then watch the online guitar lesson video.
Before we get to the instructions, let's discuss a couple of things. You should know at least 1 or 2 basic guitar chords...are they memorized? Do you know how to hold your guitar properly? Your pick? How about tuning your guitar?
If you can't answer "yes" to all of the above questions, I strongly advise going to the beginners section right now. Scroll down the page to the lesson topic links. Bookmark this "guitar strumming patterns" page and meet me back here when you're ready :-)
Strumming and Drumming... are almost exactly the same word. That's not a coincidence. When you strum chords on your guitar, you're keeping a beat. Just like a drummer does...hopefully ;-)
You need to be able to count to 4. Isn't music great? Music either has 3 beats per bar or 4 beats per bar. You already know this whether you think so or not. That's why you "unconciously" tap your foot when you hear music that you like. There's a well known song by the rock band Queen that demonstrates this perfectly. If you don't know the song, don't worry. It'll all make sense in the guitar video part of this lesson.
We Will Rock You...by Queen. It's played at a lot of high profile sporting events because it has a beat that pumps up the crowd. There are 4 beats to the bar (or measure) in that piece of music. We count it 1+2 3+4 etc. Notice the "ands" - symbolized by the plus signs - are missing after beats 2 and 4.
Actually, they aren't missing at all. We still feel the beat even though the drum isn't being hit on those particular beats. The same thing happens when we create guitar strumming patterns. Then it's a rhythm.
What's the difference between the beat and the rhythm?
The beat is ALWAYS there. It's the pulse of the music. The drum in "We Will Rock You" isn't struck on certain beats because that's how we create rhythm. In order to master guitar strumming patterns, we first need to be aware of the beat. We do that by counting out loud and tapping our foot. Eventually, we can pick and choose which beats to "accent" and which to miss. This creates different rhythmic "feels" for different styles of music.
What's Tempo Got To Do With It?...Tempo is simply how fast or how slow a piece of music is. An "uptempo" song could have 4 beats to the bar just the same as a ballad. So don't get confused with tempo and beats. Or rhythm for that matter. Now, you know the difference between the 3. Many musicians never actually grasp these important differences!
Earlier, I mentioned that music can also have 3 beats to the bar. An example of that would be "Happy Birthday". This well known tune also has a "pick-up" beat...this means that it doesn't start on beat 1. Lots of songs don't start on the first beat of the measure. This will be made clear in the guitar strumming patterns lesson video.
Instructions for this Strumming Lesson
You won't even need your guitar yet. This information is in the guitar video lesson but please use these instructions as a guideline. It will help you to learn more than the video alone.
If you can, walk around the room a bit. Feel the left right left right left right... Great.
This time, gently clap with each footstep.
Sitting down now, count out loud and clap. 1 2 3 4 , 1 2 3 4, etc... at a tempo that would be similar to counting 1 steamboat 2 steamboat etc. In other words, approximately one beat per second or so.
Keeping your heel on the floor, begin to tap your toe along with your clapping and counting out loud.
Since we're not using music notation here, we'll keep it simple and call them quarter notes. This simply means there are 4 beats to the bar and a "quarter" note is equal to 1 beat.
Now, I want you to try the same thing but count 1+2+3+4+ etc. You are still clapping quarter notes.
If you can do all of the above, you're ready to try basic guitar strumming patterns with your acoustic guitar. These are presented in the guitar video lesson...and they follow the same principles. Only now, you'll be tapping your toe, strumming your guitar and counting out loud.
Some final tips...
Use a combination of elbow and wrist when strumming.
Once your downstrums are secure, try upstrums on offbeats.
You only need to catch 2 or 3 strings with upstrums.
Check the sound of your chords from time to time by "arpeggiating" them.
Be certain of which string to hit first on any given chord. In other words, don't strum all 6 strings when you're playing a Dmajor chord.
Tap your toe on each beat and count out loud as best you can. This may be frustrating right now but it will pay off big time if you persist.
Try deadening (muting) all 6 strings and strum along with your favorite songs. Don't worry if you're doing it "right", just loosen up and strum your guitar :-)
I hope this lesson on guitar strumming patterns has helped you. If you understand the important principles in this lesson, you have a foundation that you can build on securely. It doesn't matter what area of music you're studying or how advanced you may be...it always comes back to basic ideas.
Thanks for allowing me to play a small part in inspiring you to keep dusting off your guitar :-)
