Strumming Guitar. Learn How With Free Lesson Videos

Once people can play a few basic guitar chords they usually feel frustrated with strumming guitar. Learn how to strum with these free guitar lessons on video.

The Basics

• Have at least 2 basic guitar chords memorized.
• Know what the Root note of the guitar chord is.
• When strumming guitar you can go down and/or up.
• Know how to count the beats.
• Consistent practice. Doesn't have to be more than 10 or 15 minutes. Just has to be consistent.

If you are unsure about your beginner guitar skills, don't worry! Every angle and gap you need is covered on this website :-) If you want to brush up on some basic guitar chords and what the roots are, this guitar lesson on basic guitar chord charts is highly recommended. As well as graphics of the chords, if you scroll down the page you'll see a link for free printable guitar chord charts.

Most Songs Have 4 Beats Per Bar

This simply means that what you unconsciously tap out when you listen to good music is a cycle of 4 taps. These are beats -- and the speed (tempo) is usually something that you could walk or jog to.

A good grasp of meter and rhythm is crucial to learning guitar. Especially strumming guitar! I'm keeping it as simple for you, so don't overcomplicate it yourself :-)

Each beat can be divided into smaller SUBDIVISIONS. The beat can be subdivided into 2, 3 or 4. This is a beginner guitar lesson so I won't go into any of the other options. It's not necessary at this point.

There are exercises in the videos below that can help you put this information into muscle memory. I highly recommend doing them! You can't learn to strum or play rhythm guitar by reading about it. Do the exercises and you will reap the benefits.

There's more information on rhythm in this article on music theory basics. And there's another free guitar lesson on guitar strumming patterns here.

The best way to learn about strumming guitar is to watch these videos and follow the suggestions on your own.

The 1st guitar video will focus on counting the beat. Here are the written instructions for the 1st strumming video.

Strumming Guitar Lesson Video #1

• Tap your foot and clap your hands with me. We'll subdivide the beat into 2, then 3 and finally 4.
• Mute all 6 guitar strings with your fretting hand -- I'll show you how in the guitar video. Tap your foot and strum along with me in the video. Once again, the beats will be subdivided into 2, 3 and 4.

Strumming Guitar Lesson Video #2

• We'll use a G major chord in open position.
• Pick the root note of the chord -- for our purposes here the root is the lowest sounding note of the chord -- and pick it on beat 1.
• Strum the first 3 or 4 strings closest to the floor with a down strum on beat 2.
• Pick the root note twice on beat 3 -- in other words beat 3 is subdivided into 2.
• Strum the first 3 or 4 strings closest to the floor with a down strum on beat 4.

Strumming Guitar Lesson Video #3

• Tap you foot and subdivide each beat into 2 by counting out loud as I demonstrate in the guitar video.
• On each OFF beat -- the one you count after tapping the DOWN beat with your foot -- strum the first 2 or 3 strings closest to the floor with an UP stroke.
• Now we'll try a new drill. Pick the root note of a G on beat 1. On beat 2, subdivide into 2 and strum DOWN and UP.
• Pick root note on beat 3.
• On beat 4 strum DOWN and UP. Now switch to C and follow the same guitar strumming pattern.

sidenotes: When you watch the videos all the instructions will become crystal clear :-) Have fun, and please let me know how you are doing! I'm always available and willing to help out with any questions you may have.

This is a beginner guitar lesson so it's kept as simple as possible. I deliberately omitted many other details involving rhythm so as not to cause confusion and over thinking. Best to play and strum guitar!

There are other meters for music -- such as 3. But the vast majority of songs you know will probably be in 4. And if you can get the muscle memory from these simple guitar strumming drills you'll be well set for any other meters or rhythms.

If you find you want more information -- such as what a 1/4 note is and an 1/8th note etc. -- I'll refer you to the links I mentioned above. But if you're still in the learning guitar stage, I highly recommend spending time simply playing and strumming it. The other things will come to you if you're ready :-)

Once again this is Dave thanking you for tuning in and tuning up!

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