Music is all about rhythm and you can be a better guitar strummer by understanding the basic of rhythm. Most beginners had a hard time learning to strum because they didn't realize this concept.
Strumming the guitar requires you to move your hand in a steady rhythmic motion but there more to it, you need to be able to feel the 'Beat' to keep it steady. Feeling the beat is important because this is where 'Strumming Patterns' are based upon.
There are lots of different strumming patterns to be used for different type of songs, and learning them will become easier once you have a clear understanding about rhythm.
Strumming patterns are created by sub dividing the beat to create a rhythm pattern and to understand that, you need to know the concept of ‘Down Beat’ and ‘Up Beat’.
Music are commonly written in 4/4 time which means that there are 4 beats for every measure/bar:
| 1 2 3 4 | 1 2 3 4 | 1 2 3 4 | 1 2 3 4 | etc…
The numbers are what referred to as the down beat. In between the down beats there are up beats represented by the symbol ‘&’ like so:
| 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 | 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 | 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 | 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 | etc…
What you want to be able to do is to develop the ability to know where you are at all times (On the Down Beat or on the Up Beat). Trained your self with an exercise below:
Exercise:
The first thing to do is to establish a steady beat and you can do this by tapping your foot. When doing this, make sure that you tap at a reasonable tempo (Slow is best to start with) and keep it steady. Try this with me…
Tap__Tap__Tap__Tap__1__2__3__4__1_&_2_&_3_&_4_&_
Can you feel the beat now?
Also notice that the up beats (&) fall at the moment that you lift your foot in between the taps.
Now try this while strumming your guitar. Here's an exercise for this:
Chord_=_____________|_G__Em_C__D_|_G___Em___C___D___|
Strumming the guitar requires you to move your hand in a steady rhythmic motion but there more to it, you need to be able to feel the 'Beat' to keep it steady. Feeling the beat is important because this is where 'Strumming Patterns' are based upon.
There are lots of different strumming patterns to be used for different type of songs, and learning them will become easier once you have a clear understanding about rhythm.
Strumming patterns are created by sub dividing the beat to create a rhythm pattern and to understand that, you need to know the concept of ‘Down Beat’ and ‘Up Beat’.
Music are commonly written in 4/4 time which means that there are 4 beats for every measure/bar:
| 1 2 3 4 | 1 2 3 4 | 1 2 3 4 | 1 2 3 4 | etc…
The numbers are what referred to as the down beat. In between the down beats there are up beats represented by the symbol ‘&’ like so:
| 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 | 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 | 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 | 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 | etc…
What you want to be able to do is to develop the ability to know where you are at all times (On the Down Beat or on the Up Beat). Trained your self with an exercise below:
Exercise:
The first thing to do is to establish a steady beat and you can do this by tapping your foot. When doing this, make sure that you tap at a reasonable tempo (Slow is best to start with) and keep it steady. Try this with me…
Tap__Tap__Tap__Tap__1__2__3__4__1_&_2_&_3_&_4_&_
Can you feel the beat now?
Also notice that the up beats (&) fall at the moment that you lift your foot in between the taps.
Now try this while strumming your guitar. Here's an exercise for this:
Chord_=_____________|_G__Em_C__D_|_G___Em___C___D___|
...Tap...Tap...Tap...Tap...|_1__2___3__4_|_1_&_2__&_3_&_4_&_|
______________________D__D__D__D___D_U_D_U_D_U_D_U_
D=Downstroke
U=Upstroke
______________________D__D__D__D___D_U_D_U_D_U_D_U_
D=Downstroke
U=Upstroke
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