Training Center

Strumming Patterns

It's time to start making music. There are three fundamentals you will need in order to play songs:

1. Chord construction (which we just covered)
2. Strumming patterns
3. Transitions

Knowing the chords is the first step in playing music. If you're right handed, you use your left hand to construct chords and your right hand to strum the guitar. When you strum chords, you play the strings of your guitar with your picking hand either with a down stroke or an up stroke. Strumming patterns are combinations of down and up strokes that make rhythmic sense. Here are the basic rules to remember when strumming the guitar:

1. Don't break your wrist. When strumming the guitar, over 90% of the motion in your right arm should be in twisting your forearm, not breaking your wrist. Your wrist should remain firm and not flimsy. If your wrist is flimsy, your strumming will sound sloppy. Most of the up-down motion of your hand should be controlled by turning your entire forearm. Use your elbow to help your forearm move up and down.
2. Maintain a firm grip on the pick. Make sure that you grasp the pick firmly, or else you will not be able to generate a nice tone from the guitar. Refer back to section 4 for a refresher on proper pick technique.
3. Your arm is a windshield wiper. Visually, you should think of your arm as a windshield wiper that is moving up and down at the same pace, over and over. Don't ever stop your arm from moving up and down. Keep a nice rhythm. The key is to only play the up and down strokes when you want to generate sound but to always keep your arm moving up and down at a constant and steady rhythm, just like a windshield wiper.