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Guitar Noise Podcast #1 – “Strumming Part 1 / Basics of Strumming”

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Welcome to Guitar Noises’s first Podcast – a thirty-minute, one-on-one lesson with me, David Hodge. This first podcast is also the first in a series on strumming, covering the very basics of strumming – using fingers as well as a pick. We’ll be working with the basic techniques of downstrums and upstrums, covering a number of simple strumming patterns, as well as playing the “boom-chuck” or “bass / strum” technique of strumming, which is the first step toward more complex patterns. Oh, and we’ll also discuss important concepts such as the root notes of chords and sock puppets…

Our first series of Guitar Noise Podcasts will cover strumming – moving step by step from the very basics to alternate bass picking, to adding hammer-ons and pull-offs to spice up simple patterns to crosspicking and partial chord playing to incorporating other playing techniques, such as palm muting and choking, to bring even more excitement to our strumming. Plus we’ll look at how to listen to patterns so that you can readily replicate complicated patterns you hear on recordings.

’ll do my best to walk you through things step by step, just as we do in the many song lessons at Guitar Noise. So pull up a chair and let’s have some fun!

Peace

57 Comments

  1. aldo
    September 6th, 2016 @ 4:11 pm

    You rock man.
    Can u do one on song writing

  2. Willie Sims
    June 13th, 2012 @ 8:42 pm

    Mr Hodge
    Thank You, I was getting very worried
    Last week I purchased two guitars one for me and another for my dad who played a long time back 20 years I think….. lord I am getting old I remember sitting on the floor and listening to him play house of the rising sun …. he was actually pretty good in my bias memory.
    The thing was that they only had right handed guitars but had told my that for many it is actually better for some left handed people to strum right handed. To tell the truth I was buying these guitars on a limited budget and they really went out of there way to make everything work. I got a used Epephone les Paul ii and a fender squire strat and a practice amp for under 250.
    But I digress I have been playing … well making noise for about a week now but like you said my left hand and my right seem to have minds of their own. I can pick each cord Em C D and F … ( I hit f some time but what a stretch.) But I am having a hard time strumming and picking. I was beginning to wonder if they had lied to me. I keep digging the pick or missing strings all together. I practice about two hours a day sometimes more. I drive a truck so everything I learn is by the web. So thank you again

  3. Amanda Lauletta
    February 8th, 2010 @ 9:55 am

    This site in amazing! I am a music teacher who is not currently teaching and I can pretty much play every wind instrument there is, but have always struggled with strings. I decided to teach myself to play guitar and this site is just what I needed! Thank you for doing this – I will be a guitar player in no time :)

    • David Hodge
      February 9th, 2010 @ 5:13 am

      Hi Amanda

      Thank you for writing and also for your kind words about Guitar Noise. Welcome to our little community!

      Good luck with taking up the guitar. If you’ve questions about anything, feel free to write, either here or directly at [email protected]. And be sure to take advantage of all the community’s experience at our Forum page. You won’t find a friendlier place on the Internet.

      Looking forward to hearing how things are going with you.

      Peace

  4. Javed M
    January 27th, 2010 @ 9:41 am

    Hi David, Thank you for all the efforts you and your team has put in into these podcasts, they are immensely helpful. I could easily say that I have learned more than I have from 4-5 weeks of personal teaching. It was such a joy when I realized after your podcast that I was able to keep rythm and imporve my strumming, thought I would never be able to do it.

    Were there any lessons/podcasts on changing chords? I am a beginner and this has been a sticking point for me from past many weeks. God bless. Thank you.

    Javed M

    • David Hodge
      January 28th, 2010 @ 10:08 am

      Hi Javed

      Thanks for writing and thank you as well for your kind words concerning these podcasts. We’ll see what we can do about some lessons on changing chords a little later in the spring.

      Peace

  5. jose arizola
    December 4th, 2009 @ 10:30 am

    Have been wanting to learn guitar for a long time and always thought it would be to hard. I”m 67 and have been playing about one and a half years,I taken a few lessons but I always felt that I was given to much information at one time, never seem to be an orderly progression. Any way I’m now trying to learn on my own but I,m overwhelmed with what’s out their in the internet. I keep jumping all over and getting no where.

    I know quite a few chords and getting quite familiar with the notes on the guitar but now I found you and I like the way you explain things. I would like to to learn from you. I also started to take voice (sing) music lessons and this is helping me understand the music theory.

    I like the latin folk music and the trio music like the Panchos but at this point I want to be able to sing any simple song such as “Your my Sunshine” Tom Dooley an other old folk song also the Mexican folks song such as ” Decolores,Ave Maria” and other camp fire type songs that my gold.

    I’m will to start from the very basic hoping to progress fast can you help me by directing me as to where to began. I already know all the basic major and minor chords. I just can’t make music yet.

    I want to thank you, you are a great teacher the best I found online.

    Jose El Blanco

  6. Chester
    October 12th, 2009 @ 7:41 pm

    Hi David, first thanks for your reply and your suggestion,this is great stuff. Like I am sitting in one of your sessions. I went through this podcast five times and I am seeing a lot of my problems going away.I am sure with practice my playing will improve.My plans are to listen and practice, moving to the next only when I can master the one I am on. Thanks, you have open my playing desire……….you are truly the greatest.
    Regards
    chester

  7. David Hodge
    February 23rd, 2009 @ 12:22 pm

    Hi Lourisa, Marty and Tyler

    (note to self – have to make more time to visit the old podcasts!)

    I can’t thank all of you enough for your more than generous comments concerning the Guitar Noise Podcasts. It’s been a lot of fun making them and though I’ve been having the dickens of a time lately keeping them in any semblance of a schedule, things should be getting back to normal any day now.

    And while I’d love to take all the credit for your improvement, don’t forget that it’s you who are actually making the time and effort to practice and get better. It may sound obvious, but the only time you do anything like playing the guitar is when you’re actually playing it. So give yourselves a good pat on the back as well.

    And Tyler, you’ve got a good ear. That’s the progression and “Knocking on Heaven’s Door” does use it. Good call.

    Thank you all again and I look forward to hearing how things are progressing with each of you.

    Peace

  8. Tyler
    February 22nd, 2009 @ 6:20 pm

    This was the first podcast on the site I have listened to. I downloaded the rest and put them on my walkman so I can listen to them on the bus. By the way, was that the chord progression to “Knockin’ On Heavens Door” that you were playing? (G-D-Am,G-D-C)

  9. Marty
    December 24th, 2008 @ 12:14 am

    Hi David,

    I have been wanting to learn guitar for a long time and always thought it would be to hard. Im 52 and have been playing about 1 and a half months,I bought a very high rated guitar course and was delivered to my house.

    The lessons are very good, but when I found your site my playing has progressed very fast. I know quite a few chords but your training with the podcast and songs for beginners and the strumming i have come along faster. I kind of quit using the course as much because your teaching seems to motivate my interest.

    I want to thank you for your great teaching, you are the best teacher i have found online.

    Thank You
    Marty

  10. Lourisa
    December 7th, 2008 @ 2:34 pm

    Hi David.

    A BIG thank you from my side too. I have been my own teacher through the years so you guys on GN will be my first ever formal teachers – much needed also may I add!

    You’re doing a great job.
    Lourisa

  11. David Hodge
    November 17th, 2008 @ 8:58 am

    Hi Sandra

    Welcome to Guitar Noise and thank you for your kind words. We’re glad that you’ve found our website and we hope it will help you supplement your private lessons.

    Please feel free to post any questions you might have, either here or at the Guitar Noise Forum page, where you’ll find a whole community of guitarists willing to offer their help.

    Looking forward to hearing how things are going with you.

    Peace

  12. Sandra
    November 16th, 2008 @ 12:44 pm

    Dear David and Guitar Noise Team,

    Thanks a lot for your online lessons. I just started playing the guitar and only know the basic cords. As I can’t afford more than one private lessons per month this is a great alternative to learn new things. I was looking on the internet for some easy songs to play when found this site and I couldn’t believe how many songs and techniques one can find here. I’ll definitively listen to your podcasts more often and search the site for new songs.
    Thank you very much.
    Sandra

  13. David Hodge
    November 13th, 2008 @ 10:50 am

    Hi Damian

    Thanks for writing. It’s great to hear that you’re playing songs that you like and enjoying making music. Just remember that you’ve no time frame or deadlines with learning. Better late than never, as the cliche goes. Seriously, many students can spend their time now wishing and regretting not starting sooner, but that’s time better spent enjoying yourself now.

    Glad you found the Guitar Noise website and hope that you have a lifetime of fun with your guitar!

    Peace

  14. Damian on Penny Lane Liverpool
    November 12th, 2008 @ 4:35 pm

    Hello to David and Guitar Noise , I have finally picked up a Guitar at the age of 32 and over last few days with the use of one of those Dummies books learned 6-7 chords , decided tonight to Google some easy beginner guitar songs and stumbled across your fantastic website and even better was that you have tonight helped me play a couple of recognizable bits of Eclipse and Wish you were here (two of my all time faves !) .

    I’m really starting to enjoy this now and going to really dedicate some time to learning this beast!

    I love the layout and professionalism of this site and you are indeed an excellent teacher (downloading podcast episode 1 as I type this ) , keep up the good work it is very much appreciated , I only wish I had found this site last year when I was bought my guitar as a gift.

  15. David Hodge
    August 26th, 2008 @ 6:09 am

    Hi Jennifer and George

    Thanks for your kind words and glad that you’ve both found our Guitar Noise Podcasts!

    George, I’m not sure I can put any kind of time frame on when you should move to the next one. It varies from person to person, sometimes wildly. Rhythm and strumming comes easier to some people and they might not have to spend a lot of time getting “good” at the general patterns. But these same people may have a more difficult time getting a hammer-on down.

    A good rule of thumb would be your own common sense. You should know the difference between when you’re getting something (and consequently know that it’s simply a matter of practice and repetition from that point) and when you’re still struggling with either a concept or a technique.

    If you’ve gotten to the point where you know what you’ve learned and know that it’s a matter of more practice, then moving on is up to you. Some people prefer to learn through small steps and some like to make a jump and then take their breath. I think I’ll write up a post about this and we’ll see if we can’t get folks to chime in with what’s working for them, okay?

    Jennifer, I’m not sure how “great” a teacher I am, at least via these podcasts. I’ve commented before on how weird it is to teach without being able to get immediate feedback (from looking at a student) on how the lesson is coming across. It’s a totally different way of teaching than I’m used to and I think I’m learning just as much as everyone who’s listening!

    Please keep the feedback coming, because it’s everyone’s comments that I’m using to help make the future Guitar Noise Podcasts even better.

    Looking forward to chatting with you both again.

    Peace

  16. George
    August 26th, 2008 @ 5:51 am

    I’ve been through your first 2 lessons and am wondering how “good” i should be before going onto the next lesson? Do you have a “rule of thumb” for how many hours you would expect a beginner to spend practicing each lesson?
    Keep up the great work!
    Thanks,
    George

  17. Jennifer
    August 24th, 2008 @ 7:01 pm

    Thank you for this great podcast. I’ve been looking for something like this for a long time. Really well done and you’re a great teacher.

  18. David Hodge
    August 23rd, 2008 @ 7:02 pm

    Glad you found it, too, Gil! Hope you like the other Guitar Noise Podcasts as well.

    Peace

  19. Gil
    August 13th, 2008 @ 6:59 pm

    Nice little lesson. Thanks. I cam across this site by accident and am glad I did

  20. David Hodge
    August 12th, 2008 @ 5:36 am

    You’re welome, Pat. Glad that you’ve found our Guitar Noise Podcasts and hope they continue to be of help to you.

    Peace

  21. pat
    August 11th, 2008 @ 4:15 pm

    thank you mr. hodge
    excellent resource.

  22. David Hodge
    August 2nd, 2008 @ 12:40 pm

    Hi Val, Joe and Rickard

    My apologies for not replying sooner. Just got back from close to two weeks of traveling. Thank you all for your kind words concerning the Guitar Noise Podcasts.

    Speaking of which, I’d better get going on getting the latest one finished up so it can go online Monday!

    Peace

  23. Joe Blayone
    July 27th, 2008 @ 9:39 pm

    Hello, David. I have been playing for over 40 years and I have always felt my strumming was lacking. I believe this is primarily because I was a lefty that learned to play on my older brother’s right hand guitar. Strumming as well as timing has kinda felt like patting my head and rubbing my stomach, although the fretwork side is easier. This podcast series will be very helpful.

    Thanks.

  24. Paul Hackett
    July 26th, 2008 @ 5:13 am

    Welcome to the site Rickard. I’ve just updated the site and you can now find all the previous podcasts archived at the bottom of the Podcasts page. Enjoy – and don’t forget to tell your friends.

  25. Rickard
    July 25th, 2008 @ 1:46 pm

    David this is fantastic, only the 2nd day on your site and I’ve learnt more than the last 6 months! Podcast 1 was great but all I can find now is no 13, can I access the other 11, if so how? I’m feeling really optimistic at the moment, please don,t let me down !!! thanks a lot

  26. Val Bewer
    July 10th, 2008 @ 2:48 am

    Though I already know how to strum a guitar I greatly liked listening to this Podcast. It’s great to have the details explained with so much care and I get the impression that this feature can and will be very helpful.

    Off to the next one.

    Best wishes from Germany

    Val

  27. David Hodge
    April 26th, 2008 @ 2:53 pm

    Hi Tom

    And you’re welcome. I’m glad that these podcasts are being helpful to you (and to everyone else, too!).

    And just so that you know, we appreciate the feedback. Knowing what works and what doesn’t will help us to make the future Guitar Noise Podcasts even better.

    Peace

  28. tom andrews
    April 22nd, 2008 @ 6:23 pm

    thank you for helping me. i just started playing guitar and your instruction were very helpful. i will continue to listen to you lesson by lesson. thank you again, and please keep on giving us such great advice. tom

  29. David Hodge
    March 3rd, 2008 @ 3:46 pm

    Hello Cem,

    And you’re welcome. I seem to waver a lot between idealist and cynic, so I’m glad I’ve got the “teacher” part to keep me on track!

    Hope you find all the podcasts as helpful.

    Peace

    PS. And thank you to Jeff for the note on how to subscribe to the Guitar Noise Podcasts, not to mention the kind note you posted on your blog.

  30. cem
    March 3rd, 2008 @ 3:10 pm

    Hi David,
    Thanks for your high-quality lessons…And for your sharing …Thanks you very much You are idealist and a good teacher…I am congratulating…

    Cem ikiz

  31. Jeff Milner
    February 25th, 2008 @ 3:46 pm

    Doug Iver said, “I wanted to download it to my Ipod so I could listed to it when I was away from my computer. Is this possible?”

    Doug in itunes, under the “Advanced” menu button, click on “Subscribe to Podcast”. Then type/paste in the following: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GuitarNoisePodcast

  32. David Hodge
    February 12th, 2008 @ 7:20 pm

    Hi Ty

    We’re glad that you stumbled across Guitar Noise and that you’ve found our website to be helpful to you. And I’m thrilled to hear that you’re having fun with the guitar. That’s what it’s supposed to be about!

    And it becomes even more fun when you start sharing making music with others!

    Looking forward to hearing how things are progressing with you.

    Peace

  33. Ty
    February 11th, 2008 @ 5:12 pm

    Hi David,

    I just feel compelled to comment on your lessons here and the podcasts that you are doing ….I just finished listening to the second podcast and its just great. Of course I’ve also listened to the first one as well. I am a beginner and starting rather late in life but I am having fun with it. Without question that is because of you and the work you are doing here. You explain things very well and you just make it easy to understand…..I can see progress and you are keeping it interesting and fun.
    It was just sheer luck I came across your lessons and (guitarnoise.com) when searching the web for lessons online but what a lucky day it was…..thanks David!!!

  34. David Hodge
    February 5th, 2008 @ 8:17 pm

    Hi Glenn

    Glad that you found this podcast helpful and I hope you’ll find the others to be as well. Future strumming podcasts will cover a lot of different topics and ideas and many of the techniques written about in the Guitar Noise song lessons (such as “anticipation” from Three Marlenas, Riders in The Storm, not to mention almost any Neil Young lesson) will be getting their day on the Guitar Noise Podcasts.

    And a quick note to everyone – Be sure to write me if there are specific topics you’d like to see addressed in future Guitar Noise Podcasts. While we obviously can’t address everything, we’ll do our best to touch on as many subjects as possible.

    Peace

  35. Glenn from Sydney
    February 5th, 2008 @ 4:33 pm

    Oh Man, is your timing unreal. I have just been reading your article on “The pattern trap” and still struggling with this strumming thing and “”Bam ! “” This page with the podcast comes up. The universe provides once again. Thanks! You’re the best teacher I have come across.
    I have gone through mostly all your easy playing songs. and still struggle with strumming. So I generally just play the finger picking songs. But I think I can go back and try some of the strumming ones like “Riders of the storm” and many more. This is fantastic.

    All I need now is to master chord changing fast enough to stay in rhythm and I’ll have confidence to play around the camp fire. I’m reading your articles now on connecting the dots and chord changing. Looking forward to the next podcast on the 11th Feb..

    cheers

  36. David Hodge
    February 4th, 2008 @ 11:56 am

    Thanks, Don!

    Next one will be up online, if all goes according to schedule, one week from today. That’s Monday, February 11. We’ll be starting where we left off, with the Em chord, and add hammer-ons to the basic strumming patterns to spice it up. We’ll also work on different hammers you can use with the Am chord and wind up with a little “off the beat” strumming, trying to miss the “downs” of the “down and ups.”

    Hope you like it.

    Peace

  37. Don McLean
    February 4th, 2008 @ 7:12 am

    Thanks, Great Podcast, keep them comming!!

  38. David Hodge
    February 3rd, 2008 @ 8:52 pm

    Hi Paul

    Thanks for sharing and thank you as well for the recommendation. I have to tell you that even after writing at Guitar Noise for over eight years now, it still seems very weird to hear that my name is being mentioned all over the world. To me it’s just great to know that so many people are getting to play the guitar and make music and have fun.

    So when are you and this other father getting together for your first jam?

    Peace

  39. Paul S
    February 3rd, 2008 @ 11:11 am

    David,

    I, too, would like to express my thanks and extend my compliments for the fine work you do. I was at my daughter’s guitar lesson the other day and another father and I began commiserating on our own attempts to master the instrument. I suggested Guitar Noise – and you in particular – as a great place to turn. The other guy said he’d already been here and that it was by far the best place on the web to learn guitar and that you were an incredible teacher, saying you made it feel like a private lesson. I couldn’t agree more.

    Just thought I’d share.

    Paul

  40. David Hodge
    February 2nd, 2008 @ 3:29 pm

    Hi David

    You’re welcome! Please feel free to give us any suggestions you might have and I hope that these lessons are as helpful as the written ones.

    Hope you’re having a good summer in Australia!

    Peace

  41. David from Oz
    February 2nd, 2008 @ 2:01 pm

    Hi David – I have read many of your lessons over the last few years and very much enjoyed them. This additional format is great. I listened to most of it on my ipod while watering my garden by hand in the early morning before the start of another fierce Australian summer’s day. It was wonderful. Thanks for all of your creativity and efforts.

  42. Paul Hackett
    February 2nd, 2008 @ 1:37 am

    The good news is we do have the files at 128 kbps. We may go with that in the future.

    I am aware of the ftp solution. At the moment we’re not hosting the audio files on our own server so setting up ftp permissions for David is a little more complicated. Why does everything have to be so hard?

  43. David Hodge
    February 1st, 2008 @ 5:26 pm

    Hi again, Chris

    I’m not taking the question of audio quality as a criticism, so please don’t worry about that. I’m about as tech-savvy as a raspberry, but I do have some friends that could probably walk me through the procedure. I won’t be able to have it in place for the second podcast, but provided Paul can work it on his side) we’ll see about trying it out on the third. If it works, we can retro-post the old podcasts to the new quality as well.

    Of course, all this is assuming it’s good with Paul. Thanks for the tip and wish us luck!

    And thanks for listening!

    Peace

  44. Chris Cowell-Shah
    February 1st, 2008 @ 4:47 pm

    David, I understand completely. Technology can be such a pain in the neck, can’t it? This may be a geekier solution that you want to get into (I don’t know your and Paul’s level of technical interest), but the standard way of transferring big files is via a system called FTP. If Paul has an FTP server running on his computer, and you run an FTP client on your computer, you can dial-up with AOL and then use FTP to transfer arbitrarily big MP3 files across to Paul. Someone with experience with FTP could get the system running in 5 mins, but it does take a little tech know-how. Not that I meant to criticize–the podcast audio quality is just fine as-is.

  45. David Hodge
    February 1st, 2008 @ 4:17 pm

    Hi Chris

    We’re already working on this. The big problem isn’t in recording them, it’s in sending and uploading. I recorded the podcast in .wav and then converted it to the same 128 kbps that we use for the MP3 files in the Guitar Noise lessons. But…

    It took more than forever to send it via email to Paul so that he could upload it. I eventually broke the thirty minute podcast into five minute segments so that I could send it to him but then piecing it together and uploading became a bigger hassle for his part of the project. It was only through trial and error that we were able to find that I could send the whole file to him after I converted the .wav file to a 48 kbps that things worked out on both our ends.

    So…

    Any suggestions for dealing with this would be more than appreciated. Understand that I am on AOL and have to deal with file size when I send this on. And I can’t even begin to tell you what Paul has to do to upload them for the GN Blog.

    Peace

  46. Chris Cowell-Shah
    February 1st, 2008 @ 3:55 pm

    This podcast is great, and really helpful for beginners like me. Thanks, and I hope you do lots more!

    A suggestion: the mp3 was recorded at 48kbps, which is a relatively low bitrate (i.e., low-quality audio). I know it costs money to serve up these podcasts, and low-bitrate podcasts are probably cheaper to serve than high-bitrate ones, but you may want to look into recording at 96kbps or 128kbps so we can hear the nuances of the guitar a little better. It comes across a little scratchy and low-fi right now (kind of like AM radio, whereas 128 kbps would get you FM-quality sound or better).

    Keep the podcasts coming!

  47. David Hodge
    February 1st, 2008 @ 7:26 am

    Hi Pradeep and Jenny and Sammy

    Thanks for your kind words. It is very strange doing a lesson on a totally audio format. Even though I haven’t (as yet anyway) done any type of video lesson, I am used to relying on visuals such as musical notation or guitar tab. Not to mention the writen word! So it’s good to know that the explanations and the workings of the lesson are readily understandable.

    Jenny, I know many guitarist who only use their thumbs for strumming. It often is a matter of style and personal comfort. A lot of people will tell you to strum with your fingers as if you’re holding a pick and that’s a great starting point. But you have a wide variety of sounds available to you depending on how you strum. Don’t hesitate to experiment and to listen and to discover what you like best.

    And watch other players! One of the best ways to pick up new approaches to playing, even the simplest playing, is to see how other people do things.

    And Sammy, hopefully you won’t be waiting too long! We’re going to be doing some beginner stuff for a while, so I hope you won’t get too bored… Thanks for listening all the same!

    Peace

  48. Sammy
    January 31st, 2008 @ 4:07 pm

    I’m waiting for the advanced course!!!!

  49. jenny
    January 31st, 2008 @ 2:43 pm

    Thanks for another wonderful lesson, I’m a big fan:)
    Do you know in a whole year, it never struck me to use anything other than my thumb to strum up with.. this is why we need lessons! I’m practicising my hammer-ons and eagerly awaiting the next instalment..
    Podcasts are a great idea, it feels like a quality 30 mins to sit down and get a lesson like this. Thank you.

  50. Pradeep
    January 31st, 2008 @ 12:22 pm

    Thank you for such a lucid explanation. I am a beginner and I think your lesson is excellent. Even without a video to see you play, I could follow you nicely with my guitar! Looking forward to your next lesson.

  51. David Hodge
    January 28th, 2008 @ 1:20 pm

    Hi Doug

    Thanks for the kudos and pardon me while I kind try to hide somewhere!

    You can download any of our Guitar Noise Podcasts right here on site. If you look at the “play” button, you’ll see three options: “Hide Player,” “Play in PopUp” and “Download.” Just press the last one. I had to look for it myself, so don’t think twice about missing it!

    Oh, and if it doesn’t work, try right-clicking on the “download” and then going with “save target as…” to put it on your computer.

    Thanks again and I hope you like the next Podcast, too!

    Peace

  52. Doug Iver
    January 28th, 2008 @ 11:06 am

    David, you are such an EXCELLENT teacher. I just wish I lived closer so I could take private lessons from you. I listened to your first podcast on strumming and I wanted to download it to my Ipod so I could listed to it when I was away from my computer. Is this possible? Where can I download it from? Thanks and God bless you! Doug

  53. David Hodge
    January 28th, 2008 @ 6:24 am

    Hi Pat

    Thanks for listening and thank you for your kind words.

    We’re hoping that we’ll be able to put up new Guitar Noise Podcasts every other Monday. Next time out we’ll explore more with alternating bass lines and also start adding very simple hammer-ons and pull-offs to liven up any basic strumming pattern.

    In the near future, we’ll also be looking at “missing” downstroke beats during our strumming patterns. This may sound easy, but usually gives many beginners a bit of a fit. But once you can get this under your belt, you shouldn’t have any trouble getting any strumming pattern at all, with a bit of practice of course!

    Hope you find all the GN Podcasts as helpful as this one.

    Peace

  54. Pat Lewis
    January 28th, 2008 @ 4:41 am

    Hi David

    I just finished listening to your podcast, it was very helpful. Thank you so much! I’ll be looking forward to the next one.