First let me say that I am a true beginner guitarist, and this site appears to be a goldmine for me!!! Seems like there are lots of knowledgable people answering questions, and I'm not afraid to ask the dumb ones. I've been messing around with some other free lessons on the web and a CD that is really worthless. (After practicing some basics for weeks, I'm pleased to say that my guitar is now in tune....WOW...now this is fun!).
Anyway, The beginner song lessons are great, and easy to understand.
I'm very excited about learning new strum patterns and practicing with some easy songs, so I've been on the web looking at guitar tabs on any of 100 different sites. Problem is (and I know that there are several with tabs alone) that the information is minimal. Usually just the chords to use.
Now I've stumpled across a rare instance where a strumming pattern is provided. It says :
The whole song is G and F.
Strum Pattern: \ // /
Now this is great, and it seems like it means - down, down, up, up, down, up...
..., but on which beats?
B
Hi Brian,
There are so many different notations with strumm patterns and tabs that I wouldn't be able to tell you what those particular symbols mean. However if you learn some basic patterns you will find they fit a lot of songs. After a while you will be able to listen to a song and strum it just knowing the chords.
You should check out this site though. I posted it on the outa site lesson links but here it is agian. http://www.grouptherapy.guernsey.net/strumming.html
It has strumming patterns for many common songs, with audio, and is easy to follow.
Good luck
Cheers,
Max
Hi Brian,
First off the ONLY dumb question is the one that goes unasked!!
Typically , but not always, the down strum is on the beat and up strums are off beat. example.
D,D, DUD is counted 1,2,3and4
D,DU,UDU is counted 1,2and,and4and
See how the down strums are on the beat and upstrums are on the ands?
PS: the second example I gave is the same pattern as you gave in your post :D
