rythm/strumming pattern-i don't even know what to call it!!!

There are so many ways to strum any given song.
I take any song and start with all down strums just to get a feel for the chord changes then I add and subtract from there.
My goal in any song is just play it and make it sound as good as I can.
Mind you I am not trying to sound like the original and don't want to.
I am playing in a style that suits me and also makes the song recognizable.
After playing various patterns over time you get to recognize the sound and any changes to that sound. At that point you can listen to a song and most likely pick the pattern out or at least a close enough pattern.
Mostly it is a matter of FEEL. When you tackle a song and start working on it you can feel if its not to your liking and make changes.
That said, if you have a specific song in mind the fine people here will probably suggest a pattern to play.
Edit: as far as time signatures, play what fits inside that signature.
4/4 = 4 beats so something fitting that like D,DU,UDU for example
3/4= 3 beats maybe D,DU,DU
2/4=2 beats D,DU or DU,DU

Hi Juletto,

As far as I know I don't think that there's a direct relationship between strumming patterns and time signatures - apart from the obvious thing that the strum has to fit within the timing.

As beginners we tend to start with a simple pattern that we use throughout a song, but it doesn't seem to always work that way with more experienced performers.

(EDIT: Missileman posted while I was fumbling away at the keyboard and, yes, I'd agree with what he said. Different strum=different feel. :) )

I've got a song book of Dylan which records his strums. In many of them he changes the pattern every few bars. Sometimes a strum will only last one bar (measure) before changing again. There is also one song in the book that's given in two versions - with different keys and completely different strums each time.

My guess is that performers play around quite a bit with different strums. It looks to me as if the mood and feel of a song can be changed either subtly or a lot by varying the patterns, all within the same time signature.

I'll be interested to hear other opinions, because that's just how it seems to this beginner.... :)

Strumming patterns have been a little difficult for me to pick up as well. But I like the suggestions here - start with all down strums until you get the hang of it and then make it your own.

Here's another aspect of beginners' strumming:

When I first started to try and play simple songs I'd learn the chords, and a simple strum. More often than not it sounded nothing like the song. :?

So I'd hunt around and maybe find a more complex strum listed somewhere. I'd learn that and it STILL wouldn't sound like the song.

Eventually it dawned on me that what I remembered of the "song" was actually the melody line, which is usually provided by the singer's voice and/or another lead instrument.

So I'd learned the rhythm accompaniment, and was often actually playing it OK. But the song still sounded like something was missing, precisely because there was something missing. You can't play all the parts at once on the guitar - particularly when you start out. :D

A lot of good advice. I would like to follow on from what Chris has said. One of the things that I have found hardest in guitar playing is not finger skills. Timing is and playing like a proper musican in proper time. My guitar teacher has said you can play a good passable "bedroom"version but you will never be able to play with other musicians until you can play in time.

In order to play along you'll need a pattern that fits 4/4 as has already been said. Then you may have to change/play the pattern in 1/4 notes 1/8 notes and 1/16's.

Lastly you will have to know how many bars of 4 are played on each chord. I have been working on listening to the CD's to work this out. It's quite hard and I need alot of my guitar teachers help. I've been told it is a really good skill to master.

If you cannot work out the timing from the CD. Then you can get good music book by the artist as these will show each bar along with the chords and time signature. This will allow you to play the song in time better than tab.

l still would recommend learning to "count" in 4's. Pick a piece where the chord changes are pretty obvious count 1+2+3+4+ when the chord changes to the next you've got how many bars on that chord.

Once you've mastered that you can play the song in time. I find it great fun when I'm playing, the CD's Playing and my guitar teachers playing and its all happening in exact time. He sometimes solo's over me and the CD to see if he can really put me off.:lol: I just smile when he can't.

After this mastering how to come back in again exactly on the beat when you have stopped playing "your bit" has to be mastered. I cannot do this quite yet but I love how my guitar teacher can stop playing and just take up again right in the middle of a beat or anywhere in the song. This is what I'm working on right now.

It has been discussed here many many times but I will try to say it again more to remind me than anything.

There are rules to music such as what notes are in a chord, scales should be followed closely, don't strum too hard, don't strum too easy, always miss the string if the note is not in the chord, ON beat is down, OFF beat us up, etc. Now all of there rules are great but most people don't follow them when they are creating. They are just trying to make what they hear in their heads come out on the guitar. Or worse yet, what comes out on the guitar becomes what they hear. All I am trying to say is we can't always rely on the fact that the player tried to set up an easy pattern to play they tried to set up a pattern that sounded good and was repeatable. You listen to some songs and it is clear that it is DDUDUDU then you apply it to the song and it sounds different than the original. Well that can be for many reasons such as there is different emphasis on each strum, that the pattern is not actually the same for each measure, measures are skipped, chords are changed during the pattern once in awhile, type of guitar, type of strings, amp settings, type of sound effect applied, and many many more.

In the end, we have to listen to the entire song, break it down to pieces and match each piece.

The most important part is to figure it out the best you can, make it as close as possible, then make it your own.

Now having said all that, if a pattern like DDUDUDU with the right rhythm and timing fits most of the song then play it that way, no one will notice. I was just trying to shed some light on why it is hard to figure out sometimes.

to get a decent strummin is one of the most difficult things when you learn guitar unless you're very talented. Anyway after a few months now I'm able to figure out the patterns of some songs and play them alongside the cd. First I tried to learn properly a few pattern and then I started to apply them to the songs I listened. As a friend of mine suggested me it is better to try to figure out a pattern while listening to the cd because in many case you can "feel" how to move your hand. When I do this I do not care about chords and in most cases I also mute the strings with left hand, just strum with the right hand until it seems that I can get at least the accents and downstrums. If I'm able to do this I search for the chords (usually in Internet) and then I try to play the song and in most cases it works. I'm not 100% sure that I play the same exact pattern of the record because there are so many instruments and in most cases in every cd there are at least three or four different guitar tracks mixed altogheter but al least my pattern fits the song.

in any case as a suggestion I would say: first try to understand if the song is just made of eight notes or it includes some sixtheen notes (in the latter case you should listen to at least three notes for every beat). If it is made only eight notes (the ones you could count as 1 and 2 and three and four..) you could try a d/du/udu or d/du/ud patterns as they're probably the most used ones...if it has some sixhteens it is more difficult to play because they're usually linked to some eighth notes like in the Ddu figure so the pattern could be something like

D ddu D ddu

or also

dd ddu dd ddu

At the beginning you should stick to some easy songs with a few chords and start to play iy until you get an idea of some simple pattern

Matteo

Yeah I too have a problem wtih strumming, recently I changed from just going down to DDUD and some others but my rhythm is still off