Strum pattern problem...

I'm not real good at this as I tend to lose count and I've never heard of that artist but I tried playing along and the pattern "seems" to be something like

D D pause (or what I've seen described as a "ghost" strike") UDUDUDU pause UD

Thanks for supplying the link as I rather enjoyed the song

thanks... i'll give it a go...

i'm glad you like her... she has a lot of playable songs like that one...

xax

Theres the odd percussive strum in there as well

yes i agree... it's not as easy as it sounds or looks is it... !!!

xax

Well I only know one of KT unstall's songs - Black hoarse and cherry tree. This song uses a lot of muting so I am guessing the song you are trying to learn is doing the same.

DDUUDU...... means you strum down, don't touch the strings on the way up, strum down again, hit the strings on the way up, miss them on the way down, hit them on the way up again, hit on the way down and hit on the way up.

Think of each strum as having both an up and a down. The Ds and Us are telling you when to make contact with the strings.

I hope this makes sense although I don't put much stock in other peoples strumming patterns. As long as you keep the time you can come up with something complimentary.

hi Maxrumble...

i know what you mean.... i've been playing it with the pattern you suggest... i've also been playing my own much slower finger picked version in 6/8 time (!) which gives the song a totally different feel - i think it's really nice :D

but the DDUUDU pattern whilst sounding ok and fitting the original time signature - 4/4 - just doesn't sound as good as whatever it is she's doing...

i think you could be right about the palm muting - which is something i'm not great at...

i'll keep trying and let you know if i ever crack it!

xax

You could always try to mute with your fretting hand. It is much easier to do. Just slightly lift your fretting hand (just remove the pressure really) while you are playing the chords. You will get the hang of it pretty quick especially if you do it in slow time.

Then again using your own fingerpicking or strumming is a lot more fun and unique.

hi amira

i watch the video a bit, unfortunately without audio since i'm in office :-)!

anyway it seems me that she's playing a typical semiquaver pattern like this (each slash divides a beat from another)

dd/ddu/dd/ddu

if you're hearing some muting sound she's probably muting the quick du strums in beat 2 and 4

of course the real pattern could be slightly different but if the song is a 4/4 quite slow one, go with the above pattern and it should be very similar to teh original.

If you try the d/du/u/du pattern and it doesn't work may it is because it is too slow for your song. This pattern is a great one and I'd say the acoustic guitarist best friends', but it is a quaver one and so it works ok with mid-tempos (let's say from 110-150 bpm), but it is too slow for a ballad.

hope it makes sense

cheers

Matteo

Matteo

I love all of KT Tunstall's songs but am unable to play any on guitar.

I have a few guitar lessons from her herself from a website but I get stuck on strumming patterns, even slowing the video right down and taking notes, or imitating her strums - I think I have it, then I speed the video up to normal and i'm lost again.

I'm going to have a bash at this one though as it's a really good song, and I now have a clue about the strumming pattern.

Is there any easy solution to figuring out a strumming pattern?
I have difficulty even watching in slow motion, and can't figure it out from listening either.

It's the main thing that's holding me back, as I can only play a song if I know the strumming pattern.
And I only know it if someone has written it down somewhere - which doesn't happen often.

hi mate

it' a complex question, so i'll try to sumarize it a bit

a) watch or listen? do not try to understand a pattern by watching the artist play because "the hand is quicker than the eye". You have to trust on you ear

b) how to learn a pattern? the best thing to do is to get an instructional book with cd where you can find several patterns explained in details (so you learn how to move your hand) and with audio recording so you can understand how they should sound like. Then when you can play the patterns along the cd you could start to recognize them in the song, sometimes you can find the exact pattern you studied, sometimes a similar one

It's a long process (at least one year to really understand most of the patterns in the music you listen to Of course there a few tips that can accelerate the process a bit like

learning to move your foot in time with beat
strumming on muted chords just to concentrate on the rhythm
tapping the rhythms with your hand before playing them with guitars

ecc.

Have a bit of patience and right training and you'll see some results!

Cheers

Matteo

p.s. if you search on the forum there are several topics on strumming patterns with some interesting tips and where the same concepts are explained with greater detail

There was a good lesson on this song in "Total Guitar" magazine (from the UK). I can't find the issue though? The beginning riff wasn't too hard once you got the ryhthm. If you find the issue make sure you get the CD that comes with it.

BJ