Hi All. First post:
Been playing for about a year now, and have come a long way.
I seem to have a knack for motor coordination. I pick up chords and fingerpicking patterns quickly. (Almost got Scarborough Fair down. I'm really proud of that.)
However, it takes me forever to figure out a non trivial strumming pattern.
Specifically, I have yet to be able to figure out how to strum Dylan's "All along the Watchtower." It's one of my favorite songs, and I'm starting to get frustrated. I just can't figure out a way to strum it where it sounds half decent.
Has anyone figured out a strumming pattern that approximates the way Dylan played it? If so, do you mind trying to explain it via web forum?
Thanks for any help you guys can offer. Great forum you've got here!
I play a semi Hendrix Dylan version, but it should work either way.
Am, the first chord.. D/D
G second chord.. D/D
F third chord..D/D/U/D/U.
the whole thing... D/D D/D D/D/U/D/U
Hi and welcome to Guitar Noise.
Like most songs, this isn't about a pattern, it's about a rhythm and the execution of the rhythm. Assuming you're listening to the original recording (from the album John Wesley Harding), Dylan's guitar is pretty much playing all eighth notes. That means he's constantly going down on the beat and up on the offbeat.
But that's only a small part of the story. Some of the hits are muted. On many of the upstrokes he's only catching a few of the high strings. More important than either of those is that most of the chord changes are anticipations, coming in on the offbeats, and Dylan puts a bit more emphasis on those strokes, giving many of the upstrokes stronger sounds than the downs. The stresses he uses are fairly consistent but they do vary throughout the course of the song.
To get the feel for this you are going to have to experiment a bit and work on developing a good sense of touch when you strum in either direction. Since you've a knack for motor coordination, this shouldn't be too difficult. Just play in straight eighth notes (don't even worry about changing chords) and try to match the light touch of the strum as well as the accents (and I hope this works - I tried to put an " * " sign under the beat and offbeats he stresses more often than not): 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +
D U D U D U D U
* * * *
I hope this helps. And remember that many songs are strummed very simply. They don't sound it because many guitarists have they own personal touch when it comes to stressing and striking strings. They simply see themselves as strumming the chords and keeping the beat and that's truly what it's about.
As mentioned, this is based on the original recording. Dylan himself has played this song so many ways that I doubt he ever thinks of it as having a pattern.
Welcome again to Guitar Noise. I look forward to seeing you around the forums.
Peace
Thanks for the replies guys!
