strumming variations

It really boils down to repitition. The more you practice the easier it will come.
Concentrate only on the pattern, forget about the chords, in fact just play open strings or a simple chord like Em. play the pattern over and over then start adding chord changes ect...
Try recording yourself if you can. If you get the pattern down for a couple of bars you can loop the recording and play along with yourself.
Best of luck and Welcome to Guitar Noise.

try forgetting about rythm variations and just do each strum as a quarter note until you get the pattern down, then worry about the rhytm of each stroke once you have the pattern down.

And practice them s-l-o-w-l-y. The old saying "Practice makes perfect" is wrong - practice makes "permanent". It's much better to practice it slowly and get it right - speed will come in time.

Thanks for your replys and thanks for the welcome.

Guess I'm still in the phase of I want to do everything now, but will try and slow it all down, and concentrate on getting the pattern right, and see where we go from there.

Thanks for your help

Also I tend to barely lay my figers on the strings to mute it. That way you don't have to worry about changing chords or how it sounds.

Mike

Some sound advice so far, but don't be tempted to practice TOO slow - you also need for your body to start developing some rhythm.

Can't remember if anyone has mentioned this, but have you got a metronome? This is, in my book, a pretty essential bit of kit and will definitely help you.

Let's assume you have one. Set it on a nice steady 80 beats per minute and set it in motion. Don't strum - listen. Tap your foot. Clap your hands, whatever, just don't strum. Get the click in your head, and in your body. Do this for at least 2 minutes, and really chill into it if you can.

Right. Pick your guitar up. On each click, you're going to play a downstrum.
c = CLICK
C C C C C C C C
D D D D D D D D


Play that for a few minutes. Are you RIGHT on the beat? If so, great. If not - practice some more until you are. Now, think about what's actually happening here....although you are just hitting the strings on the downstrum, you are also passing them, without hitting them, on the upstrum yeah? So all you have to do to get an upstrum in, is just move the pick a tiny bit closer to the strings on the way back up. Don't dig into them, brush them, and not all of them either, you only really need to catch the thinnest treble strings on the way up. But the secret is, do NOT move your arm at a different speed to the previous excercise. The downstrum's should still fall in place perfectly.

So chuck and upstrum in after the first 2 downs like this -
C C C C C C C C
D D D U D D D D U D
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 1 + 2 + 3 + 4


HERES THE BIGGEST TIP YOU'LL EVER GET ON THIS. play it at night, in a dark room, just you and your guitar, and the metronome. This focusses all your feelings on the hearing side of things - beleive me this works, I know it sounds a bit hippy dippy, but it does. Instead of TRYING to make the pick do what you want, concentrate on HEARING what it should sound like, and you'll get it.

Now you know a strum pattern that is used, literally, in thousands of songs. More importantly, you should noe have realised that its a rhythm and "feeling" excercise, not so much a technical "how do i do that?" excercise.

Once you are this far, start by making up your own patterns. Just miss the strings to mix it up. Here's D DU UDU
C C C C C C C C
D D U U D U D D U U D U
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 1 + 2 + 3 + 4


Obviously these examples are in 4/4 time, 4 beats to a bar, and you are playing 2 bars (8 clicks) Try this, working in 3/4 time, three beats in a bar
- this is 2 bars worth so its 6 clicks in total
C C C C C C
D D U D U D D U D U
1 2 + 3 + 1 2 + 3 +

Matt

Great advice Matt. My guitar teacher has me doing the very thing you discussed here. Its helping alot.

Jim

I second that Matt, nice job! I made a copy of this for myself to add to my info collection.

Hey Matt nice concise work. You explained in 2 minutes what it took me almost a year to figure out. You ought to do an indepth and submit it to David. P.s. I bookmarked it so I don't have to 'splain it to people.

Yeah matt, I tried your first example and its the first time I kept pace with a metronome. Actually its only one of a few times I have used a metronome in my 5 months of playing. I tried to apply the metronome to 'house of the rising sun' and it sounded ok....I usually just sing to keep in time. I won't ask the question how do I apply the metronome to a song because I never understand the answer, but I will ask if I turn it on and just play a song will I just know if i'm in time to it instinctively?

Some really good advise here , just one point I would like to make and that is
" PERFECT PRACTISE MAKES PERFECT "

practise correctly and slowly , then the speed will come , bottom line is do you want to be able to play it or do you want to be able to play it correctly

????????

it's all up to you but remember this will be the guitarists you end up being

one who plays or one who makes a sound that resembles that song everyone thinks they might have heard before

cheer
L.K :arrow:

I can't submit it to David. He taught me it! :D

ha ha

All the best

Matt

here is another get the rhythm trick.

Put on the guitar strap and stand up. Sway, rock back and forth or dance and play. It is difficult to get your hand to break that rhythm. It's like patting your head and rubbing your stomach.

Thanks again guys for the advice, Matt I don't have a metronome yet but it is something I will be getting in the very near future (come on payday), but I do send out an extra thankyou for all the work you put into that post.