Strumming Patterns and my thoughts

I agree with you completely.
As long as you are getting the chord changes in time and you can play a nice rhythm that is all that is really needed.
You do develop a skill of just knowing how to strum to make any song recognizable and still make it your own.
I have less time playing than you but there are a number of songs that just fell into place right away. others I had to play around with.
A song that I can hear in my head but am not sure just how to strum it , I start with just down strums and then add upstrums here and there until I get the sound I want.

I've posted a few songs on the Database.....no problem with chords, riffs fills etc....but when it comes to strumming patterns, I can hear them in my mind's ear, I just find it incredibly difficult to transcribe what I hear in my head to paper.....

I'd say practising a song will give you the feel of a strum pattern....the more you listen, the more you play along, the easier you'll get the hang of it.....

Vic

Yeah, I've never understood all these people who preach "the strumming pattern to song X is DU DDU UDD UD" etc.

If you ask me these strumming patterns are a load of doggie DUDU ;)

Yeah, I've never understood all these people who preach "the strumming pattern to song X is DU DDU UDD UD" etc.

If you ask me these strumming patterns are a load of doggie DUDU ;)

Ah but some begginners have to start somewhere their ear isn't trained and they're taking in alot of information at once with chord changes timing ect..

if you're learning ani difranco or keller williams or funk, the syncopated rhythms and so forth are important. almost anyone else, and they're just keeping the chord structure apparent.

In some cases it's important... there are some punk and metal songs that should follow strick downpicking or else it won't sound right (and it might even be awkward to play otherwise). Also, in funk strumming it's important, like previously mentioned. I think it's good for beginners to learn alot of different strumming patterns, but after a while you do kinda pick simplier patterns up.

Hmm, interesting I'd have thought people would be all over my back for making that coment, that's a pleasant surprise. But yes, I could see how downstrokes in punk and other types are important.

I have found that watching someone strumm a song is the best way to pick it up. I can't always tell when I'm listening to a cd whether I'm hearing down strokes or up strokes.

I'm with you on that one. I can just feel the rythm and strum to it and the upstrokes and downstrokes come naturally. I think a lot of people put too much effort in getting all the D's and U's correct when reading tab. I've tried to read the D's and U's in some tabs, but I get all screwed up trying to focus on which one I'm oing. When I just play along as I feel it, I get it right on point anyway - so I stopped bothering with them. This is even true with syncopated rhythms, once you can feel it you got it.

Hope its alright to bump an older thread but i'm glad I found this because the strum pattern thing always bewildered me to. I do practice patterns to a metronome for timing purposes, but when strumming a song I am often not even aware of any pattern. My brain says that sounds good so do it again hand, but do it different here. Certain songs like the intro of 'my sweet lord' is a standard pattern ( unless you wish for it to sound different) and if your playing rhythm in a band when a certain background is needed then yes stay with that pattern, but when playing and backing up your own singing, or just playing its your call

I learnt "Pretty Woman" some time ago, with a particular strumming pattern. I saw a video of this song being performed live by Roy Orbison - and sang it to a simple UDUD... rhythm.

I really don't think it matters as long as the flavour of the song comes across.

I strongly believe in training different patterns both for strumming and picking.

Eventually you'll not think about it anymore, because then you can improvise and play the way you feel for right now! At least thats how it works for me. And practice to alter between picking and strumming and combine the two. It's not as hard as you first think, and it's so rewarding.

I pretty much agree with all the comments above. I think all in all patterns come automatically after some length of playing. However, patterns don't come automatically when you are just starting out so it is helpful to get a pattern from someone to get you started on a song. This can help significantly with the satisfaction level and keep you interested

So, my opinion is that it is Handy to have a variety of strumming patterns in your arsenal so you have a base to start from when you figure out a song. There is also no harm in practicing a variety of patterns to a variety of chord progressions to hone your skills even if it does not sound like a song.

Yeah I may be doing that to, depending to much on one pattern without even being aware of it. I can mix all kinds of patterns just strumming chords, but playing a song isn't as easy to mix it up. I try to stay aware of my strumming but I often concentrate on other things like timing and chord changes, plus singing....maybe in time it will work out