Strumming the guitar

Updated May 15th 2013

Strumming the guitar please let me know if you find a dead link

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This is where I buy all my musical toys!

Looking for Strumming patterns? you've come to the right place.

Download them from the links below!

Strumming is the most important part of playing the guitar!

You can read about it and talk about it all you like,

but it wont make any difference,

you need to "Feel" and "Hear" it

"Put enough monkeys in a room and they will, eventually,

play the chords to Stairway to Heaven"

However, it won't sound to good as they wont be able to strum properly as they have no sense of timing

Does this sound like you !?

So, listening to the strumming patterns is the secret, probably the most important one!

You can scroll down and listen to some of the MP3 demos and requests further down the page, that should be all you need.

However if you like reading then carry on !

With 3 chords and a good variety of strumming patterns you can play thousands of songs!

Strum with the edge of your thumb or with a Light Plectrum

or whatever you are comfortable with.

The up and down strokes lightly brush against the strings

and the up strum only really plays the first two/three strings.

I write strumming patterns in the easiest format I can think of,

D = Down U = Up

So DDUUD = down down up up down

sometimes I put in a " / "(slash)

or a " - "(hyphen) to indicate a slight pause

as in D/DUUD or DUD-DUD-DUDU

If "English" is not your first language the DDUUD may work better for you

if you translate them into your own language

(as long as they are words of 1 syllable)

For example in German DDUUD(down down up up down) could be

Ab Ab Auf Auf Ab ( I Hope ! :-) )

Musically we write "Timing" as in Beats to the bar as in

4/4 that is 4 beats to the bar

or 3/4 8/4 that is; 3 or 8 beats to the bar

As Guitarists often we get confused by all that "Proper Music stuff"

so it may be better for you to just think of it as a strumming pattern

As strumming is so difficult to convey in writing,

I have recorded myself strumming various patterns.

These are available for you to listen to as MP3 files

This is probably the most important thing you can do

especially if you are a total beginner

The idea is not to stop the strumming pattern

when you change the chord, (whatever it sounds like!)

I always tell my students

just "Plonk" your fingers on the chord and keep going,

there will be a point where it will click

and you will be able change smoothly.

"So be a Plonker!"

If "English" is not your first language you may not recognise

"Plonk" and "Plonker" which are not real words but mean (in my context)

to just put your fingers on the strings in the approximate position (Plonk)

and the person that does it! (Plonker)

The secret is to keep the strumming going as you change the chord

regardless of the mess you might make of your fingers

(this makes you a "Plonker" !)

This may happen straight away, (you be able change smoothly)

or in a few minutes, but can take longer.

The easiest chord change,

while keeping the strumming going is Gadd5 - Cadd9;

watch this video

Gadd5 to Cadd9 and vice versa.

This is because you only move the index and the second finger,

which you use for lots of other things, so your brain is already aware of how to move them!

Once you start to get control of your fingers

you can then move on to other chords

It is not necessary (or advisable) to learn lots of chords when you start

as you can play lots of songs with the same 3 or 4 chords

in different orders and with different strumming patterns

Hard refresh (Ctrl +F5 together) if you have been here before

These videos need to be downloaded right click and save target as

How to strum using Thumb and or fingers or plectrum/pick

Using Gadd5 Cadd9 Dsus4 (what are these chords?)

Strumming DUDU a count of 2

Strumming D/DUDU a count of 3

Strumming DDUUD a count of 4

strumming DD/UDU Up tempo/Lively!

strumming split between 2 different chords

People have been asking to Donate which is nice.

I have set up a Donate Button through Paypal, Thank you it does help to off-set my hosting costs and any donation is very welcome and acknowledged .

Below are some links I have done for other people over the years to help their strumming techniques, download a few to see if they help you but there is no point downloading them all as you need to know the song well to make proper use of them.

If you keep downloading them all it upsets my host and creates bandwidth issues so please only take what is relevant to your needs or email me using the free lesson info request form

Follow these links to hear some strumming patterns

Some have been converted from older files and the audio quality is not so good

others are the newer recorded MP3 files

Strumming Pattern DDUUD good starting point (MP3new) This works over anything with a count of 4 !

Strumming Pattern DDUUD as in "Sweet Child O' Mine" (count of 4)

Strumming Pattern DDU/UD as in "Knocking on Heaven's Door" (count of 4)

Strumming Pattern DD/UDUDD & DUDU as in Cannonball Damien Rice (count of 4 then 2 )

Strumming Pattern DD/UUD as in Rollercoaster or Breakdown (using Am G)(count of 4)

Strumming Pattern D/DUDU as in Iris Goo Goo Dolls (count of 3) (also Sugarland Already Gone)

Strumming Pattern D/D/UDUDD as in Stop Crying your heart out (count of 4)

Strumming Pattern DDD/UDUDD as in Wise men James Blunt(count of 4) & Faster for Oasis Slide Away!

also for the verse of Avrils' My Happy Ending(all on one chord)and perhaps for Blue October's Hate Me (twice)