Intro To Strumming

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Other Right Hand Lessons: Introduction To The Right Hand Strumming Patterns Rest Stroke Alternation String Crossing The Free Stroke With "P" String Assignment Block Chords Introduction To Arpeggios Arpeggio Extensions "Artificial" Harmonics

Introduction To Strumming

In this lesson, we will discuss two different methods of strumming and the places you may wish to strum in a given measure.

Two Types of Strumming

To create a soft, mellow tone, touch the flesh of your right hand thumb ( p ) on the 6th string. Now, allow the weight of your arm to carry the hand (and the following thumb) towards the floor, striking all six strings with "p" as it passes them. It is very important that you do not push the hand as this will tend to hang up "p" on the strings producing an uneven rhythm and dynamic (volume) level. To produce the same quality of sound on the upstroke, touch the index finger ( i ) to the 1st string and draw the hand upwards, again striking all six strings with the flesh of the fingertip.

For a sharper and cleaner tone on the downstroke, touch the back of the fingernail of "i" to the 6th string and repeat the downwards motion of the arm towards the floor. For the upstroke, use the back of the fingernail of "p".

When To Strum

Types of strumming is one thing, but when to strum is a more subjective matter. Sheet music will usually give you the chords, but will not specify when to strum. That is up to you. Here are some of the places in a given measure where you may want to strum:

1) On The First Beat - Unless you are Jamaican, this is always a good idea. It allows the listen to know where the beginning of the measure is and frequently, this is where the harmony (chords) will change. This is also a good idea for beginners as it allows the maximum amount of time to change chords.

2) On Strong Beats - This creates a driving rhythm which is usually a good thing. Beats 1 and 3 are the strong beats in 4/4 and 3/4 time. Beats 1 and 4 are the strong beats in 6/8 time.

3) On Every Beat - Safe, but usually boring.

4) On The Upbeats - Now we are getting into subjective territory. Reggae Music is played on all of the upbeats and none of the downbeats, but most often upbeat strumming is used with at least some downbeat strumming.

To learn more about strumming on the downbeats and upbeats, please see Strumming Patterns.

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