Lesson Goals:
♦ Review the open position for the C major chord
♦ Learn to strum down strokes and up strokes
♦ Play the two strumming examples
Basic strumming on the guitar is mainly comprised of playing down strokes and up strokes with the pick. On an acoustic guitar the pick should sweep across the strings in the area of the sound hole. On an electric guitar strumming should take place in the mid body area of the guitar.
This lesson assumes that you already know how to play a C major chord in the open position. We have provided a diagram for you to review the fingering.
Look at the chart below(If you are unfamiliar with reading charts see our tutorial on “Reading Music Charts”). In this example you will play a C major chord using alternating down strokes and up strokes. Work on keeping the strokes smooth and fluid while staying in tempo. Start slow to begin with.
As you can see, each measure consists of 4 beats. On the first beat of each measure you will play a “down” stroke. On the second beat of each measure you will play an “up” stroke. The strokes will simply alternate between down strokes and up strokes throughout all four measures of the example.
Now look at the next chart.
In this example, you will play a down stroke on the first beat. Then, on the second beat you will play a quick “down then up” stroke.
Sometimes, in order to get a better feel for a rhythm pattern, it can be helpful to verbalize it.
If you were to verbalize the rhythm pattern for the complete example above, you would say:
“one, and a, two, and a / one, and a, two, and a / one, and a, two, and a / one…”
Try this slowly and work on accuracy more than speed.
Enjoy…
