Simple Man (Made Easy) Confusion

Hey everyone, I have recently started working on the song Simple Man (Made Easy) and am having trouble understanding how to correctly count the up and down beats with the prescribed strum pattern.

I have been counting the strum pattern as:

1 2+ +4+ placing the down strokes of the pattern on the down beat. The issue I'm having is when I do this at the tempo of 61 bpm to a click (as stated on the notation), it is far slower than when I practice along with Caren in the lesson.

Does this mean I should actually be counting it as 1 +a e+a3 or is it in triplets? I can't figure out how to phrase it verbally in the context of a 4/4 time signature.

I know I'm missing something obvious ☺️. Any help will be much appreciated.

Originally Posted by: djlawrence1988I have been counting the strum pattern as:

1 2+ +4+ placing the down strokes of the pattern on the down beat.

1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a

Strum on the beats in parenthesis:

(1) e (&) (a) 2 (e) (&) (a) (3) e (&) (a) 4(e) (&) (a)

So essentially you have the pattern right, but just twice as slow as it should be counted.

Hope that helps!

Originally Posted by: ChristopherSchlegel

Originally Posted by: djlawrence1988I have been counting the strum pattern as:

1 2+ +4+ placing the down strokes of the pattern on the down beat.

[p]You are counting in 1/8th notes. It should be 1/16th notes.

1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a

Strum on the beats in parenthesis:

(1) e (&) (a) 2 (e) (&) (a) (3) e (&) (a) 4(e) (&) (a)

So essentially you have the pattern right, but just twice as slow as it should be counted.

Hope that helps!

Ah that makes sense, I knew it was something simple .

That is a massive help . Thanks a lot!