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Susan_Montgomery
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Joined: 07/05/20
Posts: 222
Susan_Montgomery
Registered User
Joined: 07/05/20
Posts: 222
01/25/2021 8:57 am
Originally Posted by: Carl King

You said "add some random fingerpicking into my strumming patterns (with a pick)." So I think you mean just strumming some individual strings or "zones" while strumming chords. It's a good way to vary your strumming so you're not just strumming everything the same every time.

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yes, exactly! It works well for something like Last Kiss that just has the same chord progression throughout.

[quote=Carl King]

Something else you can do with this one-chord-per-measure pattern you're doing: strum for 2 beats, and then for 2 beats, just pick some individual strings.

For example, on your G chord. Do two beats of strumming. Then, pick the following strings individually in order (single notes) high E string, B string, G string. Try other combinations, too. Go in the opposite order. Mix them up. And you can do this sort of thing with any chord.

This will lead you to being able to ad-lib some arpeggiations and strumming patterns for even more variety.

Any example would be the opening of Paradise City by Guns & Roses.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rbm6GXllBiw

It's a pretty fast example, but you can hear he first strums the full chord, then goes into picking individual strings (and also groups of strings, because it's kind of sloppy).

Does that help?

-Carl.

Ad-lib arpeggios...yes! And thanks for the example video. This does help and I'm glad I'm on the right track in my thinking, now I just need to get my playing there.


“Often, what seems like an impossible climb is just a staircase without the steps drawn in.” Robert Brault, American Operatic Tenor