Keeping It Simple

Now let's try out some different options for our first strumming pattern. A strumming pattern is typically one bar long. So we have to find a nice sounding way to fill up the 4 beats.

If we just play a whole note, it gets pretty boring for a whole song. Half notes get too repetitive, as do quarter notes. So the key is to find a musical way to combine them.

Since we want to do a one-bar pattern we can't really use the whole notes, because there wouldn't be space for anything else. So it's going to be a combination of a half notes and two quarter notes.

Let's grab our E minor chord and look at the different ways to combine those. First let's try two quarter notes and then the half note. It doesn't sound bad, but it's kind of heavy sounding. Like a tired elephant walking. So let's try another option.

Let's try the half note first and then the two quarter notes. Try looping that. That sounds better to me!

We have one last option which is 1 quarter note, a half note and then 1 quarter note. That sounds pretty good, but it could be a little confusing for right now, so I say we go with the second option.

Now let's try that out together. I'll do a one-bar count-in and then we'll play our E minor chord with the new strumming pattern for 8 bars. Feel free to just watch and listen a couple of times before you start playing along yourself.

Instructor Anders Mouridsen
Tutorial:
Strumming Patterns
Styles:
Any Style
Difficulty:
Keeping It Simple song notation

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Questions & Answers

2 months ago
The 3rd option was difficult to understand. Can you please elaborate how to keep the beats while strumming?
Mike Olekshy 1 month ago

Hello - thanks so much for your question! The 3rd option was 1 quarter note, 1 half note, then 1 quarter note. So you would strum on 1, and again on 2, no strum on 3, then a strum on 4. So the best way to practice this is to go STRUM, STRUM, 3, STRUM - where you say the word "three" instead of strumming on that beat. Anders does do this in the video a few times. Hope this helps!

2 months ago
When you listen to just one bar, the differences in the strumming patterns are apparent. But it seems to me when you do repeated strumming without counting out loud, the three patterns start to sound alike. They are all strum, strum, strum, no-strum, strum, strum, strum, no-strum etc. Am I missing something?
Mike Olekshy 2 months ago

Hello - thanks so much for your question! You are correct - if you don't pay attention to the counting, then the strums all do sound alike. The difference is that we are applying the strum pattern to a song. Once you introduce counting, you are playing the strum in a musical context. The relation of the strums to the downbeat of each bar (1st beat), as well as the backbeats (2nd and 4th beats) define the groove of the music. Hope this helps!!

1 year ago
It’s difficult
Josh Workman 1 year ago

Hi, is there something I can help you understand better? Is it counting beats that's giving you trouble? I'm a guitar instructor and happy to help.