Strumming Pattern Essay

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Strumming Patterns for Guitar It seems that one of the most difficult techniques for beginners to grasp is coming up with a decent strumming pattern to play the chords to a song. I get frequent e-mails asking about the strumming pattern to a song. And I always tell them two things: either listen to the recording or work one out yourself. This page is designed so you will be able to work one out for yourself, after I give you a few basic ideas. I am going to give you an initial strumming exercise, then ten examples of possible strumming patterns, along with RealAudio files of those same patterns so you can hear what they sound like. I hope this page is useful to all who wonder about strumming! Good luck, and if you have any questions, please e-mail me! First, you will need a little background information. The notation I use will be standard musical notes on a single-line staff, so all you need to know is the rhythm. If you don't understand the following quick example, you should check out my notation page on meter and note values. For the RealAudio files I will use, you will need the RealAudio Player, which can be downloaded free from www.real.com. All RealAudio files contain the chord progression G-C-D-G. To save the files for later use, right-click on the desired link and choose "Save File As..." All RealAudio files are approximately 48K. Strumming Exercise #1 Now a word about strumming. It is much easier and more efficient to strum in both directions: up and down. The first exercise will teach you to strum in both directions. Basically, all you do after doing this exercise is learn not to strum on certain beats (you simply let the strings ring). The arrows in the diagram below tell you whether to strum up or down. This up-and-down movement is the key to the rest of the patterns, so practice it. Here is the pattern: | | RealAudio Stream for

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