Guitar
Strumming Lessons From beginner to more complex
guitar strumming
This series of guitar strumming lessons will take you from the basics (literally - how to strum the guitar) right through to
more advanced strumming patterns and techniques. There'll be video,
audio and clear diagrams to help you, plus, some backing tracks you can
strum along to!
Go straight to the contents for this course here, or see below for some
basics and essential strumming tips.
Guitar strumming lesson basics
This course
applies to both acoustic and electric guitar playing, as the strumming
action is the same for both. Even the
positioning of your strumming
path falls around the same area. See below...
Acoustic
- standard strumming path over the sound hole:
Electric - standard
strumming path around the first pickup:
You
aren't, of course, tied to those paths, as different positions create
different sounds (for example, strumming and picking close to the
bridge gives you a sharper, crisper tone), but most of the time you'll
be
using this standard position for a well balanced tone.
Take
a look at the short video below, taken from a DVD, and just observe the
strumming path and how the hand glides over the strings. We'll be going
into more depth with strumming patterns throughout the lessons in this course...
So, just to recap what you saw in the video above, keep in mind
these essential points:
Relax!
Sounds obvious, but it's easy to tense up when you feel you need more
control when strumming more complex patterns. Try and keep your arm and
wrist relaxed. Let the plectrum
brush over
the strings rather than jab at them. Even if you're
strumming aggressively, keeping relaxed is still the most important
thing.
Keep both your wrist and forearm flexible
Although you will need to move your forearm, your wrist should also be
quite
loose and free-flowing. Keeping your wrist stiff, and relying on your
forearm alone will obstruct your strumming path. Some strumming
techniques require very little movement from the forearm, so get into
the habit now of using that wrist joint as the secondary pivot point,
with your forearm as primary, for support and driving power
(when you need it).
Think about
avoiding unwanted strings
Many chords don't require the use of the low E string, or even A
string, so obviously you'll want to try and avoid these when down
strumming.
Through regular practise, you will learn to target your downward
strumming attack to start on the correct string, most often the lowest
string in
the chord you're playing.
If it's
just the low E string you need to avoid, you can use the following
muting technique (if your
hands can accomodate it):
Let's take a
closer look...
My thumb curls over the top of the guitar neck
just enough to touch
the low E string, which mutes it. To compensate, you'll need to pull
your wrist
up slightly from it's regular position (this is covered in the guitar
basics
lessons).
Now, I understand this is a bit more difficult for
those of us with smaller hands, but if you can't physically use this
method, keep practising avoiding those unwanted
strings, simply by not
picking/strumming them and you'll be fine.
Guitar strumming lessons contents
Work your way through the course step by step. The first lesson is very
basic, so if you can already strum simple patterns, you can probably
skip it without missing too much.
