Strumming is at one time the simplest and the hardest of the guitar skills any guitarist should master. With a handful of simple patterns, you’ll seem like a rock star to most people. But as you improve, you’ll become bored with these patterns and know how much more there’s out there you haven’t even tried yet.
Here are 5 simple ways to improve your strumming I’ve used to help myself and my many students over the years.
#1 Angle Your Pick
Many guitarists hold their pick perpendicular to the ground. While there’s nothing wrong with this, it does provide an aggressive “stringy” sound. This may make you think there’s something wrong with your guitar or your playing. Technically, there’s nothing wrong there.
But if you want more of the musical sound rather than the strings, you’ll want to try angling your pick. Turn your wrist and arm slightly, so the tip of the pick points up towards your chest. This will help the pick strum along the strings rather than striking them.
#2 Start Slow, Speed Up
Anytime you practice anything, but especially strumming, start slow and then speed up. Set your metronome at 60 beats per minute (BPM). Practice the strumming pattern you’re trying to learn until you get it right 5 times in a row. Then, speed up the tempo (beat) by 10 BPM. Repeat until you can play it perfectly at faster tempi.
#3 Your Right Hand Never Stops
Just because the pattern doesn’t play on every beat doesn’t mean you should stop your right-hand motion. In fact, your right hand should be moving the entire time to the beat.
For example, if the strumming pattern goes like this:
| 1 | and | 2 | and | 3 | and | 4 | and |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U | D | U | U | D | U |
It doesn’t mean you only play on those beats in the lower row. Your hands move like this the whole time:
| 1 | and | 2 | and | 3 | and | 4 | and |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D | U | D | U | D | U | D | U |
But you only actually strum the underlined letters.
#4 Remove The Chords When Practicing
Chords are tough. Strumming can be tough. Why make everything double-tough when learning by doing both?
When you practice a new pattern, don’t hold any chords with your left hand. Just do the pattern!
If you do want a chord to make your pattern sound nice, pick something you know really well, such as a C major, G major, or E major chord.
Practice smarter, not harder.
#5 Watch And Learn
I personally believe listening, watching, and learning from the pros will make you better. It’s underrated and often forgotten. Watch your favorite guitarist, especially when they’re doing rhythm guitar. Watch their body position and watch their patterns.
John Lennon rarely played solos or lead guitar compared to George Harrison, but if you watch his strumming, especially towards the end of the touring Beatles phase, you’ll learn a lot.
On top of these tips, you can find great lessons with Jam Play. They do the best job of providing dedicated strumming lessons by genre and guitarist ability level out there (along with the million other things they do excellently).
Check out Jam Play’s online guitar lessons.
