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Learn guitar 3/5: Strumming — the right hand's job
Third lesson: two basic strumming patterns, the always-swinging arm, the metronome tempo ladder and songs between 80 and 120 BPM to practise with.
You know the chords; what makes it sound like the song is now the right hand. This lesson teaches two patterns, and they carry you to the end of the series. There's a full strumming patterns guide; here is only what a beginner needs.
The rule: the arm always swings
The arm swings in eighths: down on the numbers, up on the "ands" — always, even when it misses the strings. The pattern only says on which swings you touch the strings. That way the tempo lives in the arm; which strokes you play is detail.
Pattern 0: downstrokes only
D D D D — one downstroke per beat. Use this for the first week: keep the right hand simple while the left learns the changes.
Pattern 1: the "universal" strum
D · D U · U D U — down on 1, down-up on 2, up on the "and" of 3, down-up on 4. Pop, rock, folk: most acoustic recordings have this underneath. Start slow and count: "one, two-and, and, four-and".
The tempo ladder
Set the metronome to 60 and play the pattern on one chord for a minute. Clean? 70, then 80. The song's real tempo is in the page header (say 106 BPM); climb to it step by step. If you stumble, drop a step — the only way to get fast is to play slow.
This week's drill
Pattern 1 over G – D – Em – C at 70 BPM, five minutes. Then open one of the songs below and play along in Lyric mode: the recording pulls you along, you only have to keep up.
Songs for strumming practice (80–120 BPM)
All open chords, medium tempo; Pattern 1 fits every one of them.
- Morgan Wallen — Chasin' You G – Em – D – C · 97 BPM
- Cherry Bullet — Aloha Oe A – D – G – Em · 94 BPM
- Dolly Parton — The Bargain Store Am – D · 96 BPM
- Olivia Rodrigo — Enough For You Em – G – C · 118 BPM — G and C — a preview of lesson 2
- Nirvana — Come As You Are D – Em – G – Am – C · 121 BPM
- Green Day — Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) [Live] G – C – D – Em · 122 BPM
- Drake — Massive Em – C – E · 83 BPM — E = Em plus one finger on string 3, fret 1
Previous: 2/5 — Four chords · Next: 4/5 — Fast changes and the capo.