Beginning Strumming Patterns
This page contains some strumming exercise for the first time beginner.
These exercise use four different chords Em, Am, C and G. The chord
diagrams for the chords are shown below.
Em Am C G
6 5 4 3 2 1 6 5 4 3 2 1 6 5 4 3 2 1 6 5 4 3 2 1
o_______o_o __o_______o ______o___o ____o_o_o__
|_|_|_|_|_| |_|_|_|_o_| |_|_|_|_o_| |_|_|_|_|_|
|_o_o_|_|_| |_|_o_o_|_| |_|_o_|_|_| |_o_|_|_|_|
|_|_|_|_|_| |_|_|_|_|_| |_o_|_|_|_| o_|_|_|_|_o
|_|_|_|_|_| |_|_|_|_|_| |_|_|_|_|_| |_|_|_|_|_|
|_|_|_|_|_| |_|_|_|_|_| |_|_|_|_|_| |_|_|_|_|_|
NOTE:
In the exercises below, the scrawl above the chords is supposed to represent
up and down strums. All the patterns on this page are 4 beat patterns.
(1) The first exercise uses all down strums with accents
placed at various beats. The four measures are repeated 4
times, each time with a different accent pattern.
1 2 3 4 | 1 2 3 4 | 1 2 3 4 | 1 2 3 4 ||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ||
V V V V | V V V V | V V V V | V V V V ||
1x > | > | > | > ||
---------------|------------|------------|-------------||
2x > > | > > | > > | > > ||
---------------|------------|------------|-------------||
3x > > | > > | > > | > > ||
---------------|------------|------------|-------------||
4x > > > | > > > | > > > | > > > ||
| | | ||
| | | (4x)||
||: Em | Em | C | C :||
|| | | | ||
(2) This exercise use down and up strums. The up strums
come on the 'and' of beats 2 and 4. The is a very common
strum used in country and folk music.
1 2 + 3 4 + 1 2 + 3 4 +
| | A | | A | | A | | A
| | | | | | | | | | | |
V V | V V | V V | V V |
||: C | | Am | Am |
|| | | | |
(2x)
| Em | Em | G | G :||
| | | | ||
(3) This is a mildly syncopated rhythm that uses the 'and'
of beats 2 and 3. Notice that on the 3rd beat there isn't a down
strum however the down motion is made (while intentionally missing
the strings) so that you can do two up strums in a row.
1 2 + 3 + 4 1 2 + 3 + 4
| | A A | | | A A |
| | | | | | | | | |
V V | | V V V | | V
||: Am | Am | G | G |
|| | | | |
(2x)
| C | C | Em | Em :||
| | | | ||
(4) This is another syncopated strum that uses the 'and' of
beats 1 and 2.
1 + 2 + 3 4 1 + 2 + 3 4
| A A | | | A A | |
| | | | | | | | | |
V | | V V V | | V V
(4x)
||: Am | C | Em | Em :||
|| | | | ||
(5) This syncopated rhythm uses up strums on the 'and' of all
four beats as well as down strums on beats 1 and 3.
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +
| A A | A A | A A | A A
| | | | | | | | | | | |
V | | V | | V | | V | |
||: C | Em | Am | Em :||
|| | | | ||
||: G | G | Am | Em :||
|| | | | ||