Essential 5 Guitar Strumming Patterns: Learn in 3 Quick Steps

One of the most difficult things to master about the guitar is learning chords. However, did you know that even more people face difficulty learning how to strum too?

Keeping rhythm while properly hitting each string can be challenging at first. To master strumming you have to get used to the free-flowing motion of your arm. Strumming is a mix of keeping rhythm and hitting the right string at the right time. Failing to master that can ruin the whole flow of a song.

So, today we will cover every fundamental strumming technique to learn. With enough practice, you can master these techniques yourself to turn the noise into beautiful melodies. 

Geared up? Let’s get started! 

Sneak Peak Into 5 Essential Strumming Patterns

• All downstrokes
• Down and upstrokes
• Muted Strum
• Strumming with rest
• Complex rest 

How To Learn A New Strumming Pattern?

We can’t help but tap our feet to the beat when we listen to music. 

You’ll often find yourself swaying your head or tapping your feet involuntarily to a catchy rhythm. We are firmly wired to react to rhythm instinctively. Reaching that innate sense of rhythm is essential while playing a guitar. Once you can catch that flow of rhythm, you will have achieved the first level of learning how to stum. 

Musicians with experience know how to effortlessly tap into this instinct. If you speak to any guitarist they will tell you “Just play what you feel” or “Strumming is second nature to me now.” Even the most seasoned musicians had to overcome their early strumming problems.

Learning to strum is like learning how to ride a bicycle. It takes consistent work at first, but after that epiphany, it becomes nearly automatic. The difficulty is in successfully using your natural rhythmic sense to play a guitar.

Check out Zager’s Classical Guitar for Beginners guide.

Here are the 3 steps in learning a new strum pattern: 

1. Say It Out Loud Before Even Playing It

When learning the new pattern, internalize the rhythm vocally before playing it on the guitar. Strumming utilizes alternating downward and upward strokes. Many guitarists get overly focused on the physical motions of when to strum down versus up. This can cause you to lose your sense of rhythm.

It’s virtually impossible to accurately reproduce a rhythm without first establishing how it should sound in your mind’s ear. Before even holding the guitar, take time to solidify the rhythm itself. You want to be able to vividly hear and feel the intended strumming pattern in your mind first.

A valuable technique is to voice the rhythm out loud by singing, humming, beatboxing, tapping it out, or simply verbalizing the pattern. Essentially, audibly recreate the rhythm before attempting it on the instrument. If you struggle to vocalize the rhythm, generating that same rhythmic groove while strumming can be challenging.

2. Practice The Strumming Pattern on a Single-chord

It’s time to begin actual practice after internalizing the intended strumming pattern in your mind. One new skill should be the main emphasis while learning anything new. Thus, you want to avoid dividing your focus between learning the new strumming pattern and switching chords at the same time.

Begin by holding down only one chord while playing the strumming pattern. Since chord changes are not involved, you may focus entirely on learning the rhythmic strumming pattern. Up until it seems natural, practice looping the strum over a stable chord.

3. Apply the Pattern to an Actual Song

Once you can smoothly execute the strumming pattern on a single chord, you’re ready to integrate it into a full song context. The challenge here is maintaining that consistent strumming rhythm while transitioning between different chord shapes.

Work on playing through a simple song that utilizes the strumming pattern you’ve practiced but also incorporates a few chord changes. This reinforces keeping the strum locked in while your fretting hand shifts between chords. 

Having the chord diagrams in front can help know which shapes to form for each change.

5 Essential Strumming Patterns

Now to look at our 5 strum patterns! Starting with some fundamental patterns, we’ll progressively increase the difficulty. 

Here’s how to read basic strumming patterns: 

1. Strumming Pattern #1: All Downstrokes

The first pattern focuses solely on downward strumming strokes, indicated by the upside-down ‘u’ notation above each beat. While it may seem rudimentary, mastering fundamental techniques like clean downstrokes is crucial for developing solid strumming skills.

2. Strumming Pattern #2: Down And Up Strokes

This rhythm matches Pattern 1, but now you’ll alternate between down and up strokes. The arrows show upstrokes on the ‘and’ counts between beats. Downstroke on the numbers, upstroke on the ‘&’. This alternating strum is immensely useful and lays the foundation for more advanced patterns.

3. Strumming Pattern #3: Muted Strum Pattern

This is similar to Pattern 2, but you’ll now incorporate a muted strum technique on certain strokes. This creates a percussive, snare-like sound. It’s akin to the snare hits a drummer plays on beats 2 and 4.

4. Strumming Pattern #4: Strumming With Rests

Up until now, you strummed on every eighth note subdivision. This pattern introduces rests, where you’ll intentionally leave out some strums to create rhythmic silence. You’ve been using a “constant strumming” approach so far – now you’ll continue that motion but skip certain strums.

5. Strumming Pattern #5: Complex Rest Pattern

The final pattern is more complicated, featuring a rest on beat 3’s downstroke while maintaining the constant strumming motion. Alternate down/up strums as usual, but leave out that one specific downstroke while still making the strum movement.

Using The Strumming Patterns: You now have five fundamental strumming patterns at your disposal. Though it might take some time to master them, you’ll be closer to being able to recognize the strumming patterns in your favorite songs after you can play these patterns and grasp the Constant Strumming Technique. You might also begin improvising strumming patterns.

You may add accents, use the Continuous Strumming Technique to take away notes, or both to jazz up these strumming patterns. Play along with a metronome, or even better, a jam track, as you practice. Working on actual music is usually useful.

Most Influential Strumming Patterns

To get you started, here are a few great songs to practice strumming along to

• Classic Rock Strum: This pattern uses a mix of down and up strums. You will find a strong emphasis on the backbeat. It’s energetic and drives the song forward. Think of “You Shook Me All Night Long” by AC/DC, which exemplifies this pattern’s lively rhythm.
• The DDUUDU Pattern: many pop and folk songs use this classic rhythm. It stands for Down, Down, Up, Up, Down, Up. It creates a rhythmic sound and can be heard in “Riptide” by Vance Joy.
• Pop Punk: The pattern is Fast and involves continuous down strums at a fast pace. You can hear this high-energy pattern in Blink-182’s “All The Small Things.”
• Country Shuffle: This pattern mixes bass strums with full chord strums to create a “boom-chicka” sound. It alternates between a bass note on one beat and a full chord strum on the next. This gives this pattern a bouncy rhythm. Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues” is made fully from this pattern.
• Reggae: Reggae music is very laid-back and emphasizes the off-beats. It has a quick, sharp strum on the off-beats played with a muted technique to create a choppy sound. Bob Marley’s “No Woman, No Cry” uses this strumming style to achieve its relaxed, rhythmic feel.
• Bossa Nova: Originating from Brazil, this sophisticated pattern combines melody and rhythm. They have a more complex sequence of chord tones and strums. “The Girl from Ipanema” by Antonio Carlos Jobim is a great example of the Bossa Nova pattern.

7 Tips for Mastering Your Guitar Strumming and Timing

Strumming will sound and be much simpler with the correct method and approach. So, these are the most crucial strumming advice you should know before we get into our strum patterns.

1. Hold the Pick Correctly

Hold the pick between your thumb and index finger. The grip should be firm but relaxed and your wrist should be straight. Make sure the pick is angled slightly inward toward the strings to facilitate smooth strumming.

2. Keep Your Strumming Hand Moving at All Times

Even if you go many beats without touching any strings, keep your strumming arm moving. You can stop worrying about when to shift your strumming hand by doing this, as it moves constantly. Keeping time also becomes much easier when you move your hand constantly. 

3. Keep Your Wrist Loose

Ensure that your wrist is not locked; it should be kept fairly loose. The bulk of the motion will be produced by allowing your wrists and hands to hang free and rotating your lower arm, or you might also say, twisting your wrist. 

This is referred to as a “drunken wrist” by Funk guitarist Ross Bolton. Although your lower arm will move somewhat as well, it will only play a little role in the movement. That may tempt you to perform the up and down motion with your forearm.

4. Hold onto Your (Thin) Pick With Light Grip

Having a strong grip on the pick is rather natural, as you don’t want it to shift or fall. But if you hold it too tightly, the pick will find it difficult to pass the strings without becoming snagged someplace. Keeping your wrist smooth and relaxed while holding your pick firmly is also rather difficult. Your pick will slide over the strings more readily if you hold it lightly.

A thin bendy pick might be very helpful if you’re not accustomed to playing with one. Though these will provide you with a little more control over your tone, as you go, consider thicker picks as well.

5. Avoid Hitting All the Strings With Each Strum

Though most of the time, we just strike three or four strings, you would believe that we had to hit every note in a chord with every strumming. Then which strings are you supposed to pluck? Every down strum should, generally speaking, strike either all of the strings or simply the lower, thicker strings. Hit only the highest, thinnest, three, or four strings on the up strum. With this method, your upstrums will sound somewhat lighter and your downstrums somewhat heavier. And playing it will be a bit simpler!

6. Understand Downstrokes and Upstrokes

Downstrokes drive the rhythm and are typically played on the beat, using all the necessary strings. Upstrokes act as fillers and are often lighter, usually hitting only the higher strings. This distinction helps in creating a balanced and dynamic strumming pattern.

 7. Practice Fingerstyle Strumming

Instead of using a pick, use your fingers to strum. This technique offers more control and allows for the incorporation of plucking individual strings along with strumming, adding versatility to your playing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Pattern Are You Practicing Now?

Strumming is not difficult to master at first. It is very easy to learn the basics but once you go up the ranks, you might need some practice. Complex patterns like reggae can take some time to understand the time signatures. Practice every day and you can master it in weeks! Happy strumming!