Lessons › Lesson 5

Basic Strumming Patterns

Lesson 5 of 8 · About 5 minutes of reading, 15 minutes of practice

Strumming is the rhythm engine of guitar. Good strumming is mostly about a relaxed, steady arm - not force. We will build it in three steps.

Holding the pick

Hold the pick between your thumb and the side of your curled index finger, with a small tip sticking out. Grip it firmly enough that it does not fly away, loosely enough that your wrist stays relaxed. No pick? Your thumb works fine for these exercises.

Step 1: Count and strum down

  1. Form an E minor chord.
  2. Count out loud, evenly: "1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4..."
  3. Strum downward across all strings once on every count.
  4. Keep the counts perfectly even - use a metronome app if you have one, around 70 BPM.

Step 2: Add the "and"

Now count "1 AND 2 AND 3 AND 4 AND". Strum down on the numbers, and strum UP on the "ands". Your hand should move down-up-down-up in one continuous swinging motion, like a pendulum. That steady motion matters more than hitting every string perfectly.

Step 3: Your first real pattern

The most common beginner pattern: Down, Down-Up, Down, Down-Up (counts: 1, 2-and, 3, 4-and). Play four rounds of it on Em, then try it on G and C.

Tip: Keep your strumming hand moving even when you are not striking the strings. A hand that never stops swinging keeps time automatically; a hand that stops and starts has to re-find the beat every strum.

Practice for this lesson

Five minutes per step. End by playing the Step 3 pattern on Em for two minutes straight without stopping. Uneven is fine - stopping is what we are training out.

← Lesson 4: Your First Three Chords