Playing the guitar is difficult when it comes to the basics of the instrument and practice. Learning to strum the guitar properly will help you play a lot of songs in a short amount of time, and you can have a bit of fun in your practice. By learning a few basic patterns, you'll be more fluent in playing the guitar, you can easily play the songs you want to play. See Step 1 for further instructions.
Step
Part 1 of 3: Getting to Know Your Guitar
Step 1. Hold the guitar properly
Hold your guitar firmly against your thighs to keep it balanced. To learn to strum the guitar properly, you need to keep the elbow of your strumming hand close to the center of the guitar body, so you can use your wrist to strum. Hold the frets by the neck of the guitar with your hands. The thumb should be positioned behind the neck of the guitar).
If you use your arm to hold the guitar, it will make it difficult for you to strum properly. Let the weight of the guitar rest in your lap, hold it with your elbows and make sure you can move your hands to strum without making the guitar move
Step 2. Hold the pick properly
Palms facing your body, clench all your fingers toward your palms. Place the pick on your index finger, so that the tip of the pick is straight toward your chest. Hold it with your thumb and leave a few centimeters of the end of the pick. Play until you get a comfortable pick grip.
- You can pluck without a pick by using the thumb of the hand you used to pick. Johnny Cash never used a pick. This choice depends on whether you can produce a clear enough sound with your fingers. Practice using a pick, and if you find picking a bit of a hassle, then save the pick and use your fingers to strum.
- This can be a bit painful on the finger you use to pick if you don't use a pick. Although making your fingers calluses is a good thing for a guitarist.
Step 3. Familiarize yourself with the guitar action
Action here refers to the height of the strings from the fretboard and the finger force required to play the strings. Practice playing each guitar chord well to get a clean and clear sound from all the guitar strings.
If you hear a buzzing sound when strumming, it is because there are "dead strings" where you are not holding the strings correctly or firmly on the guitar frets. This can be quite frustrating in the process of learning to strum if you don't hold the guitar chord properly. If your plucks sound dry or like a buzzing sound, stop strumming and hold each string in the correct chord until you can hear it clearly
Part 2 of 3: Picking Right
Step 1. Strum the string between the earpiece and the bridge
Practice strumming the strings in different places to get a different character sound. Plucking the strings further away from the bridge will create a more "bass", "lower" sound, while strumming close to the bridge will produce a higher or louder sound.
While there's nothing specific about the "right" place to strum your guitar, you're generally strumming right in the center of the sound hole. Practice often to get a sense of where you can get the sound you like
Step 2. Practice strumming all the strings
Try strumming the guitar using a simple chord like a G chord, strumming from top to bottom. Play the chords in a quarter of a beat for each strum, trying to strum all the strings. Strum per beat and keep the strum at the tempo.
Starting with a low E string, pluck all the strings, trying to strum each string with the same strumming power and produce a "guitar chord" sound. This will be difficult for beginners who usually strum the guitar too hard or too slow on each of the different strings
Step 3. Try picking from the ground up
Once you get used to the beat, try strumming the guitar from the high E string up. This will be difficult because you have to get used to determining the strength of the plucks on each string. Strum until you hear a plucking sound from all the strings, do it slowly.
Step 4. Use your wrist
A good way of picking lies in the wrist. You can easily spot a beginner by the way he changes guitar chords or strums by looking at his arms and elbows. Exercise your elbows to keep the guitar steady and use your wrists to strum.
Many beginner guitar players find it difficult to hold the pick while strumming. Most of the problem with using a pick is that it holds the pick mostly by the bottom and when you pick it will slip out of your grip. Make sure you're holding the pick properly, holding it in the center of the pick until you leave a little bit of the tip of the pick on your finger
Part 3 of 3: Learn the Basic Pattern
Step 1. Learn the top-down pattern in strumming the strings
The most basic rhythmic strumming pattern you can learn is to strum down and strum up with each beat: Down, Up, Down, Up, Down, Up, Down. On. Keep the tempo the same and try to do it in a top-down pattern per beat from a quarter to an eighth beat.<
Instead of one stroke for each beat, you can do two strokes for each beat to one-eighth but must be in the same tempo. That is, you are tapping your feet at the same tempo but strumming the guitar twice for one beat
Step 2. Replace the guitar chords
When you are comfortable with the bottom and top strokes of a guitar chord. Try switching from G chord to C chord every two beats. Practice until smooth.
Don't be in a rush to practice guitar chord shifts. It may feel slow, but it will help you move more smoothly with your guitar chords. Switching from one key to another may frustrate you a bit and change the pattern of the strumming sound. Once you're comfortable and fluent, you can easily play each song
Step 3. Don't stick to a top-down pattern
Almost no song has the same pattern continuously, of course this will cause the song to feel boring to listen to. It is possible that the pattern will change to: up, down, up, down, up - up.
Start learning more complicated picking patterns. You have to learn to get used to picking with different patterns. Don't just refer to the top-down pattern, but don't forget the pattern either. The point is you should be able to try other patterns, where your wrist stays moving but doesn't pluck the strings
Step 4. Practice the pop-rock pattern
This strumming pattern will sound familiar in many practice sessions. (bottom-bottom-up-top-bottom-up).
Start listening intensively to the songs you love. Use the patterns you've learned into the songs you play. Now that you've got the basics down, you can try different strum patterns and give your songs different effects
Step 5. Practice using your palms to muffle the plucking sound
Another way to add some variety to a strumming pattern is to learn to muffle the strings with the palm of your hand. Stick to the pattern but you will produce a different sound when you strum your guitar.
Neil Young has the signature "strong-heavy" strumming pattern he uses in conjunction with the damper strings, and pop acoustic guitarist Jack Johnson also has a "wet" strumming style that's easy to learn
Step 6. Prioritize guitar chords and tempo first
In the beginning, guitar players often "over-strummed," meaning that they focused solely on the learned strumming pattern but were too indifferent to the tempo, clarity of the chords, and playing the song. When strumming, try to focus on the chords first, then move on to the strumming pattern, and you'll sound like a pro in no time.
Step 7. Start playing the song
Playing guitar is even more fun when you actually play chord patterns and play songs you know. Start with songs that are easy and can teach you basic strumming patterns.
- You can play almost any country and folk song using the first guitar chord positions G, C, and D. Choose a few songs to practice and get the strum pattern.
- Know the chords of the song you are going to learn and determine the number of strings to be strummed. For example the chord of the D major guitar, which only strums five strings, while the G Major has to strum all the strings.
Suggestion
- Practice is the most important thing. Learn while playing. Remember that the guitar is a tool for fostering creativity, not work, so have fun.
- If you're having trouble identifying the pattern of a song, try asking the Ultimate Guitar Forum for help or watching videos on YouTube.
- Usually patterns will be easy to learn, but if not, you shouldn't have to try hard to master them.
