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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
Step 2
If you feel comfortable with the first step, you won't find the next step very challenging. It's merely doubling up the number of strums per measure. You can see in the movie that now instead of just one strum for each chord, I'm now strumming every second beat.
In this piece of music, there are 4 beats per measure, or bar. You can hear 4 clicks when the movie starts up. This is the 'count in'. If you were to count, out loud, "One Two Three Four" in time with those clicks, you would be counting out 'time' for this tune. You could continue counting 1-2-3-4, never wavering, for the whole tune. Try it and see. Musicians refer to these beats when discussing music ... like "come in on the 3rd beat of bar 8", or "I want the piano to play chord stabs on beat 2 of each bar".
So, listening to the movie again, you can hear that I'm strumming the first and third beats of the bar. Count along out loud and really let that sink in. Also, take note that the strum occurs on the downstroke ... while the hand is moving down. It's the most logical way of strumming, if you think about it. First of all, gravity is assisting the process, secondly, the strongest way to hear a chord is from the bass notes up. It's just a fact of music. It just makes more sense to the ear to hear the bass note first, then the other chord tones stacking themselves above it. We're usually left with the highest note ringing in our ears. The upstroke, while the hand is moving back up, is silent.
You may also notice the beginnings of a very subtle quality called 'feel' coming into the playing, or to use another term, 'dynamics'. What I mean is the way I slow strum the first beat of the bar, sort of lightly dragging the pick over the strings, but fast strum the third beat of the bar, more of a quick brushing of the strings. The slow strum is also a little louder than the fast strum, so not only is there a difference of sound texture, but of volume also. The strumming part is slowly coming to life.
Notice that the strumming hand/arm/wrist is relaxed. The pick is held lightly, nothing is being forced, nothing is tense. Notice also that my hand is actually strumming each beat, but I'm I'm only letting the pick contact the strings on the first and third beats. The second and fourth are sort of silent, thin air, strums.
Really listen to what you're doing. I know it sounds silly to say that, since music is all about listening, but it's easy to get so caught up in the mechanics of playing that we forget to listen to what it is we're working on. Close your eyes and pretend you're onstage ... make those chords sound like they're setting up the tune for Bob himself to sing to the huge crowd ... "Mama take this badge off of me" ...
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The movies in the paid downloadable versions come in Windows Media Video format with all the Start-Stop-Pause-RW-FF buttons. Click on the movie to find out what you'll get when you buy this lesson. |
Step 3
Another doubling of the strum frequency, nothing too daunting. If your hand was already moving in time with the four beats per bar, all you need to do now is bring that pick into contact with the strings on each downstroke.
Everything is still very relaxed, there is no tension anywhere. Listen to the backing track ... each of those beats is clearly stated. You'll probably find that the more you listen to it while you're strumming, the more accurate you will be in your timing. Zero right in on those drum sounds and let your hand sync up to the beat. We all have a sense of rhythm ... it's built into our genes. Let it be.
Even though you will probably never use this steady four-to-the-bar strumming pattern, practice it until it sounds consistently smooth. You can still hear the dynamics I mention above in this movie ... That first beat is still a slower, louder strum than the others. Some of those secondary strums are almost not there at all ... and even if one or two disappeared completely, it wouldn't make any difference to the overall sound.
The chord hand is just doing the same thing over and over, changing between the chords in the progression. When it starts to tire and hurt, give it a break, even just a few minutes is enough. Changing chords smoothly is the hardest part of playing rhythm guitar, so don't let frustration get the better of you.
OK, we're almost there ... a couple more steps to go.
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