I have been trying real hard to achieve a smooth strumming action but have failed miserably. I had read somewhere that while strumming the strumming hand moves continuously down and up. for instance I want to play the stroke DDUUD ( D- down, U - up) should I be playing like this : 1st beat - play D, miss U 2nd beat - play D, play U 3rd beat - miss D, play U 4th beat - play D, miss U guys, please advise me on whether this is the right technique of strumming. Hope my question makes sense.
Honestly, the best way is for you to listen the song and keep on experimenting till you get the right sound. And the way you play it will depend on the timings of the song. For instance the strumming would be different for a 3/4 timing then for a 4/4 timing. But the patter is the same... you strike the chords first moving down twice, then moving up twice then once down...
Thanks essi. I am not yet clear on the 3/4 and 4/4 patterns. the one I have quoted is a 4/4 pattern isn't it ?? could you give me an example of a 3/4 strumming pattern ?? Can a strumming pattern have a combination of 3/4 and 4/4 patterns ??
DDUUD could be either 3/4 or 4/4... But is definitely a 4/4. 3/4 is basically just three beats... So you have to stuff your strumming within three beats. Use a metronome to help you count beats if you find it hard.
one 4/4 pattern that my guitar teacher uses frequently to play hindi songs is : 1st beat : down play, up miss 2nd beat : down play, up play 3rd beat : down play, up miss 4th beat : down play, up play
there's nothing like hindi songs or english songs i think. . . generally when a song is on an accoustic guitar .. . you'll have to listen to the song and understand the rhythm.. . check out various combinations and try which sounds best. . . with practice you can get to understand from the song itself what rhythm to play ... .
is it possible to have 2 different strumming patterns in one song. like suppose there is this stanza (just an eg) which has chords D major E major Amajor D major so is it possible that D has strumming pattern ddd E has strumming pattern dduud A has ddd and D has ddd. or maybe like D chord in an entire song is played as ddd, but A chord whenevr it comes for that song has to be played as dduud. just asking. because i never heard this pattern. but this question strtuck me when i read this thread
I had the same doubt in mind, I have seen my teacher doing this but I managed never to ask him about it.
general rule of thumb: you can never change scales/rags in a song however you can change the key of the scale/rag ie. you remain on the major scale but the (root/tonic) key of the scale changes from C to F meaning different chords!! as for the strumming pattern / timing of the song that can change at any time, but mostly happens between the verses, chorus, bridges etc of a song. stanza is a verse in poetry, but we're talking music here btw a strumming pattern change does not mean that there has to be a key change!
hey rabi, does that mean that different patterns for the same chard in a particular song cant be possible. yeah i do know that there can be different patterns in a song, for 2 different stanzas. but what i want to know is that for 2 different stanzas if a particular chord comes there in its play is it possible to have a different pattern exclusively for that chord. i hope u get what i want 2 convey??!!!!!!
dont use the word stanza!! thats for poetry ONLY. no you can have different strumming patterns in different parts of the song even if its the same chord. as for the answer to your question this is why you don't call it a stanza. In almost 90% of songs you will find that the strumming pattern for that one chord is the same in between verses, however it may change for the choruses or bridges. This is to help provide familiarity in the different sections in the songs. Songwriting is not as simple as poetry writing.
hey sorry rabi, sorry for using the wrong word....... but atleast u got what i wanted to convey....... dont u think thats important...... anyway will be more careful next time thanks
its important to provide familiarity in songwriting so that you don't lose your audience which is why strumming patterns in choruses and verses remain the same.
