Folk Strumming

A good strum is what turns an acoustic guitar and a voice into a song. This chapter teaches the folk strumming patterns and little decorations that singer-songwriters use to keep simple open chords moving and alive.

You'll start with the folk strum, down, down-up, up-down-up, over G, C and D, with your arm swinging like a pendulum on every eighth note so the rhythm never lurches. Then you'll decorate those chords with hammer-ons, pull-offs and sus2 and sus4 chords, moving one finger while you strum. Next come bass runs: short walking lines on the low strings that lead from one chord to the next, the bluegrass and country-folk trick that makes a single guitar sound like a band. Finally you'll learn strum-and-melody riffs in D major, where a short melody on one string fills the gap between strums while the chord keeps ringing.

Practice each acoustic guitar strumming pattern on muted strings first, then with the chords and the click. When the arm moves without thinking, your hands are free to make music.