12/8 Ballad Strumming Pattern

161 strumming patterns from beginner to funk and Bollywood, played with real chords, with slow motion and a moving strum hand.

Four groups of three eighth notes: the soul and doo-wop ballad feel. Written in arrows it is DDU DDU DDU DDU, in 12/8.

The player above plays it at 58 BPM over the chords G – C – D. Press Start to hear it, or slow it down to see each stroke.

How to count 12/8 ballad

Count	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
Strum	↓	↓	↑	↓	↓	↑	↓	↓	↑	↓	↓	↑
Hand	↓	↓	↑	↓	↓	↑	↓	↓	↑	↓	↓	↑

Say the count out loud and strum only on the bold words: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

↓ down · ↑ up · ✕ chuck (muted) · B bass note · b second bass note · bold: accent · dashed: palm-muted · underlined: short. The last row is the strumming hand, which keeps moving even where nothing sounds.

DDU DDU DDU DDU fills all twelve eighth-note slots in the bar: eight down and four up. Four strokes fall on the group starts and eight between them. The bar ends with an up strum on eighth note 12: many players let go of the chord there and change while the open strings ring.

Playing it

Twelve eighth notes, four big beats: the feel of slow soul and doo-wop ballads. Lean into beats 1 and 3 and keep everything else soft.

Up strums

On eighth note 3 of every group, brush the top three or four strings, a little softer than the downs.

Practise it step by step

Rhythm only: mute the strings with your fretting hand and play it while saying “1 2 3 4 5 6” and on to 12, or in dotted beats “1 la li 2 la li”.
Hold G, set slow motion to ×0.5 (29 BPM) and play along until four bars in a row are even.
Loop the trickiest moment on its own: the end of the bar, from eighth note 12 into the next bar, where the chord changes.
Normal speed at 40 BPM, with the click on if you want the beat under you.
Chord changes: G – C – D, one a bar (or every 2 bars until the changes are clean).
Up 4 BPM at a time to 58 BPM, then toward 80 BPM for faster songs.

At 58 BPM a bar lasts 4.14 seconds and you play 174 strokes a minute. Slow motion at ×0.5 brings that down to 87.

Chords to try

G – C – D D – A – Bm – G Am – Dm – E

Waltzes, 6/8 and 12/8 all group the pulse in threes. In 3/4 there are three beats, strong-weak-weak. In 6/8 and 12/8 there are two or four big beats, each split into three eighth notes, which gives ballads their rocking, swaying motion.

Change it in the pattern builder

Common questions

How do you count the 12/8 ballad strumming pattern?

Count “1 2 3 4 5 6” and on to 12, or in dotted beats “1 la li 2 la li”, and play down on eighth note 1, down on eighth note 2, up on eighth note 3, down on eighth note 4, down on eighth note 5, up on eighth note 6, down on eighth note 7 and down on eighth note 8, and so on.

What tempo is 12/8 ballad played at?

58 BPM here, 174 strokes a minute. Learn it near 40 BPM; songs with this feel usually sit between 45 and 80 BPM (counting the dotted beat).

Is 12/8 ballad good for beginners?

It is intermediate: the hard part is the end of the bar, from eighth note 12 into the next bar, where the chord changes. Get D DU D DU and D DU UDU steady first, then take this one from 40 BPM.

Which chords go with 12/8 ballad?

Any chords. Try G – C – D, or D – A – Bm – G, or Am – Dm – E, or type your own in Advanced.

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