A triplet-based bounce with strong first and third beats, like the dhol’s chaal. Written in arrows it is DU DU DU DU.
The player above plays it at 95 BPM over the chords Am – F – C – G. Press Start to hear it, or slow it down to see each stroke.
161 strumming patterns from beginner to funk and Bollywood, played with real chords, with slow motion and a moving strum hand.
A triplet-based bounce with strong first and third beats, like the dhol’s chaal. Written in arrows it is DU DU DU DU.
The player above plays it at 95 BPM over the chords Am – F – C – G. Press Start to hear it, or slow it down to see each stroke.
| Count | 1 | trip | let | 2 | trip | let | 3 | trip | let | 4 | trip | let |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strum | ↓ | · | ↑ | ↓ | · | ↑ | ↓ | · | ↑ | ↓ | · | ↑ |
| Hand | ↓ | ↓ | ↑ | ↓ | ↓ | ↑ | ↓ | ↓ | ↑ | ↓ | ↓ | ↑ |
Say the count out loud and strum only on the bold words: 1 trip let 2 trip let 3 trip let 4 trip let
↓ 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.
DU DU DU DU uses eight of the twelve triplet slots in the bar: four down and four up, with the hand swinging past the strings four times. Four strokes fall on the beat and four between beats. The bar ends with an up strum on the “let” of 4: many players let go of the chord there and change while the open strings ring.
Bhangra bounces in triplets like the dhol’s chaal. Count “1-trip-let 2-trip-let”, strum down on each beat and up on each “let”, and hit 1 and 3 hardest.
On every “trip” the hand moves without touching the strings. Keep it moving there, in the same down-down-up rhythm.
On every “let”, brush the top three or four strings, a little softer than the downs.
Hit beat 1 and beat 3 harder (the bold arrows), with a bigger swing rather than a tighter grip.
At 95 BPM a bar lasts 2.53 seconds and you play 190 strokes a minute. Slow motion at ×0.5 brings that down to 95.
Film and folk songs from India borrow their strumming from the tabla and dhol. Keherwa (eight matras) sits in 4/4, dadra (six matras) in 6/8, and the strum follows the drum: strong on sam, the first beat of the cycle, and light or muted on khali, the empty beat.
Change it in the pattern builder
Count “1 trip let 2 trip let 3 trip let 4 trip let” and play accented down on beat 1, up on the “let” of 1, down on beat 2, up on the “let” of 2, accented down on beat 3, up on the “let” of 3, down on beat 4 and up on the “let” of 4.
95 BPM here, 190 strokes a minute. Learn it near 58 BPM; songs with this feel usually sit between 70 and 120 BPM.
It is intermediate: the hard part is the silent swing on the “trip” of 1 into the up strum on the “let” of 1. Get D DU D DU and D DU UDU steady first, then take this one from 58 BPM.
Any chords. Try Am – F – C – G, or Em – C – G – D, or G – Em – C – D, or type your own in Advanced.