161 strumming patterns from beginner to funk and Bollywood, played with real chords, with slow motion and a moving strum hand.
The boom-chick with a quick down-up “chicka” after each bass note: the bouncy country and folk strum. Written in arrows it is B DU B DU.
The player above plays it at 100 BPM over the chords A – D – E. Press Start to hear it, or slow it down to see each stroke.
| Count | 1 | & | 2 | & | 3 | & | 4 | & |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strum | B | · | ↓ | ↑ | b | · | ↓ | ↑ |
| Hand | ↓ | ↑ | ↓ | ↑ | ↓ | ↑ | ↓ | ↑ |
Say the count out loud and strum only on the bold words: 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &
↓ 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.
B DU B DU uses six of the eight eighth-note slots in the bar: four down and two up, with the hand swinging past the strings twice. Four strokes fall on the beat and two between beats. The bar ends with an up strum on the “&” of 4: many players let go of the chord there and change while the open strings ring.
The “chicka” is a quick down-up aimed at strings 1 to 4. Keep it clear of the bass strings so the walking bass notes stay clean.
On the “&” of 1 and the “&” of 3 the hand moves without touching the strings. Keep it moving there, in the same down-up rhythm.
On the “&” of 2 and the “&” of 4, brush the top three or four strings, a little softer than the downs.
On beat 1, pick only the chord’s root on its lowest string: the 6th string for G, the 5th for C, the 4th for D. On beat 3, pick another bass note of the same chord, a string or two higher.
At 100 BPM a bar lasts 2.40 seconds and you play 150 strokes a minute. Slow motion at ×0.5 brings that down to 75.
Folk and country strumming splits the chord in two: a bass note picked on its own, then a strum of the higher strings. Alternating between two bass notes makes the bass line walk, the sound of country, bluegrass and campfire songs.
Change it in the pattern builder
Count “1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &” and play bass note on beat 1, down on beat 2, up on the “&” of 2, second bass note on beat 3, down on beat 4 and up on the “&” of 4.
100 BPM here, 150 strokes a minute. Learn it near 60 BPM; songs with this feel usually sit between 90 and 130 BPM.
It is intermediate: the hard part is the change from the up to the second bass note on beat 3. Get D DU D DU and D DU UDU steady first, then take this one from 60 BPM.
The chord’s root on its lowest string (6th string for G, 5th for C and A, 4th for D), then another bass note of the same chord for the alternating bass.