Cha-cha is an easy 4/4 strumming pattern in eighth notes. Written in arrows it is D D D DD.
The player above plays it at 116 BPM over a single Em chord. 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.
Cha-cha is an easy 4/4 strumming pattern in eighth notes. Written in arrows it is D D D DD.
The player above plays it at 116 BPM over a single Em chord. Press Start to hear it, or slow it down to see each stroke.
| Count | 1 | & | 2 | & | 3 | & | 4 | & |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strum | ↓ | · | ↓ | · | ↓ | · | ↓ | ↓ |
| 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.
D D D DD uses five of the eight eighth-note slots in the bar: all of them down strokes, with the hand swinging past the strings three times. Four strokes fall on the beat and one between beats. The bar ends with a down strum on the “&” of 4: change chord straight after it.
Say “one, two, three, cha-cha” and strum on every word. The two quick strums at the end are both down strokes, so the hand has to come back up fast and lightly between them.
On the “&” of 1, the “&” of 2 and the “&” of 3 the hand moves without touching the strings. Keep it moving there, in the same down-up rhythm.
Lift the hand just clear of the strings between strokes. Keep that return small: at 116 BPM each eighth note lasts 259 ms.
At 116 BPM a bar lasts 2.07 seconds and you play 145 strokes a minute. Slow motion at ×0.5 brings that down to 73.
Latin rhythms grow from the clave, a short pattern of five strokes over two halves that the whole band follows. Guitar parts lock to it with bass notes and short chord stabs, often played softly with the fingers.
Change it in the pattern builder
Count “1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &” and play down on beat 1, down on beat 2, down on beat 3, down on beat 4 and down on the “&” of 4.
116 BPM here, 145 strokes a minute. Learn it near 70 BPM; songs with this feel usually sit between 90 and 130 BPM.
Yes, once four downs and chord changes feel easy. The one moment to watch is the end of the bar, from the “&” of 4 into the next bar, where the chord changes; start it at ×0.5, 58 BPM.
Any chords. Try Em only, or C – G – Am – F, or Am – Dm – E, or type your own in Advanced.