161 strumming patterns from beginner to funk and Bollywood, played with real chords, with slow motion and a moving strum hand.
The most famous strumming pattern of all, sometimes called “old faithful” or the island strum. The up strum on the “and” of 3 is what gives it its lift. Written in arrows it is D DU UDU.
The player above plays it at 90 BPM over the chords G – C – D. 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 DU UDU uses six of the eight eighth-note slots in the bar: three down and three up, with the hand swinging past the strings twice. Three strokes fall on the beat and three between beats. Beat 3 has no down strum; the up just before it rings across it, the syncopation that makes the pattern lift. 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 trick is the missing down strum on beat 3. Your hand still swings down past the strings there, so the up strum that follows lands exactly on the “&”. If your hand stops on beat 3, the rest of the bar falls apart.
On the “&” of 1 and beat 3 the hand moves without touching the strings. Keep it moving there, in the same down-up rhythm.
On the “&” of 2, the “&” of 3 and the “&” of 4, brush the top three or four strings, a little softer than the downs.
At 90 BPM a bar lasts 2.67 seconds and you play 135 strokes a minute. Slow motion at ×0.5 brings that down to 68.
The essential patterns use only plain down and up strums in eighth notes. The strumming hand swings down on every beat and up on every “&”, and each pattern is just a choice of which of those eight swings touch the strings. Two or three of them, played well, will carry most pop, folk and film songs.
Change it in the pattern builder
Count “1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &” and play down on beat 1, down on beat 2, up on the “&” of 2, up on the “&” of 3, down on beat 4 and up on the “&” of 4.
90 BPM here, 135 strokes a minute. Learn it near 54 BPM; songs with this feel usually sit between 70 and 130 BPM.
Yes, once four downs and chord changes feel easy. The one moment to watch is the up on the “&” of 2 and the silent beat after it; start it at ×0.5, 45 BPM.
Any chords. Try G – C – D, or C – G – Am – F, or Em – C – G – D, or type your own in Advanced.