161 strumming patterns from beginner to funk and Bollywood, played with real chords, with slow motion and a moving strum hand.
A short, choked strum on beats 2 and 4: strum, then let your fretting fingers relax at once so the chord stops. Written in arrows it is D D.
The player above plays it at 76 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 D uses two of the eight eighth-note slots in the bar: all of them down strokes, with the hand swinging past the strings six times. Every stroke lands on a beat, so it is as steady as rhythm gets. Beats 1 and 3 have no down strum. The bar ends with a silent swing on the “&” of 4, a free moment to move your fretting hand to the next chord.
Strum, then immediately relax the fretting fingers so the chord stops: the “chop”. Reggae is slower than ska, with a lot of space around each chop.
On beat 1, the “&” of 1, the “&” of 2, beat 3, the “&” of 3 and the “&” of 4 the hand moves without touching the strings. Keep it moving there, in the same down-up rhythm.
Hit beat 2 and beat 4 harder (the bold arrows), with a bigger swing rather than a tighter grip.
On beat 2 and beat 4, strum, then lift the fretting fingers off the frets (still touching the strings) so the chord stops at once.
At 76 BPM a bar lasts 3.16 seconds and you play 38 strokes a minute. Slow motion at ×0.5 brings that down to 19.
Reggae and ska turn rhythm guitar upside down: the guitar plays the off-beats and leaves the beats to the bass and drums. Ska is fast, with an up strum on every “&”. Reggae is slower, with a short choked strum on beats 2 and 4.
Change it in the pattern builder
Count “1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &” and play accented short down on beat 2 and accented short down on beat 4.
76 BPM here, 38 strokes a minute. Learn it near 46 BPM; songs with this feel usually sit between 65 and 95 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, 38 BPM.
Strum, then relax the fretting fingers at once while they still touch the strings. The chord dies immediately; that is the chop.