Sixteenth-Note Strumming Pattern

161 strumming patterns from beginner to funk and Bollywood, played with real chords, with slow motion and a moving strum hand.

All sixteen sixteenth notes: the hand motion behind funk, pop and fast folk. Written in arrows it is DUDU DUDU DUDU DUDU.

The player above plays it at 70 BPM over the chords G – Em – C – D. Press Start to hear it, or slow it down to see each stroke.

How to count Sixteenth down-ups

Count	1	e	&	a	2	e	&	a	3	e	&	a	4	e	&	a
Strum	↓	↑	↓	↑	↓	↑	↓	↑	↓	↑	↓	↑	↓	↑	↓	↑
Hand	↓	↑	↓	↑	↓	↑	↓	↑	↓	↑	↓	↑	↓	↑	↓	↑

Say the count out loud and strum only on the bold words: 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a

↓ 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.

DUDU DUDU DUDU DUDU fills all sixteen sixteenth-note slots in the bar: eight down and eight up. Four strokes fall on the beat and twelve between beats. The bar ends with an up strum on the “a” of 4: many players let go of the chord there and change while the open strings ring.

Playing it

Let the wrist do more of the work than with eighth notes: sixteenths at 70 BPM are almost five strums a second. Hold the pick loosely and brush only a few strings with each stroke.

Up strums

On every “e” and every “a”, brush the top three or four strings, a little softer than the downs.

Practise it step by step

Rhythm only: mute the strings with your fretting hand and play it while saying “1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a”.
Hold G, set slow motion to ×0.5 (35 BPM) and play along until four bars in a row are even.
Loop the trickiest moment on its own: the end of the bar, from the “a” of 4 into the next bar, where the chord changes.
Normal speed at 42 BPM, counting “1 e & a” with the hand moving on every sixteenth.
Chord changes: G – Em – C – D, one a bar (or every 2 bars until the changes are clean).
Up 4 BPM at a time to 70 BPM, then toward 125 BPM for faster songs.

At 70 BPM a bar lasts 3.43 seconds and you play 280 strokes a minute. Slow motion at ×0.5 brings that down to 140.

Chords to try

G – Em – C – D C – G – Am – F Am – F – C – G

Acoustic pop strumming copies the drum kit. The chuck stands in for the snare on beats 2 and 4, and sixteenth-note patterns copy the busy hi-hat, so one guitar can sound like a whole rhythm section in a cover or a singer-songwriter set.

One step away

Make the down on beat 2 an accented chuck, and make the down on beat 4 an accented chuck and you have Funk sixteenths, backbeat chuck (DUDU XUDU DUDU XUDU).

Change it in the pattern builder

Common questions

How do you count the Sixteenth down-ups strumming pattern?

Count “1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a” and play down on beat 1, up on the “e” of 1, down on the “&” of 1, up on the “a” of 1, down on beat 2, up on the “e” of 2, down on the “&” of 2 and up on the “a” of 2, and so on.

What tempo is Sixteenth down-ups played at?

70 BPM here, 280 strokes a minute. Learn it near 42 BPM; songs with this feel usually sit between 80 and 125 BPM.

Is Sixteenth down-ups good for beginners?

It is intermediate: the hard part is the end of the bar, from the “a” of 4 into the next bar, where the chord changes. Get D DU D DU and D DU UDU steady first, then take this one from 42 BPM.

Which chords go with Sixteenth down-ups?

Any chords. Try G – Em – C – D, or C – G – Am – F, or Am – F – C – G, or type your own in Advanced.

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