161 strumming patterns from beginner to funk and Bollywood, played with real chords, with slow motion and a moving strum hand.
Up strums on every “and” and nothing on the beat: the off-beat skank of ska and many reggae and pop songs. Written in arrows it is U U U U.
The player above plays it at 150 BPM over a single C 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.
U U U U uses four of the eight eighth-note slots in the bar: all of them up strokes, with the hand swinging past the strings four times. None of the strokes lands on a beat: the pattern lives entirely between the beats, which is why it sounds so light against the bass and drums. 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.
Your hand still goes down on every beat, but it misses the strings. Only the up strums on the off-beats sound, short and bright, usually on the top three or four strings.
On every beat the hand moves without touching the strings. Keep it moving there, in the same down-up rhythm.
On every “&”, brush the top three or four strings, a little softer than the downs.
At 150 BPM a bar lasts 1.60 seconds and you play 150 strokes a minute. Slow motion at ×0.5 brings that down to 75.
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 up on the “&” of 1, up on the “&” of 2, up on the “&” of 3 and up on the “&” of 4.
150 BPM here, 150 strokes a minute. Learn it near 90 BPM; songs with this feel usually sit between 120 and 180 BPM.
Yes, once four downs and chord changes feel easy. The one moment to watch is the up on the “&” of 1 and the silent beat after it; start it at ×0.5, 75 BPM.
Any chords. Try C only, or G – C – D, or Am – F – C – G, or type your own in Advanced.