How to Read Strumming Patterns

The count comes first

Most songs are in 4/4 time: four beats to a bar. To strum in 8th notes you split each beat in two and count “1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and”, written 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &.

This is the rule that makes every pattern readable: the hand goes down on every number and up on every &, whether it hits the strings or not. A pattern only tells you which of those eight movements touch the strings. Keep the arm moving like a pendulum and the rhythm stays even, even when a pattern has gaps.

The symbols you will see

Strumming patterns usually do not say which strings to hit. Down strums normally cover most or all of the chord’s strings; up strums often catch only the top three or four.

Reading rhythm notation and slashes

Some songbooks write strumming as rhythm slashes on a staff instead of D and U. The slashes use the same stems and flags as notes, so you read them as note lengths. In 4/4:

• Time signature: the top number is beats per bar; the bottom number is the note that gets one beat (4 = quarter note). 3/4 has three quarter-note beats per bar.
• Rest: a silent beat or part of a beat. Your hand keeps moving.
• Tie: a curved line joining two notes. Strum the first and let it ring through the second.
• Dot after a note: adds half its length. A dotted quarter lasts one and a half beats.

To turn slashes into strums: quarter-note slashes are down strums on the numbers; pairs of eighth-note slashes are down-up on the number and its &.

Basic strumming patterns for beginners: six to start with

Each grid is one bar of 4/4, except the waltz. Read across: D or U means hit the strings, – means the hand moves without hitting them.

1. Quarter notes

Four even down strums. Use this to learn chord changes before adding anything else.

2. Straight 8ths

Every movement hits the strings. Keep the ups lighter than the downs.

3. Down, down-up

Written D DU D DU. The first real pattern: a miss on the & of 1 and the & of 3.

4. The folk-pop pattern

Written D DU UDU, or D D U U D U. The miss on beat 3 is the hard part: the hand goes down past the strings and comes back up to hit the & of 3.

5. Muted backbeat

Straight 8ths with a muted strum on beats 2 and 4, where a drummer’s snare would hit. Relax the fretting hand onto the strings for the x, then press again.

6. Waltz in 3/4

Three beats per bar, counted 1 & 2 & 3 &. Accent beat 1 to make the waltz feel clear.

How to practise a new pattern

1. Mute the strings with the fretting hand and strum the pattern on the dead strings while counting out loud. You only have to think about the right hand.
2. Add one chord and play the pattern over and over. Em or G is easiest, because every string rings.
3. Add a second chord and change on beat 1. If the new chord is not ready, keep strumming anyway; the rhythm matters more than a clean chord at first.
4. Slow down until you can play four bars without a mistake, then speed up a little. A metronome keeps you honest: the online metronome has a speed trainer that starts below your goal tempo and steps up every few bars. To match a recording, tap along with it on the tap BPM counter (or drop the audio file into the BPM finder) and set the metronome a little below that tempo.

Good chords to practise with are the open cowboy chords: G, C, D and Em cover a lot of songs in the key of G major.

Common mistakes

• Stopping the hand on a gap. The miss in pattern 4 is a movement, not a pause. Stopping breaks the timing.
• Strumming from the elbow only. Most of the motion should come from a loose wrist, with the forearm following.
• Gripping the pick too hard. Hold it just firmly enough that it does not fall. A loose grip lets it glide over the strings.
• Hitting all six strings on every up strum. Ups usually catch the top strings only; that is what makes them lighter.
• Not counting. Count out loud until the pattern feels automatic. If you lose the count, you lose the pattern.

Reading patterns on chord sheets

Chord sheets usually put chord names over the beat where the change happens and give one strumming pattern for the whole song or section. Many songs use a lighter pattern in the verse and a fuller one in the chorus. If no pattern is given, start with pattern 3 or 4, listen to the recording, and adjust where the strong strums fall. Reading chord names is covered in how to read chord charts.