Nothing looks easier than strumming, but that’s because great players make it look easy. In reality it takes a some work to sound great when you strum a guitar. You have to have rhythm, a good sense for patterns, and good form.
Reasons to learn strum patterns and to teach them to your students:
– Guitarists do lots of strumming of chords…especially beginners.
– Different strumming patterns can make the same 3 chords into a brand new song.
– Introducing new strumming patterns will give your students an achievable challenge.
– Strong rhythm and strumming patterns will make your class sound musical quickly.
Here are 5 strumming videos for your viewing pleasure. Have a look, show them to your students, and wow everyone with your great rhythm guitar work!
GuitarSkills.com
This video teaches you how to read and how to notate strumming patterns. It’s quick and easy to learn.
GuitarDownUnder.com
This is the first of 8 great basic strum patterns.
Strum Pattern 2 from GuitarDownUnder
This is the 2nd. Enjoy six more strum patterns and check out the pattern notation on GuitarDownUnder.com!
Next Level Guitar
This video is great because it starts out talking about strumming from the arm rather than the wrist (Students tend to get lazy and strum from the wrist, so this is important.). The video moves along with a lot of great patterns.
Tomas Michaud
This video is great because it covers strumming with a pick and with your fingers. The presenter talks about how to hold the pick as well, so that you don’t massacre the chord and strings. The video also incorporates muting which is a bonus!