How To Strum Guitar

Being able to strum an acoustic guitar well is one of the primary skills all guitarists accomplish. It’s a technique which is uniquely tied into your natural sense of rhythm and while for some this comes easily and without having to practice, others will struggle as essentially their sense of rhythm is underdeveloped. When you strum guitar it should feel effortless, producing a sound which is pleasing and smooth to listen to.

If learning how to strum guitar is proving difficult for you then it’s likely you’re making some common errors. The problems typically stem from the wrist and arm with students putting too much force into their strumming action. They have tense arms and are unable to relax their wrists all of which results in an overtly loud sound which is harsh and uncomfortable to listen too. For any teacher it can be hard to convince a student that they need to completely relax their arm and wrist in order to strum correctly as it goes totally against what their bodies want to do.

Strumming acoustic guitar is not only linked to rhythm but also to dynamics, that is how loudly or softly you can play guitar. This aspect is important since you want to be able to control your volume and have the ability to play softer or louder at will. A standard strumming volume will typically lie in the centre of your softest to loudest range giving you equal opportunity to change volume in either direction. As an exercise it can be useful to start off strumming as quietly as you can and gradually get louder and louder until you reach your limit before descending back down again.

Along with maintaining a relaxed wrist and arm motion your pick should be soft and easy to bend. This will help you to produce a sound which is smoother. You should only use the first few .mm of your pick and avoid digging it into the strings any deeper. Doing so will not only make your playing sound harsh and brittle but also make it ‘feel’ much harder to play as though it takes a lot of effort. When you accomplish how to strum guitar correctly you barely notice the resistance against the strings as you do it.

To practice strumming it’s a great idea to use the drum tracks provided on the site in the Practice Module. You can begin by choosing an easy progression as we want our focus to be placed upon the strum and not be distracted by having to devote any mental energy away from it. Begin slowly and as you get into a groove with each tempo keep changing to a new one. To further advance the exercise you can mix up your strums and tempos doing Strum No.1 at 120BPM then going down to 60BPM and trying to lock into Strum No.3. You’ll learn best how to strum guitar through challenging yourself.

Remember that the best way to master Guitar in a Nutshell strums is to learn them slowly and thoroughly in the first place. If you find that your strumming is giving you constant problems then it may be because you rushed too quickly through the learning process and your brain has never really recorded them properly. Check out the video lesson on how to strum guitar for more!