Brain fart

I found the explanation. Here's a pic for everyone.

The Fender Player's Club website has a pdf titled "How to read Tablature", which by the looks of it is what the German magazine "Guitar" has taken as it's point of reference, shows the "V" as an upstroke and the "staple" or upside down, squared off "U" or whatever you want to call it, is the downstroke.
I've a song book (OK, it is German) that also shows the same notation.

Greybeard, or anybody,

Any idea why the "Staple" was chosen to represent a downstroke in that form of notation?

I can guess at the logic for using the V as an upstroke when it's in the context of being right next to a staff like that. Presumably it's because it refers to the direction of travel across the strings from higher pitched notes to lower ones, as seen on the diagram.

But why the "Staple" for Down?

What's the idea or origin behind that?

When I looked a bit more carefully through my music books I discovered both of the systems above, depending on the publisher.

Amongst the books, I also found TWO MORE strumming notation methods that were different again!!

One of them showed the direction across the strings, and it also showed how many of the strings to strum and which ones! :wink:

And all this time I've just been playing whatever sounded best... :o

Cheers, Chris

I rather liked the method shown below.

It also uses a "staple" shape, but here it seems to denote a linking of two actions in one beat, rather than just a stroke in one direction.

Here it links Down and Up again on the third beat of the first bar. In the second bar it's used to denote a Downstrum of a single string, followed by a hammer on (in the same beat).

From what Greybeard and Mwilliams say, it looks a bit as if the method Sid V. shows above is probably more original or "official", if there is such a thing, and that the others are somebody's ideas of a later 'improvement'??

Cheers, Chris

Ok, here is a pic of Stairway to heaven that my instructor wants me to play. He has included the strum pattern in the pic.
Does the strum pattern look right look right?

I rather liked the method shown below.

It also uses a "staple" shape, but here it seems to denote a linking of two actions in one beat, rather than just a stroke in one direction.

Here it links Down and Up again on the third beat of the first bar. In the second bar it's used to denote a Downstrum of a single string, followed by a hammer on (in the same beat).

From what Greybeard and Mwilliams say, it looks a bit as if the method Sid V. shows above is probably more original or "official", if there is such a thing, and that the others are somebody's ideas of a later 'improvement'??

Cheers, Chris
In your TAB the staple looking thing, in this case, is not a strum direction indicator. It means those two notes are eighth notes. the line above the other three notes in the bar indicate quarter notes.

Does the strum pattern look right look right?

Sorry mate, but I don't know how that one's supposed go. :? I'm sure someone will know though. Sorry for highjacking your thread, but in the course of trying to track down some of these strumming patterns and general info I've learned a lot along the way that hadn't quite stuck before. So thanks for that. :)

In your TAB the staple looking thing, in this case, is not a strum direction indicator. It means those two notes are eighth notes. .

Yes, exactly. That's what I was getting at :D

I guess it's a matter of personal preference, but I find that way very clear and useful. It tells me which direction to strum, which actions belong to each beat, and even which strings to strike or miss. Unfortunately, I rarely see it in the books I look at.

I guess that one reason it's used in the example aboves that it's music for one guy strumming one guitar, rather than an interpretation of something that a whole band played . So it's easier to be specific.

As Nils and Arjen said though, if you get any indication at all, it's usually easy enough to work out which way your supposed to go with regard to Down and Up. It's more that many systems only still tell part of the story.

One of the worst is when people simply write things like DDUDUD.

That could be played as D, DU, DU, D or perhaps D, DUD, U, D or maybe D, D, UDU, D or a variety of other interpretations, depending on whether you were using triplets, complete silence on one beat, or various other combinations. :shock:

Still, I suppose that working out how we choose to do the strumming is part of our job. 8)

Cheers, Chris

Chris,

Maybe it has something to do with whether you are above or below the equator. Like the direction of a whirlpool. :lol:

I've always read the V as an up stroke and the n (staple) as the downstroke.

Now if the V was attached to the end of a stick. I would assume that it was an arrow and it was pointing in the direction of the intended pick motion.

Although I'm sure different editorial staffs at different music publishers use different conventions.

Mike