Smoothing out strumming?

You start the next measure again on the very first beat, which is the first downstrum. It's a constant repetition of the same pattern, and every first beat gets the same downstrum. Matt is saying that the what sounds to you like the end of the measure is actually part of the begining of the first. So it will 'end' on D U, which is followed immediately by the first downstrum again. Once you've locked into the rhythm you'll find it very easy to continue, it's just the process of getting the pattern and how it should sound in your head.

Good luck!

Hi Arjen you've perfectly explained my point: when the last beat of a measure ends with an upstrum and the first beat of the following measure starts with a downstrum you would hear it like a continous sound. If you lsiten cloasely you only hear a difference when you change chords in the first measure because even if the sound is uninterrupted the following beat downstrum is higher/lower (it depends if the chord is higher/lower than the previous one) than the previous upstrum.

Hi Mike, Regarding your pattern it is not clear how long are the notes (sorry but I do not have soundfiles in office so I could not listen to your mp3s) but it seems like you're playing a 3/4 signature

D du D

or if the Dud is as long as the first D it would be an half measure. In the first case it would be

beat 1: D
beat 2: du
beat 3: D

so there would be some distance bewteen the last beat of measure one and the first beat of measure 2

In the second case (which I think is more plausible since very few songs are played in 3/4 signature), the resulting sound would be something like

ton (means long sound of a quarter/1beat note), ta_tataTon ta_tataTon etc. where ta_ is as long as the two quick tata and so you could understand that the new measure starts the third time you play a "Ton"

Otherwise if the pattern is different (maybe something simple like D du D du) it seems you are playing a 4/4 measure in 3/4 quarters messing change chords and everything. It is a quite common mistake that I've also made for quite a time and that I solved thinking about the sound it should result from the pattern. That's my method when I see a new pattern: try to imagine how it would sound remembering that if I miss some strums the sound of upstrums would be longer than expected

Arjen, Matt, Cnev, and others....thanks for all the VERY helpful tips on strumming. You guys have enlightened me quite a bit.

Speaking to Mike's earlier comment about wanting to hear people play....how DOES one go about providing a link to an .mp3?? Do I need to have storage space on a server somewhere??

Speaking to Mike's earlier comment about wanting to hear people play....how DOES one go about providing a link to an .mp3?? Do I need to have storage space on a server somewhere??
Yes, and it's free. Just sign up for either http://www.soundclick.com or http://www.dmusic.com Most popular right now is soundclick.

Once you are comfortable with that rhythm you can start adding the syncopation, (removing strums).

I found this helped when I started. I would strum pretty much every song this way until I became comfortable and then started adding syncopation which tends to kind of flow naturally after awhile.

Thanks for the advice cnev...the thing is I am comfortable with the DuDuDu... I am now trying to "move on" to bigger abd better things. I figured everyone always says The Beatles' songs are fairly easy so I thought it would be a good place to start...

matt,...I am not sure what the time measure is for the song...it is a Beatles song so I am assuming 4/4...I guess my main concern was just getting the strumming down and not getting into the theory behind it. I'd listen to the song then try to copy it...and repeat as necessary.

Unfortunately, in some Beatles songs it's difficult for me to gett he strumming pattern because the vocals afre VERY dominant in their songs...

OK...I think I am getting close here...howdoes this sound:

Eight Days A Week Strumming. I caught myself rocking back and forth while playing...you'll hear me stumble at the end...

Now my only other question is whether this is the right strumming pattern for the song :?:

Thanks :lol:

Your getting close Mike. It sounds like you are starting to repeat the strumming pretty good and not stopping on the changes. You may need to slow it down just a little until you get the changes dead on plus I think the song is a little slower anyway. I say this because you can hear a choked chord at 11 and 28 seconds just because you keep strumming before you have the fingers quite right. But that is a good thing for the strumming hand. Just a little more practice and the fretting hand will catch up.

I will let others comment on the pattern itself but I think it is partly correct.

Y You may need to slow it down just a little until you get the changes dead on plus I think the song is a little slower anyway. I say this because you can hear a choked chord at 11 and 28 seconds just because you keep strumming before you have the fingers quite right.

Thanks for the quick reply Nils...and you can probably guess what chord that I am "choking" on...YEP...D Chord...such a simple little chord that I can play NO PROBLEM except during chord changes!

Mike, take this for what it's worth, meaning it's just a suggestion from a fellow struggling newbie, but you might want to try some alternate fingerings for that pesky D chord.

Personally, I play it using my index finger on the first string, my middle finger on the third string, and my ring finger on the second string. I think that's backwards compared to how most people play it but, for some reason, I can change to it better that way.

Just a thought.

Thanks Snarfy, maybe I'll try that tomorrow...

Does it effect how you change to other chords from the D Chord?

It seems to work okay for me. On paper, you'd think that it would make it more difficult to get to an E, for example, but it just seems to work for me.

I used to always play the D by doing a mini barre with the index, and hitting the 2nd string, third fret with my ring finger, but I had a lot of trouble chainging to, and from, that fingering.

Thanks for the quick reply Nils...and you can probably guess what chord that I am "choking" on...YEP...D Chord...such a simple little chord that I can play NO PROBLEM except during chord changes!
No matter how you play the dreaded D chord (I use traditional fingering, middle high E string, ring B string, index G string) it WILL all of a sudden one day just fall into place whenever you want it to. Then you will be facing the full barre F and Bm chords.
Playing guitar has alot of hills to climb, some higher than others and no matter how long you have been playing there are always new challenges ahead.

I have been practicing the F chord and now that my guitars are prpoperly setup I have no problem playing them...now trasitioning to them is going to be a MOUNTAIN to climb!

I have been practicing the F chord and now that my guitars are prpoperly setup I have no problem playing them...now trasitioning to them is going to be a MOUNTAIN to climb!

I had actually found the F chord pretty easy to transition to but had a bear of a time transitioning away. I think I slanted my index finger too much and it had me all disjointed. Took awhile but that to went away.

Had a go at this Eight Days a Week tune last night ... quite a fun tune to play. :)

Btw Mikespe, do you play the chorus with the barred or non-barred Bm? Found I can play the barred one okay but switching to it was a bit err ... sluggish. :oops:

Played around with the strumming pattern in the song too ... sounds fairly okay although I'm a bit funny with the final D in the chorus. Still have to work on that bit. :)