Alternating Strumming Patterns

Alternating strumming patterns use both up and down pick strokes. We showed that the angle of the downstroke is usually somewhere around 45 degrees.

The up-stroke sounds like the opposite of the down-stroke, but it's not exactly a mirror-image of the down-stroke. The up-stroke is a shorter, more perpendicular stroke than the down-stroke. You'll see this in the next video.

The upstroke may not include all of the strings (only hitting the highest 3 or 4 strings).

'And One And' Strumming Pattern

 

Here is the count for the strumming pattern we'll be using throughout this lesson. The up and down arrows stand for up and down strokes with the guitar pick.

Don't worry about whether you understand the count. Watch the video below, compare it with the Microsong, and imitate what you hear.

Form a 'G' chord with your left hand, and strum down and up in steady time with your right hand, as shown in the video below.
Here is a video of the right hand part. Make a 'G' chord with your left hand (See the diagram above.)

This is the only video example of the right hand strumming part. The rest of the videos will show the chord changes in the left hand, since the right hand strumming patter is the same in each example. The only difference is that you will adjust your strumming to avoid hitting the low string on chords like C, A, Am, D, etc.

Try to use the same combination of up and down strokes as shown in the video. This is the same strum pattern we will use throughout this lesson. We will apply this pattern to several different chord combinations.

Click on the Microsong button to the right to hear the mp3 practice track for the video above.