Guitar Strumming Tips from Special Guest Juice

Walt: Okay, so here we have a special guest, Juice, show them some love in the chat. I am not going to leave record this one. So this is it man. So really quick, please subscribe written comment and we are going to be doing strumming and he just started playing like three weeks ago, that is the truth I am not kidding. So all the question that he has, I am sure everyone else has the same questions who had just started, so let us do this. “How good is Walt at guitar, I want to see him rip it up for a minute?

Juice: He is really good.

Walt: Really?

Juice: Amazing dude.

Walt: Cool, thank you.

Juice: Do you want to rip this?

Walt: No I would rather not.

Juice: I want to rip it. Sorry.

Walt: So the first thing with the strumming, let us look at his left hand right here and play your G chord down. His finger should be closer to the fret. That is the first thing, like you want to make sure it is there but that is pretty left hand, there are two parts of strumming. Obviously the big part is this guy right here, so when you are strumming what you want to do kind of like the secret to strumming is that you do not want to stop moving your hand ever.

So never stop moving your hand. Let us give you a pattern right here behind us. Let me fix this, so I can not play with harmonics. I can play with harmonics but here in this pattern here -- very good.

Juice: You thought me that.

Walt: That is right, very good. Okay so we have here 1 and 2 and end, end, there is your pattern.

Juice: 1 and 2 and end.

Walt: Yes, so just strum.

Juice: You are saying just strum.


Walt: The thing with strumming is that you want to find out --

Juice: The chords are very easy. I think I am having a hard time.

Walt: If you want to find out when you are strumming what is the lowest denominator of the strum and whatever the answer to that is that is the frequency of your strum pattern. So here behind us, we have all quarter notes. So play just quarter notes and play down beats. Here is the trick guys, his hand is not, what is the word?

Juice: It is not rhythmic?

Walt: No, it is very rhythmic. It never stops moving, so play it again. So now I would do this, now strum these eight notes. So those are your eight notes, 1 and, 2 and, 3 and 4 and now did you see how you played those eight notes straight through?

Juice: Yes.

Walt: If I were to put a rest here, let us put a rest here. Okay let us make this a quarter note rest instead of 3/8 notes, let us adopt this quarter note and make this an 8th note and what we will do is tie this 8th note to this.

Juice: I think it does a little clarity, just a little bit.

Walt: Before we had 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 end, but we still have the eight notes, so we are going to strumming those 3/8 notes that he just did before, but now just because there are a couple of rests, nothing changes except for the fact that you just do not play them, you keep going with it, you got that? So you keep doing the 8 8th notes this is a little bit tricky for you, let us do a little bit simpler.

Juice: So it is just you are going to keep me on beat too.

Walt: I will try.

Juice: Okay.

Walt: Did you see how his hand stopped?

Juice: I cannot stop.

Walt: You cannot stop, so that is the secret to strumming.

Juice: I see.

Walt: Keep going.

Juice: I know, but I am trying to not make it move but then I want to play it, so it is tough.

Walt: And all of these students have the same exact question as you, every one of them. Just keep going. Just do not play on the down beat 3 or the up beat 3. He is playing on the up beat of three. 1 and 2 and 3, 4 and -. If I am going to change the chords, it goes like into our earlier lesson together. If I keep that pattern right, you can change the chord on the rest. Sometimes the chord might be on the other tune, so it is not always going to be on the rest that was G, G, G, D, A, A. So that is the idea, do not stop get them, get them.

Juice: Do not stop get it, get it.

Walt: Do you know how my hand keeps going? Now here is the cool thing about strumming, is that when you get strumming that pattern, most son