A strum is when one hand holds down the notes of a guitar chord, while the other hand plays across the strings to make the strings sound using a guitar pick, fingers or thumb. When you strum a guitar, the right arm rests on top of the guitar and the usual place to strum is over the sound hole or between the sound hole and bridge. For an electric guitar, which doesn’t have a sound hole, the strumming is between the pickups, or over them if the guitar has three pickups.
If using a pick for strumming, hold it between the thumb and index finger as illustrated here.
For strumming without a pick, strum with either the thumb, index finger or all the fingers. See the video below for a demonstration of how to strum a guitar with a pick, fingers or thumb.
How to Strum a Guitar with a Simple G Chord
The most basic guitar strums are on the downbeat where a chord changes. A popular beginning strum is to play using all downstrokes. A downstroke is when you strum with the pick downward and away from you. If you are familiar with musical notes, the rhythm will use all quarter notes (1/4 notes). Let’s try a basic strum using the Simple G chord to the right. If you need help reading the guitar chord chart, here is a free guitar lesson on to learn how to read guitar chords.
Strum the Simple G by playing three strings with either pick, fingers or thumb while holding the indicated string down behind the 3rd fret with your pinky (see video). Don’t press down too hard. Strum downward. Single strum is indicated by a single slash “/ .”
When chords change or a chord appears for the first time, its letter takes the place of the first slash, as in “G / / / .”
The vertical bar lines (“|”) are not strums — they are used to indicate measures, which are sections with an equal number of strums. Note that here we have four strums in each measure.Chord Exercise for G.
Strum slowly at first, and try to keep a steady, regular speed. If you are having some trouble, watch this video on how to strum a guitar using the Simple G chord.
Because strums are rhythmic, it is good to practice them with a metronome. Metronomes (as the one here in the eMedia Guitar Toolkit) can provide an audio click and visual indicator so you can stay on the beat.
How to Strum a Guitar Using the Double Strum
A very common way of playing the guitar is to use the double strum. After strumming down, as you did in the single strum, this time lightly brush the strings as you swing the hand back up. This is called an upstroke. The rhythm is now using eighth notes (1/8 notes). Usually you strum just the highest two or three strings on the up strum, although there is no hard and fast rule on this. This strum is notated as you see below.
To learn more guitar strumming patterns and styles check out eMedia Guitar Method. This award-winning guitar lesson software uses videos, interactivity, and great songs to make learning easy and fun.