{"id":3677,"date":"2017-02-08T17:47:04","date_gmt":"2017-02-08T22:47:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.musikalessons.com\/blog\/?p=3677"},"modified":"2023-01-25T15:28:48","modified_gmt":"2023-01-25T20:28:48","slug":"how-to-read-strumming-patterns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musikalessons.com\/blog\/2017\/02\/how-to-read-strumming-patterns\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Read Strumming Patterns for Guitar"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sadly, mastering strumming patterns is a skill that doesn\u2019t get much respect in the guitar world. When most people think of playing the guitar, they conjure up scenes of someone playing virtuosic solos shrouded by thick layers of fog from atop a huge stage in front of thousands of adoring fans. Even insanely-easy to learn and play power chords get more love than strumming patterns. But as it turns out, strumming patterns are one of the most important guitar skills to have. This goes for rhythm and lead players. Rhythm reading and understanding how to read strumming patterns can be very challenging for musicians new to playing the guitar, but don\u2019t fret! We\u2019re going to walk you through it with some helpful tips and exercises.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Alternate Picking<\/strong><\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"alternateBefore we talk about how to read strumming patterns or rhythmic notation, we absolutely have to talk alternate picking. Alternate picking is when you alternate between picking up and down. When you play a warmup or scale, you naturally begin by picking straight down, but many beginning guitar students pick back up while returning to the down position again. Not alternatively picking isn\u2019t just bad technique, it\u2019s a waste of energy. The faster you employ a smart alternative picking technique the faster you\u2019ll be able to master guitar strumming pattern basics.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a simple warmup to try out alternate picking: play the 6th open string of your guitar picking down. Then, hold down the 1st fret with your left hand index finger and pick upwards. Pick back down while moving your left hand middle finger to the 2nd fret. Pick back up while holding down your left hand ring finger on the 3rd fret. On the 4th fret, pick the string down again. Repeat the same thing on every open string until you get to the 1st string 4th fret. Once you get to the 4th fret of the first string, do everything exactly backwards until you get back to where you started on the open 6th string. Throughout this warmup and any scale you play, never pick one direction more than once.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Music Notation<\/strong><\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

A lot of young, eager guitar students look forward to reading music notation<\/a> as much as they look forward to a trip to the dentist, but I\u2019m here to tell you that dotted eighth notes and ties are not out to get you. Music notation is not some lofty, intellectual code used by only serious classical composers. It\u2019s the language that musicians of all styles and backgrounds use to speak to each other. Composers and songwriters actually want nothing more than for the musicians who play their pieces to fully understand and perform their music accurately, so chances are that the average sheet music you\u2019ve come across has been thoroughly written and arranged in a way that makes it as easy to understand as possible.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Breaking It All Down<\/strong><\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"basicLet\u2019s talk about the basics of what you\u2019ll see when you read the rhythm<\/a> in a song. The first thing you should pay attention to is the time signature. The time signature is the two numbers you\u2019ll see at the left side of the piece of music. You might run into something that looks like 4\/4 or some other combination of numbers. To make things easy, we\u2019re going to use 4\/4 or \u201cFour – Four\u201d as an example. The top number in a time signature represents how many beats there are in each measure of a piece. Measures are the boxes you see in a piece of music, and they\u2019re separated by bar lines. The bottom number of a time signature represents the value of a note. In our 4\/4 example, the bottom four is a quarter, as in quarter note. So, 4\/4 means four quarter notes per measure. 12\/8 would mean twelve eighth notes per measure.\u00a0 The time signature strictly tells you what sort of rhythm the piece should be played in, not how fast or slow the piece should be played. For instructions on tempo, there is usually some sort of written instruction at the top of a piece. If you\u2019re learning a pop song, you\u2019ll have to try and match the speed of the song by ear.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Now that we know what time signatures are, let\u2019s talk about how to read notes. Quarter notes represent the sound of one beat in a measure, and they look like this: \u2669\u00a0 If you see four quarter notes in a measure, it would be counted out like 1, 2, 3, 4. Eighth notes are counted out as 1-and-2-and-3-and-4-and, and they are played directly on and between beats. Eighth notes look like this:\u00a0 \u266b There are many other notes and symbols involved in music notation, but for now we\u2019ll just focus on quarter notes, eighth notes, and a few other simple symbols.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The way you use alternate picking to play scales and warmups will be similar to the way you think about how to read strumming patterns. Unless the song calls for a distinct driving beat, you\u2019ll alternate between up and down while strumming simple eighth notes. To practice, play one measure of four quarter notes and then a measure of eight eighth notes. Try not to pause in the middle. Feel free to practice with any chord you like:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"how<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Once you\u2019re comfortable with how to read strumming patterns above, we\u2019ll introduce a few other music notation symbols you\u2019re likely to see in music notation. Ties are symbols that connect one note to another. A note tying to another note sustains throughout the duration of the second note. Here\u2019s what a tie connecting two quarter notes looks like: \"tied Ties can cross over bar lines, and they add syncopation into strumming patterns.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Rests are symbols that tell musicians to be completely silent during a specified section of music. A quarter note rest is a symbol that represents the rest of a full beat and it looks like this:\u00a0 \"quarter<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

An eighth note rest is a symbol that represents the resting of an eighth note. It looks like this:\u00a0\u00a0 \"eighth<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a few measures of music with ties and rests to help get you started. We\u2019ve added in arrows and beat numbers to help you learn. Remember to rest completely when you see a rest symbol:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"how<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When you\u2019re ready, move on to this tougher exercise:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"strumming<\/p>\n

Knowing exactly where the main beats of a measure are is more than half the battle in being able to read rhythms and understand strumming patterns. It\u2019s a good idea to have a pencil out to mark exactly where the beats fall in songs with music notation.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Practice With a Metronome<\/strong><\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

Once you\u2019ve got a pretty good idea how to read strumming patterns, start practicing by playing them along to the steady beat of a metronome. Metronomes are devices that play perfectly-even and consistent beats. All musicians have a sort of internal metronome, but no one is perfect and practicing alongside a real one will help you get tighter and smarter with your playing. Every music store sells a variety of metronomes, and you can download free metronome apps right to your smartphone.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Learning By Looking and Listening<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"young<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Some strumming patterns look insanely intimidating on paper but sound catchy and easy to play. Sitting down to figure out the rhythmic notation of the song you want to learn is not always going to be the most efficient way to learn a piece of music. A good deal of your development as a guitar player should be by listening and watching the guitar players you want to sound like. Musical notation is an incredible way to understand music, but it only gives you a general idea of what something sounds like. If you want to learn how to read strumming patterns, immerse yourself in guitar music and imitate what you see and hear. Reading music notation is a great start, but you won\u2019t begin to progress until you log hours and hours with your instrument.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sadly, mastering strumming patterns is a skill that doesn\u2019t get much respect in the guitar world. When most people think […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":3684,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[333,46,6],"tags":[237,2,85,236],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Read Strumming Patterns for Guitar<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learning how to read strumming patterns may not be the funnest thing in the world, but it's very helpful for beginning guitarists getting a feel for rhythm.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.musikalessons.com\/blog\/2017\/02\/how-to-read-strumming-patterns\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Read Strumming Patterns for Guitar\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learning 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