[MUSIC]
So let's just look at a little
exercise to just kinda
start to introduce some
other ideas for patterns of strumming.
And as I mentioned before,
we're working on just
quarter notes [SOUND] one,
two, three, four.
Now I'm back on a C chord here
[SOUND] one, two, three, four.
[MUSIC]
Now one thing we can do is revisit that
concept that for every downstroke,
there is an equal and
opposite upstroke, which is setting us up.
[MUSIC]
So we have one, and
two, and three and four.
Right?
So that upstroke is sort of the reset, but
it's also a viable strum stroke, right?
It's a rhythmic option that we have.
So if we played all the up strokes,
it would sound like
[MUSIC]
one and two and three and four.
And okay, that's gonna get,
[MUSIC]
that's gonna get to be a little much, but
what if we just work on
adding one of those in.
Like let's say we go one and
two, three, four.
So here's an exercise where we're
gonna take the first beat of
the measure and
play both the downstroke and the upstroke.
And note, that would be an eighth note.
If we take a quarter note and
divide it in two, give it two parts,
then it's called an eighth note.
So we'd have,
[MUSIC]
one and two, three, four.
One and two, three, four.
And this could be,
[MUSIC]
this could be a challenge at first.
And when you're just beginning,
just hang in there,
get this to happen, and
remember not to swing too wide.
You pick a little pendulum here
should really only be right
along the axis of your strings.
[MUSIC]
One and two, three, four.
One and two, three, four.
Right?
What if we did it on beat two,
it would sound like this.
[MUSIC]
One, two and three, four.
One, two and three, four.
Well, let's continue along these lines,
let's try it on beat three.
[MUSIC]
One, two, three, and four.
One, two, three and four.
You get the picture now,
let's try it on four.
And you just complete your cycle here.
[MUSIC]
One, two, three, four and one.
Two, three, four, and one.
All right, if you could
practice on each of those beats
using the eighth notes in that fashion,
what you'll start to do is
kind of develop this little rhythmic
independence in your head like, wow,
now I know what it feels like.
Each beat of the measure, each zone,
kinda has it's own little terrain to it.
I mean, it's almost like terrain,
is how I think of it.
It feels and
looks totally different to my musical ear.
And so then you can kinda use
that to create rhythms that work
in whatever song environment you're in and
create a groove.
Alright, let's work on some
rhythms in a new key here.
We'll just go to E.
And in fact, I'm gonna play just
a progression that just has two chords.
So.
We'll just toggle back between
the chord E, and then its five chord.
Now the five in the key of E.
E, F, G, A, B, alright.
Just going up the letter names here.
It's B.
So we use B seven chord.
[MUSIC]
So, one and
two, three, four.
One and two, three, four.
One and two, three, four.
One and two, three, four.
One, two and three, four.
One, two and three, four.
One, two and three, four.
One, two, three, four.
One, two, three, four.
One, two, three, four.
One, two, three, four.
One, two, three, four.
One, two, three
[MUSIC]
[INAUDIBLE] Two, three, four and one.
Alright, I just kind of
shifted all the way through.
We did the upstroke note on eighth note.
On rhythm on first beats,
second, third, and fourth beats.
[LAUGH] Now,
wouldn't do that necessarily in a song.
We'd probably just pick one and
predominantly stick with it,
although varying things slightly
is definitely encouraged.
Keeping ourselves and
our audience interested.
And let's say, now we're gonna go.
Let's say we're gonna go to the key of G,
alright?
So those ideas
[MUSIC]
will work wherever you put them in
terms of your strumming chords,
[SOUND] and
you can,
let's say we speed up a little bit.
[MUSIC]
One, two, and three, four,
and one, two, and three, four, and
one, two, and three, four, and one,
two, and three, four, and one.
Alright?
So, I'm giving you some ideas.
These are just ideas.
This little toolbox, though,
of being able to double up and
play that upstroke on any of the beats
in the measure, is something that will
help you find cool rhythms that work in
the songs that you're learning to play.
[MUSIC]