Strumming (take II)

Strumming

Reviewing what we’ve talked about regarding strumming so far (which really hasn’t been much), it looked like this:

Simple strumming for most songs also goes to a count of eight down-strokes/strums. Accents (hard strums) are on counts 1, 4, and 7, like this:

G                                                                                                                                   D/F#

Name            a - bove               all names                                         You are

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
A			A			A		A			A			A

Em                                                                                                                                D

Worthy                   of all                praise         and my

Let’s break that down further, as remembering to accent strums on 1,4, and 7 while you’re ALSO trying to remember where to put your fingers and which chord is coming up next is a lot. So….
Generally most popular worship songs (and pop/rock songs in general) follow 2 different kinds of rhythm patterns:

1. Songs where beats come together in sets of 8
2. Songs where beats come together in sets of 6

Most of the time you’ll be able to distinguish whether a song has beats that come in a set of 4 or a set of 6 by when the chords change:

• Songs that are counted in 8 will often have the chords changing on 1 and 5 count. These songs follow a traditional ‘rock’ beat feel.
• Songs that are counted in 6 will often have the chords changing on the 1 and 4 count. These songs lend themselves to a more relaxed, flowing rhythm. 

Looking closer at an 8 beat song….
Take out the accents of How Great is Our God and you can feel where the beats and strums could potentially land. If we strummed every beat (number) below, it wouldn’t sound bad - it would be what I’d call ‘chugging’.... This is a good way to begin strumming with a song if you aren’t sure how to strum. Each number is an equal measure of time.

G                                                                                                                                   D/F#

Name            a - bove               all names                                         You are

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Em                                                                                                                                D

Worthy                   of all                praise         and my

And now a song with 6 beats...
Songs counted out in 6 beats lend themselves to guitar strumming much more naturally. Many of you might wonder why I didn’t show this to you first. :-) With these songs, the strum accents are on beats 1 and 4 every time.

G

Who              am I       that the high        - est King -       would    

1	2	3	4	5	6	1	2	3	4	5	6
A			A			A			A

Em                                D   G

Wel                   - come                       me            

Another example….

G

He                  is jealous              for me           

1	2	3	4	5	6	1	2	3	4	5	6
A			A			A			A

Em

Loves     like a         hurr - i -   ciane I am       a tree       

Notice that the accents follow a consistent pattern of two quieter strums between the accented strums. Also, these strums in the tables above only count the ‘down’ strokes. It’s totally valid to throw in some quieter upstrokes in between them. Also, try not to make it feel too ‘mechanical’. It should feel natural, so if you feel like you’re getting tense and tight trying to make these work above, forget about the accents for a while and just strum naturally.