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After you can successfully switch between chords. The next step is to learn a few strums.

The beat is what we typically respond to in music. We tap our foot or clap our hands to the beat while listening to music. If you have ever danced, you are responding to the beat and the harmonic rhythm of the song.

Level I - Basic “Four” Strum

Chords and music are organized into bars or measures. For the Basic “Four” Beat Strum, the number of beats per bar or measure is four. This is the most common number of beats per bar used in songs.

Counting evenly, count the down beats using 1 2 3 4.

All strums in Level I are played using ALL down strokes (▼).

Level II - Four Famous 8th Note Strum Styles

For level II eight notes strums every beat has two parts, a down part and an up part. If you are tapping our foot evenly, you hear the down part of the beat when your foot strikes the floor, the up part of the beat is when you’re resetting our foot for the next down beat.

Counting evenly, count the down beats using 1 2 3 4 and the up beats with “and”, Indicated with a plus sign below.

1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +

You can strum down on the down beat (▼), the numbers and down or up on the up beat (▲), the “and” (+). For a lighter should strum up on the “and”. For a heavier sound strum down on the up. BUT – Always down on the down beat.

Remember to count evenly. This ensures you’ll be playing in tempo. It’s critical to be always be playing in time, at any tempo.