Guitar Strumming Techniques

Strumming adds rhythm and personality to music.

Before you can play a mean guitar, you first need to know how to strum it. For most music genres, strumming consists of more than just playing a particular note, but strumming to add rhythm and personality to the music. There are a variety of guitar strumming techniques to do this based on skill level and music genre.

Down-Up Strumming

This is the most basic type of guitar strumming. It involves using a plastic guitar pick to play notes and simply consists of using the pick to rhythmically play notes first on downstrokes and again on upstrokes. Downstrokes consist of strumming the strings from the top of the guitar to the bottom and upstrokes are strumming strings from bottom to top.

Finger Picking

Finger picking is a strumming technique that doesn't utilize a guitar pick. It's done by using the nail of your index finger to strum a particular string. The thumb can be used as support for the index finger. Unlike down-up strumming, which is used to play more than one string at a time, finger picking is a technique that plays strings just one at a time. It's a common technique used by classical guitar players.

Skipped Beat

The skipped beat strumming technique is a modification of the basic down-up stroke. It creates a jump in rhythm to give music more flavor. It consists of strumming in the down-up style, then strategically skipping, or missing, a note that otherwise would have been played. It's important to keep the down-up rhythm intact with this technique so you're set up to play the next note.

Palm Muting

Palm muting is a strumming technique commonly utilized in the heavy metal music genre. It's used to dampen the notes to create a more bass-like sound. It consists of using the basic down-up strumming technique, but gently positing the strumming hand palm over the base portion of the strings. For less variety and more impact with certain notes, you can either do all upstrokes or all downstrokes.

References

• Guitar Chords Magic: Finger Strumming
• Fret Jam: Guitar Strumming Technique
• Guitar Noise: Palm Muting
• Online Guitar: Learning How to Strum the Guitar... Start With the Basics