Just as there are many ways to skin a cat, there are many ways to play the guitar – and one of the most fundamental methods is strumming.
In fact, learning how to strum a guitar is one of the most important skills you’ll learn on your guitar-playing journey.
Below, I’ll show you how to strum a guitar so you can start building strength and confidence in your strumming hand. I’ll also share a simple rule that will get you strumming along to almost any song – if you can count to four, that’s all you need.
It’ll give you the confidence you need to start playing songs and putting those chords you’ve learned to good use.
Just remember, consistency is the holy grail of improving your guitar playing. Learning how to strum a guitar is no different – spend just a few minutes each day with the strumming patterns below and pretty soon, you’ll be ready for more!
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Originally published on August 6th, 2019, this article was updated and republished on March 25th, 2024.
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Yes, I Want the FREE Download!The Importance of Strumming
Before we figure out how to strum a guitar, let’s look at what exactly we mean by strumming and why it’s so important.
Strumming involves a sweeping action with your fingers or a pick over multiple strings of a guitar, which makes the sound that we all know and love.
Although we focus a lot of our attention on our chord hand, our strumming hand plays an equally crucial role.
Strumming is especially important as it determines the rhythm and structure of a song – it’s the real driver of every song!
Experimenting with different strumming patterns and techniques for strumming with a pick, or without one, is an excellent way to inject some personality, emotion, and creativity into your playing.
With something as crucial as strumming, there are of course some challenges that make it a bit tricky.
The biggest one is getting the hang of maintaining a steady rhythm, all while your other hand is very busy. It takes a lot of coordination, but once you crack it with a bit of practice, it will start to feel really natural.
The Golden Rule of Strumming a Guitar
I’m not a huge “rules” guy — with the exception of guitar rules for strumming. There are certain rules on guitar that I think every beginner should adhere to, at least for a while.
The golden rule of strumming is as follows: downstroke on the downbeats and upstroke on the upbeats. Simple enough, right?
You may have noticed how I’ve been counting beats in previous lessons. The most common way to count music is to count the downbeats by counting to 4.
So, the first beat would be 1, the second 2, and so on.
Once you hit four, you return back to 1, which would end the first bar of music. This is a simple way to start counting music. When I count numbers, those are downbeats.
For upbeats, we’re going to count the space in between the downbeats.
I’ll denote this by saying “and” in between each beat. If you’re saying it out loud, it’ll sound like this:
“One and Two and Three and Four and…”
From there, you’re on to the next bar and you start over again. In short, a downbeat is a numbered beat and an upbeat is an “and.”
Guitar Strumming Exercise (For the Golden Rule!)
To apply the golden rule of strumming, I’m going to show you this simple exercise:
- Grab a G chord on your guitar
- Play downbeats with downstrokes on a moderate tempo (100 bpm)
- While playing just the downbeats, start thinking about the upbeats (the “and” beats)
- Now, start playing the upbeats with an upstroke as well
- Keep the rhythm steady and the volume of the guitar consistent between each strum
This strumming exercise introduces how to count music as well as how to properly strum chords in accordance with the beats of the music.
Of course, there are always exceptions to the golden rule, especially as you learn more strumming patterns.
Remember – not every strumming pattern is created equally. However, when you’re learning how to strum a guitar, you can count on the golden rule of strumming to improve your strumming technique.
Common Strumming Techniques
As you know, strumming is a fundamental guitar technique used to play chords and create rhythm in music. While learning how to pick individual strings is beneficial and can open up your song-playing capabilities, learning how to strum is the cornerstone of guitar playing.
This isn’t a one-size-fits-all skill – there’s a diverse range of styles and techniques for different musical genres and player preferences.
Each strumming pattern has its unique character, contributing to the overall feel and groove of a song.
Let’s take a look at some of the most common strumming techniques:
1. Gentle, Equal Downstrokes
This is strumming at its most basic, and a great place to start when learning about different strumming techniques.
Begin by playing steady, even downstrokes from the low E string all the way down to the high E string.
I find it’s common to not strum all strings equally at first. Usually, the low E string is played a little harder than the other strings, and the high E gets played a little lighter.
But with some practice, you can achieve smooth, consistent strokes that light up all strings equally.
2. Steady Upstrokes
As soon as your downstrokes start to sound better, move on to upstrokes. They work the same as above except in the opposite direction – from bottom to top.
But because you’re hitting the higher strings first, the upstroke sounds a bit lighter than the downstroke.
3. Combining Upstrokes and Downstrokes
Next, combine the two!
Alternate every stroke between up and down – this creates a nice, consistent rhythm that many guitar players use in their songs.
This combination of upstrokes and downstrokes will become a core part of your strumming technique.
4. Strum From the Wrist
This is one of the most crucial techniques when it comes to how to strum a guitar.
Many people think that strumming comes from the elbow, but this isn’t the correct technique.
Strumming needs to come from the wrist.
Using your elbow will quickly tire out your arm and give you much less control when you strum, but by using a loose, relaxed wrist, you can strum comfortably and easily for hours.
The Best Strumming Patterns to Master
Now that I’ve shown you some basic strumming techniques, let’s look at a few more complex ones that you can use to spice up your playing:
Boom Chick Guitar Strumming Pattern 101
The boom chick guitar strumming pattern is in country, bluegrass, rockabilly, and countless other genres. It’s a fun, percussive strumming pattern that will increase your strumming vocabulary.
The basic premise of the boom chick pattern involves a single note followed by a strum. In a way, you’ll be playing both simple basslines and chords!
As with all elements of the guitar, it may take some time to be competent at this strumming pattern. There are a lot of moving parts, so make sure to practice the boom chick guitar strumming pattern slowly at first.
To start learning this guitar strumming pattern, follow along with this exercise:
- Form a G chord
- On the 1 and 3 beats, you’re going to hit a single note. For beat 1, play the low E string, and on beat 3, play the D string
- On the 2 and 4 beats, you’re going to strum the guitar. When you strum, play through the entire chord.
- Repeat these steps at a slow tempo. You’ll only be playing downbeats, so make sure each beat is a downstroke.
This exercise is all about feeling comfortable with the pick mechanics. Hitting the low E string, strumming, and hitting the D string can be difficult.
I don’t expect anyone to master this strumming pattern in just one day. Start slow then gradually work your way up to faster tempos as you feel more comfortable with it.
The Boom Chicka Strumming Pattern
For a more sophisticated and lively version of the boom chick pattern, there’s the boom chicka strumming pattern. The boom chicka strumming pattern is a foundational strumming pattern — hands down.
When you are looking to learn how to strum a guitar, you NEED to learn how to do the boom chicka pattern.
The boom chicka strumming pattern combines a bass note and two strums for a surprisingly full effect.
Here’s how to do it:
- On beat 1, pick the root of the chord. Next, strum the full chord on beat 2 and the “and” of two (the eighth note in between the beat).
- Continue the pattern and play a bass note on beat 3 while strumming the whole chord on beat 4 and the “and” of beat 4.
When thinking about picking direction, keep in mind the golden rule of strumming: downbeats have downstrokes and upbeats have upstrokes. Simple, right?
This means that the bass note will have a downstroke. Following that, any time you play a numbered beat, you’ll use a downstroke. Any time you are playing on the “and” of a beat, use an upstroke with your pick.
This is the basic breakdown of the boom chicka rhythm, but there are many variations that you’ll come across as you learn more.
Some of these variations include faster patterns, expanded bass lines, and fingerpicking — which is a whole other topic I’ll cover in another lesson. Oh, and you can’t forget about chicken picking!
Boom Chicka Strumming Pattern Exercise
For an easy way to practice the boom chicka country guitar rhythm, we made up a fun exercise that involves 2 chords: the A minor chord and the E minor chord.
This exercise is going to sound a little spooky, but it’s a fun sonic palette for you to experiment with!
Here’s how you do it:
- Form an E minor chord by placing your middle finger on the second fret of the A string and your ring finger on the second fret of the D string
- Play the single E string on beat 1
- Play the entire chord, starting with a downstroke for beat 2 and the “and” of 2
- Play the single D string for beat 3
- Strum the full chord on beat 4 and the “and” of 4
With that, you have the beginnings of bluegrass and country guitar rhythm.
To continue the exercise, transition to an A minor chord.
Next Steps After Strumming
Learning how to strum a guitar is a lifelong journey. There are hundreds of ways to do it, and you’ll never run out of new patterns to play around with.
Today, I showed you some popular strumming patterns that guitarists of all levels use.
Learning these strumming patterns will help you become a better guitarist while you enjoy playing songs (not boring practice drills).
And if there is anything you take away from this, it’s that I want you to have fun while learning the guitar.
That’s what you’ll find at the heart of the lessons and community on Tony’s Acoustic Challenge.
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