Strumming Lesson 2

1:14 - 1:46
This is the chord I am using through this lesson.

A lot of people don't think of this shape as being a power chord but it is.  A power chord is only made up of a root and 5th.  In order for it to be a major or minor chord, it needs to have a 3rd.

0:30 - 0:48
The quarter note will be worth 1 beat and because we are in 4/4 time we could have 4 in a measure.

0:48 - 1:05
Next up is our eighth notes worth half a beat each in 4/4.  So we will play 8 notes in one measure and count 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &.  In this example we will play up and down strokes.  So note that when you were playing quarter notes you were playing all down but you had to come back up in between the down strokes.  Now you just have to catch the strings on the way back up.

1:06 - 1:13
So now we will play sixteenth notes which means we would need 16 in to fill one measure.  One 16th notes by itself in 4/4 time would be worth 1/4 of a beat.  Now we are playing a note in between the 1 and the & and we are calling them the e and a.  So we will count one beat as 1 e & a.

1:46 - 2:02

Here is a quick review of the 2nd strum pattern we learned in lesson 1.

2:02 - 2:57

Let's start by just playing a quarter note on beat one like we did in the pattern above however, on beat two we are going to create a percussive sound by letting the palm of our strum hand gently touch the strings just before our pick does.

2:58 - 3:30

Now let's go back up on the & of beat 2.  So note that this is the same strum pattern we reviewed above from lesson 1.  Note in the notation file to the right I show a half note rest for beat 3 and 4 but in the video I do not rest but let the chord ring.

3:31 - 3:53

Next we will just go down up on beat 3.  Exactly the same as the strum pattern above.

3:54 - 4:06

We finish the pattern with a percussive hit on beat 4.  Much like we did on beat 2.