Grade 1 Module 5 Duuuu strumming in

Discuss the JustinGuitar Lessons & Songs App General questions
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Really struggling to maintain the rhythm, the beat and 1234 toe-tap while trying the DUUUU strumming pattern in my early attempts at the Grade 2, Module 5 lesson. My head and my foot want to keep the beat when I strum the strings, NOT the missed strum. Any tips or advice? Am I simply uncoordinated? Slowing down seems worse. (I am a raw beginner).
Thanks!

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Hi Rob, and welcome to the community I think I know what lesson you are talking about, anyway, this is your first hurdle and one we can iron out pretty easily the best thing to do is go through it again and listen to Justin, start slow and from the beginning get the 1 2 3 4 sorted first making sure your hand comes back up on the and, so count 1 strum on the way back up count and then 2 strum on the way back up count and, etc take it easy and slow mute the strings forget about the chord grip there is a lesson somewhere on how to do this, if you need any more help shout out cheers Hec, you will probably get a lot more help very soon :+1:

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Hey Robert–
Also a raw beginner here:
I too struggled (and sometimes still) with that beat.
What ended up working for me is I trained my foot feel “two modes”: a down mode and an up mode. Don’t know if that makes any sense.
Where I developed that most was getting the reggae beat on Three Little Birds, a song I’ve been listening to since forever. I think what happened was that playing along to that song tapped into (get it?) those old, deep memories and made it click for me.

Adding on to that, I’d suggest just doing a lot of strumming (and foot tapping) to reggae, particularly if that is not music you’re accustomed to listening to. We’re exposed all of our life to patterns, and our brain makes neural pathways around those patterns. New patterns just take more time and more repetition—>reaching out for help can help shorten the time required for it to become an “old pattern”.

Cheers,
Bruce

Onward!

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Continuing the discussion from [Grade 1 Module 5 Duuuu strumming in](Grade 1 Module 5 Duuuu strumming in

Thanks Bruce. That sounds like a great, actionable, workable idea. I will definitely find more reggae and try that!

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Hi Robert,
It is better if you say these things in the thread you start, that keeps it much clearer for everyone… :smiley:of course it’s very nice of you to thank Bruce, but I ask @Richard_close2u to merge,

Greetings,Rogier

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Thanks Roger . . . done, Robert

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Sorry…and thanks. That’s exactly what I wanted to do and what I thought I was doing. I hesitated to even post anything at all for fear of screwing it up (just like I did). Help! Please! What is the right way to do this? I’m new to all of this.

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Hi Robert

First -Don’t apologize for this and certainly don’t feel so bad about it… nothing is broken the forum is a happy place …and a very very little mistake is not a problem at all :sweat_smile: (not knowing this is hard to call a mistake) …otherwise I would have been removed long long ago :smile:

If you continue on the same topic/subject …you just do what you have been doing and that is hit that big orange “Reply” button down a treat and write your post .

I hope this helps and if not don`t worry at all ,it took me months to get it fot the most …read a lot and try/ask/make mistakes but above all… don’t be afraid of screwing it up :smiley:

Greetings,Rogier

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