Been trying to learn over the last 3 years. I know several cords and can play a couple songs.
My biggest hurdle is developing any kind of real rythm with my strumming hand.
I just can’t seem to keep to any particular strum pattern.
I have used several resources on the internet including JG and a paid service but for whatever reason I cannot get the hang of strumming and timing. I have tried to use a metronome which only seems to make things worse.
Anyway thanks for having me and I hope I can overcome some of my struggles with some guidance from you kind folks.
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Hi Nick, I have struggled with rhythm and strumming over many years, for some it is not a natural thing to do,
For me it is about loosing the beat, and then it suddenly falls apart. To get better I have done two things I purchased Justin’s https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=31986898397&dest=GBR&ref_=ps_ms_391300534&cm_mmc=msn--uk_shopp_used--naa-_-naa&msclkid=39d93056c7561c6fbc935a64dffd9392 and started the exercises, this definitely has helped. I also have started Justin’s Strumming SOS. This really goes from basics up and I found really helped me internalise the beat and made me count and keep time much better.
If you have not done the SOS.strummimg I would highly recommend you give it a try, and follow Justin’s recommended daily practice at each aspect.
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Nick,
I used Justin’s technique of muting the strings. Playing a recording of the song I want to learn and just keep tempo. Once I got tempo I then tried the strumming pattern for the song. If that strumming pattern was too hard I defaulted to an easy d d dudu d d dudu. Keeping it simple really helped me hold the tempo of the song. Then try it without the recording, muted strings, but singing the song.
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Hi Nick ,
Welcome here and I wish you a lot of fun 
Well ,After three years of struggle, there is an emergency here… 
https://www.justinguitar.com/classes/strumming-sos
Your solution 
Greetings,Rogier
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First of all, Welcome! Welcome back! I’m Stephen from West Palm beach and I want to welcome you to the “feel like you can’t get the hang of strumming” club. We meet weekly and weakly. I have the same problem you do. I’m working on it hard and improving; this is what I’ve done. I chose five patterns with both down and up strums in different patterns that I want to perfect. Number 1 is old faithful because Justin has several videos focusing on this pattern spread throughout his beginner course and sooo many songs use this pattern, AND even if a song doesn’t call for this pattern specifically, it’s highly likely the pattern will fit anyway so once you get it down, you’ll be able to use it nearly everywhere. (For songs in 4:4 time)here’s what I did.
- Learned pattern and count.
- Practiced at a semi slow pace (80/bpm) until I could do 3 minutes without a mistake.
- Worked up to 120 bpm in increments of 10 starting at 80, using a metronome while counting out loud. Counting aloud forces your brain to work elsewhere, leaving your muscle memory to play on its own.
- Dropped back to 80 bpm and tried to actively distract myself. (Mostly by having a conversation while strumming. Sometimes I reduce quadratic equations my wife gives me as well.) Work back up to 120 bpm in jumps of 10 bpm.
I’ve got 2 finished and 3 to go on my first set of 5 and I think when I get all 5 down cold I’ll go back and add accents to 2&4 and/or muted percussive hits or other embellishments to keep it fresh. I hope my struggles mean you get the benefits of a shortcut. Best of luck - S
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Welcome to the community. Sorry to hear of your strumming struggles.
When I started, I was very keen on fingerstyle so I just finger picked the chords, beats 1 2 3 4, each one a different string. Thumb, Index, Pinch middle and Ring, back to Index.
Making 15 minutes of practice every day part of your lifestyle, just like many of us have a hot drink first thing every morning.
Look forward to hearing more from you.
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Thanks for all the great info and tips. I find one other major issue I have is synchronization between my strumming hand and fretting hand. It seems my strumming hand is always a little ahead of my fretting hand and strumming the strings before my fretting hand is completely in position for the chord.
Hello Dominick & Welcome!!!
IMHO, the solution to your synchronization problem is similar to the strumming issue… Slow It Down & very gradually increase the speed of your metronome. If at any point you notice the problem returning, go back to a slower bpm!
Another thing that can help is Justin’s One Minute Changes exercises.
Let’s say you want to play Clapton’s “Lay Down Sally”. The Easy Version uses A, D & E chords. Before you try to tackle the song, do some One Minute Changes between the chords in that song… A to D, A to E, D to E etc. Then, do some Muted Strumming for the strumming pattern you choose for playing the song… THEN you’ll feel more prepared to play the song successfully, staying in time with the synchronization & keeping your strumming consistent!
Easy~Peasy? Not at first, but it’ll help!
Good Luck!!!
Tod from New Mexico
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Been thinking about your post a bit more. One specific justin lesson gave me a new strum that really works on songs with a strong back beat, which is accents on beats 2 and 4. Credence Clearwater songs some to mind.
If you take his lesson slow and work on the 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and mentally, it may help.
cheers
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Welcome to the community Nick! I am from Central Florida.
Welcome among us Nick, you are in a place where we love helping eachother and before you’ll notice you’ll find yourself sharing and helping people through struggles you’ll have overcome already.
I struggled much with strumming and timing…but through the years I’m improving and learning a few of the songs I love!
The Strumming SOS Course is gold, Justin gives exercises to focus on the strumming hand only and that really helps.
Are you playing or have you ever considered playing fingerstyle? My natural response to my strumming struggles was focusing on fingerstyle and for some reason I found fingerpicking patterns way easier than strumming patterns, rhythmically speaking I can decode and feel them and keep time way better.
Hello Nick.
Welcome to JustinGuitar and this fantastic community.
RE: Strumming & Rhythm …
I have done a few live sessions to help with this fundamental … click here for one of the archive recordings.
Please take your time to look around and get to know the wider space. View by Categories.
We are a supportive and encouraging group of students and guitarists from across the world. Essentially, we are all here for music and to improve as players. We truly are a ‘community’. Members help and support one another and a friendly, positive attitude underpins this. We hope that all - young or old, experienced or new players - adopt and foster the pay-it-forward ethos that Justin personifies and embedded all those years ago when he started the website and forum.
Also, please make sure to read the Community Etiquette announcement for some important information and guidance.
If you want to record yourself to show your progress and / or seek feedback there is our ever popular Community Recordings section.
Behind the scenes there is a small and dedicated team who work to make the JustinGuitar experience as good as it can be. Check out the Onboarding sessions provided by Fanny.
Justin also has a small group of Approved Teachers he recommends for people wanting 1-to-1 lessons to supplement his courses - of which I am privileged to be one.
We also host regular (virtual) JustinGuitar Community Open Mic events for community members.
That is plenty to be going on with. It is a vast community space so if you need help as you find your way around just ask.
Cheers. Richard
| Approved Teacher & Official Guide / Moderator |
Hi Nick, welcome to the community. Strumming does take a lot of practice. I have returned to review strumming in grade 1 several times, even while I was in grade 3. You have already gotten a lot of good advice. I have also learned from the Strumming SOS course and I always strum with muted strings when I learn a new strumming pattern. I would just say be patient. Master the simpler strums before you start trying to learn to play Wonderwall 
As far as your strums being ahead of your chord changes, Justin says that it is OK to strum an unfretted strum (no chord) on the up or off (and or +) beat before you fret the chord, specially for faster rhythms. I improved my strumming by learning a lot of songs from Justin’s Song Lessons where Justin teaches several strums for each song.
Hello Nick,
nice to meet you 
I think you’re in the right place for learning with JustinGuitar, and this community is very friendly, supportive and helpful too, as you can probably tell from all of the posts above with great advice and links to resources
wishing you a lot of fun on your guitar journey 
I feel funny recommending my own products but my Strumming SOS sounds like it was written for you Roger already linked it! Good luck and welcome!
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