I have a huge issue with my strumming
I got through grade in one piece thankfully amd I can strum the basic patterns like old faithful no problem but when the pattern becomes faster, I almost always can’t get through the first 2 strums and I can’t figure out what the issue is. Whenever I try, its always inconsistent and it sounds sloppy and it feels like I’m going to hard but if I release my pick even a little bit, it slips and I can’t even strum anymore. I showed a video of me playing one in case anyone has any advice for me
A few things come to mind.
Do you have a metronome? If not, use one. It’ll be your best friend, but you don’t know it yet. ![]()
Start things off on a real slow tempo. If that’s going good for you, speed it up by 5, or 10 , what ever you feel comfortable with. If that’s going good, again, raise the tempo up a bit.
Make sure your strumming is in sync with the beat of the metronome.
Have a look at your pick. You wouldn’t believe the amount of picks (different brands, types, shapes, thickness) i bought before i found “the one”.
The main goal here is to start of real slow, and gradually speed up the tempo.
You can also, before you start strumming, analyze the strummingpattern.
Where do the downstrums go? The same goes for the upstrums On what beat goes what?
This can be a great help, when you start strumming the pattern.
Good luck and remember, it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon!
What I see is that you are very stiff with the grip making your wrist rotation stiff.
Read through some of the old questions on this and see f you locate some ideas to ease that. I’ll link my own posts, but there is information above and below mine!
These are very useful tips. I’ll be trying them all out, thank you!
Yeah I had a feeling I was being a bit stiff with it but whenever I tried to loosen up, I’d lose my grip almost immediately. I’ll be reading through the posts you linked to see if I can find anything useful, thank you!
Hi, I also thought you were quite stiff. Aside from loosening your grip on the pick (which you should try to do), you could also loosen up your wrist a bit. Your strumming motion is all forearm and zero wrist. I think this is how Justin teaches it, so maybe I’m off base here, but I find that if I loosen my wrist, i.e. let it rotate a bit, I can get a smoother sound.
You might also have a look at this lesson by Justin, which gives some tips on how to relax:
https://www.justinguitar.com/guitar-lessons/feel-good-strumming-b1-705
Hi Demilade!
You might try muting all the strings - Justin does this frequently to demonstrate the strumming pattern for a song - so that your focus is concentrated entirely on your strumming hand.
Then, as suggested above, start very slowly at first. It may feel frustrating to go slow, but if you get into a groove, it’s still fun!!! ![]()
Stay focused & as relaxed as possible for several minutes. Then, introduce a metronome & still stay very slow - only increase the tempo a little bit at a time….
Hope this helps!!!
Tod
Ahh yes, it’s something Justin tells us to do some time in the beginning, all forearm no wrist but I just tried with my wrist and it got a whole lot easier! I shall be doing it this way from now on. Thanks for the advice!
I do try to do that from time to time but like you said its a bit frustrating sometimes haha but I will try to do it more. Your advice will definitely come in handy, thank you!
Have you tried practising your strumming with Justin’s Strumming Machine tool? You might find it helps.
Not sure if you have Justin’s practice app. I’ve had it for some time and I just discovered it has a strumming practice exercise section. It’s REALLY GOOD! I’VE BEEN USING IT FOR THE PAST FEW DAYS AND IT IS REALLY HELPING ME.
I bought Justin’s strumming course but I find this is much better.
Richard has done an excellent strumming video which is really good as well. That helped me a lot.
Good luck.
I didn’t realize how important strumming and timing are but they are one of, if not the most essential parts to playing with a group. I spent way too much time working on scales and improvising when I should have been working on rhythm and timing.
I hadn’t seen that before, it’ll be very useful, thanks!
I don’t have it sadly but I do agree about the timing being very important. I imly realised that when I tried to cover a song but my timing was so off, it was hard to coordinate other parts so I definitely need to work on that😅