Awesome 
Hi guys 
I have a little question about strumming. I think I’ve already posted this but it was on the YouTube comments. Anyway, when we do the down strums, are we supposed to avoid hitting the body of the guitar? I guess we want to avoid but there’s the pickguard to protect BUT hitting the body sounds and feels wrong 
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Thanks 
Thank you
Which angle should I use for the upstrokes then with the pick? Because he said like a 20 degrees but then upstrokes?
Roll your wrist a bit to get the angle around -20. Feel for if the pick is moving across the tops of the strings rather than catching under them and adjust as you need. It will take some time get this to feel and act right. Flexible picks will help to keep poor angle from catching too much.
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Up until this lesson I’ve spent the whole time strumming mostly with my wrist rather than my whole arm. and my biggest challenge so far is actually hitting the right strings when I strum. it’s impossible to do it without looking down at my hand, and even then it’s not easy. if I strum with my whole arm, it’ll get one thousand times more difficult to strum the correct strings. I prefer a wrist motion because it gives me way more control and I aspire to someday be playing fast, complex stuff like thrash metal, which needs a wrist motion. am I okay to go on using my wrist or do I REALLY need to use my arm like Justin said?
You can do both. The flick of the wrist is good for 16th note strumming which will come up later in the course. It’s useful to try other techniques to broaden your skills as a guitarist. Give it a go, Justin would only teach it if it had some benefit.
ok thanks, I’ll try doing full arm strums and see how it goes
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Try using a thinner pick and turn the wrist as you strum like you are using a paint brush and I think it will make the whole arm strum easier
I thought I was going to talk about strumming patterns, which is exactly what I can’t do… maybe I just don’t have rhythm.
Angling the pick made a world of difference. It doesn’t sound as clunky, way smoother. Im on day 8 and and adding in the E chord. So exciting yet humbled.
hI all, so Justin demonstrated the pick angling tip on the accoustic guitar, does that trick also apply on electric?
I read so many different things regarding proper strumming technique. A few examples:
“Strum from the elbow - Your wrist should be relaxed, but not moving very much. Most of the strumming motion comes from flexing your elbow.” - Heartwood Guitar
“Most of the motion should be coming from your wrist. Strum a chord and look to see if this is happening. Movement from the elbow should be reserved for when you want to accent something and strike a chord or two just a little harder than your regular strum.” - Fender
“Your elbow will provide the main movement. As you strum down rotate your hand down (or inward). When you strum up rotate your hand up (or outward). A strum is a combination of all of these things. Elbow, wrist, and rotation.” - Tomas Michaud
“The strumming motion comes from your elbow, not your wrist!” - Justin Guitar
And this is just a sample. How to make sense of these contradicting statements? Is there even a right or wrong way, or is it just preference?
In this lesson it is mentioned:
“The strum comes from the movement of your forearm. Imagine a straight line from your elbow to your thumb. Your wrist shouldn’t be doing much work. To practice, motion up and down the strings without moving your wrist.”
So I am inclined to believe it is mostly the elbow, but if you search for it, there are many (reputable) sources stating it is mainly the wrist. Argh!
The answer is somewhat nuanced. For now, just use your arm as Justin describes. This will help you to get the essential constant up-down movement you need to keep rhythm. Later on, you wil start to also use your wrist. You’ll probably start doing this without noticing, as it’s a very natural transition when you start playing songs.
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Every teacher has their own idea of what is right for beginners. The truth is after you are out of the beginner stage none of it really matters, you’ll be doing what works best for you.
But and this is a big But, you need to start somewhere and stick with it.
If you’re following Justin’s beginner course stick to Justin’s beginner course. It’s the best course on the internet and you’ll learn a lot fast follow 1 course at the beginning of you journey and not bouncing all over the internet looking for answer.
There are no real answers just opinions.
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Changing the angle of the pick, really made downward strumming easy, but when I strum upward, should the angle be same or should I change, because I find it bit hard to strum up with that angle, am I missing something?
Welcome, Baala.
The pick angle will change. You want to achieve the ssame smooth glide over the strings that the angled pick delivers on the down strum with the up strum.
As such you reverse the pick angle. The action becomes something like painting the wall with smooth strokes of the brush, achieved with a gentle rotating of the wrist. Hope that analogy makes sense.
Just play around with it until you get a consist feel of pick on strings for both down and up strum.