In this lesson, I'll answer one of the questions I get the most: WHY IS STRUMMING SO HARD? Well, get ready! I've got 11 tips that will help you NAIL strumming the guitar!
View the full lesson at Why Is Strumming So Hard? | JustinGuitar
I am finding it very hard to strum. It’s like my pick is a hammer. Is there a trick to keep even pressure on the strings .
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Welcome, @Opajoe
I struggle strumming as well. Not very coordinated am I…
It is coming along, though. I have spent a lot of time (but not yet enough time) practicing strumming. Part of that is patterns, but also dynamics.
I do a lot just muting all the strings with my left hand and strumming a simple pattern. Try strumming as lightly as you can and keeping the motion as smooth and consistent as possible. Then slowly increase your attack and play louder while trying to be consistent at any given pressure.
It takes a lot of repetition, like a lot of things in guitar. We need to train our body to do it smoothly without thinking.
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Hi Opajoe and welcome to the Community.
What thickness of pick are you using? You should start with a really thin .38 or .46 nylon. They don’t sound great but are very forgiving. As your technique improves you can gradually go up in thickness.
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Hello @Opajoe and welcome to the community. Feel free to pop in to the Community Hub and introduce yourself there. Community Hub - JustinGuitar Community
Check out muted percussive strumming.
Forget about chords sounding out, wrap your fingers loosely around the neck and touch the strings to dampen them all. Start off with a slow-ish tempo, a drum backing track or something. Begin with four down strums to get into a groove. Then wind it up a bit and play 1/8ths all four downs and all four ups.
You should really be feeling very rhythmical by now. Just enjoy the guitar as a percussive instrument. Drop some down hits but keep the ups. Always keep the down hit on the count of one though.
This is not a magic bullet. It could improve your confidence, feel and vibe for strumming though.
Cheers 
| Richard_close2u | JustinGuitar Official Guide & Moderator
Hi @Opajoe I can honestly relate to you. When I started towards the end of last year I found strumming to be one of my biggest weaknesses.
As @sairfingers recommended I started with a 0.39 pick which is very forgiving. I kept to that pick size and gradually increased the pick size.
As @Richard_close2u recommends mute the strings and practice strumming without worrying about chord changes etc.
I always highly recommend Justin’s Strumming Techniques Course. I felt it really help me out with my strumming.
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I can strum different patterns ok but when I start to sing or even run the lyrics through my mind I start strumming every syllable and the strumming pattern goes out the window. How do I fix that?
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Hey Geoffrey,
Check out this lesson by Justin. Lots of helpful info.
Cheers,
Shane
https://www.justinguitar.com/guitar-lessons/singing-playing-at-the-same-time-te-901
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Thanks Shane! Looks helpful for my problem. I’ll be working on this!!!
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Trying to learn strumming for funk guitar, I find the pick moves around much more than for other types of strumming. Exploring different picks, I have found that 0.88 or 1.0 picks with a grip seem to work best for me, but they still prove hard to hold in one position as I strum (and tap on the beat, and say “one e and a” in my head!)
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I have problem with up-strumming .
for down strumming, when I do all these techniques (like using thin pick, hold the pick very loosely, keep the rythem,…), I can get something close to what I like to hear.
However when I start adding up strumming, then I lose control on down strumming and then the down strums don’t look like each other.
I thought through this and I realized the reason for this is that Justin (and many others) say when doing up-strumming, take your hand outward (so that it only hits the few lower strings). This movement, leads for hand to ends up somewhere , other then where started my down strum. So I have to correct my hand again and get ready for the next down-strum. And of course it takes a second or 2 to get ready for the next one.
So what is the solution here?
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I am having 2 issues.
The first is, as I strum, my pick rotates in my hand until I’m just holding the very back of it.
The other is I feel like I am strumming way to hard. I’m sure both are related to tension, but I just wanted to get a 2nd opinion!
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Hi George, welcome to the Community! As a fellow beginner, I struggle with this as well. Try different picks - I’ve found the Dunlop Max Grip picks work for me on days when I’m really having difficulty keeping the pick between my fingers. Only thing is the lightest they come is .60 mm, I think. I like the Tortex picks as well - they come in .50mm. It gets better, I promise!
I also have the strumming issue. I’d say this: it’s good you’re aware of it! You will develop more control over time. Justin will discuss “strumming dynamics” from time to time…I think this is what he’s talking about.
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George @epyonkiller2000
Welcome to the community.
Have you thought about the strumming SOS course which should answer your questions. Amongst many other things it deals with pick manipulation and how to relax when strumming.
Michael
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Being mindful of your strumming is a great advantage. There are probably a few things that you are doing and as @judi said, it will get better.
- The depth of the pick below the strings doesn’t need to be much
- The amount of pick protruding from your fingers could be too much - I have reduced that in my time learning. Dig around for “holding the pick” on the forums here.
- You will eventually develop a little rotation in your wrist. This helps the change between up and down strums to be fluid and glide across the strings
- The direction the pick strikes the string will determine much of the rotation you are getting. If the edge is hitting before the flat, you will get some rotation. You may want the edge later, but for strumming, I really try to use the flat and then rotate my wrist a little so it doesn’t dig under the string. - i may need pictures. if I do, let me know.
For me, I struggled for a few months and then, seemingly overnight, it just worked. Fairly fluid and I could strum with super stiff picks. I still prefer some flex, but not the super flex nylon that Justin recommends in the beginner class. I tend to grab the orange Tortex (0.6mm) at this point for strumming stuff.
Some good info here: How To Hold A Guitar Pick
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Hi 
. While practicing strumming hold the guitar pick very lightly in order to get smooth melody, if sounds rough not good. Guitar pick will fall, take it back practice again, guitar pick will fall again, take it and practice. For acoustic guitar.
.
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I find it hard without having to crane my neck to see the strings and I already have a bad neck lol. I think I have a well enough 6th sense to feel what the A E or D C G F chords are like in my fingers but strumming with my right hand while trying to maintain correct neck posture is killing me. Pretty sure my atlas chiropractor would disapprove how my posture is in general though.
Rhythm in general is hard to spell 
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