Add a Strum: Your First Accompaniment
Put the chords together with a right-hand strum and the rough shape of an accompaniment emerges.
You're on lesson 4 / 5 in this stage
Show all 5 lessonsHide lesson list
- Your First Chord: Em6 min
- Your Second Chord: Am7 min
- Chord Change: Em ↔ Am8 min
- Add a Strum: Your First Accompaniment8 min
- Full Practice: Play Your First Passage9 min
The simplest pattern: down down down down
Four beats in a bar, one downstroke per beat, an even “down, down, down, down.” Strum a full 4 beats on Em first, then switch to Am for a full 4 beats.
Add a little variation: down down-up down down
Once you're comfortable, add an upstroke on the 2nd beat, turning it into “down, down-up, down, down.” On the upstroke just let the wrist naturally brush the treble strings — you don't have to catch all 6.
The most useful strum for singing along. On the empty beats (dashed arrows) keep your hand moving but miss the strings — that's the key to a steady groove.
Solid arrows are the strums you actually play; dashed arrows mean keep your hand moving but miss the strings. Start slow enough to see it, then build up speed.
Use the strumming animation to see clearly which one is the upstroke (↑) — the upstroke only lightly brushes the treble strings, lighter than the downstroke; keep the right hand swinging evenly.
- 💡 Make the upstroke a bit lighter than the downstroke so it sounds natural.
⚠️ Common mistakes
- Strumming stiffly with the whole arm so the rhythm speeds up and slows down — let the wrist drive it and stay relaxed.
- Hammering all 6 strings hard every time, which sounds harsh — keep the force even and let the downstroke fall naturally.
Chords in this lesson
Tap the 🔊 under each diagram to match every chord's sound to its shape.
⏱️ Cycle this lesson's chords to a beatPractice switching without stopping (one-minute changes) — first learn each chord by ear and shape, then drill clean changes between them.Expand Collapse
Switch back and forth between this lesson's chords to the beat below.
One bar of count-in first, then the chord changes automatically each bar. Get it smooth slowly, then speed up bit by bit.
Want to count how many changes you can do in 60 seconds? Head to the one-minute changes drill.
Go play these
Songs that fit this lesson's technique and chords — pick one and practice in the library:
Practice checklist
- At 70 BPM: one bar of Em (4 downstrokes), one bar of Am, looping for a minute.
- Try adding the upstroke on the 2nd beat, being careful not to let the rhythm fall apart.