Strumming Patterns
Strumming rhythms are hard to “feel” from text alone — first use the play-along animations below to see and hear them clearly, then drill them against the list.
🎬 Strum-along animation
Watch · Listen · FeelThe 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.
🎬 Fingerpicking-along animation
Right hand · PIMAThe most basic fingerpick: thumb plays the bass string first, then index / middle on strings 3 and 2. One note per beat — aim for accuracy and don't watch your picking hand.
Thumb p covers the bass (strings 4/5/6); index i = string 3, middle m = string 2, ring a = string 1. Keep your wrist steady, don't stare at your picking hand — feel it.
All patterns · quick reference
Strumming and fingerpicking, easy to hard, with use case, difficulty and suggested BPM.
Symbols: ↓ down-strum · ↑ up-strum · × mute · — empty beat (hand keeps moving, misses the strings). Both strum and fingerpick patterns have a "▶ Hear & see" button to follow along; fingerpicks use string numbers (5/6 = bass strings, 1/2/3 = treble; the demo notes use a C chord).
Downstrokes only — first get “one strum per beat” even; brush the high strings lightly for dynamics.
The upstroke only catches strings 3–4; keep the wrist swinging like a pendulum — don't stop.
Keep the right hand swinging the whole time; the upstrokes just lightly brush the high strings.
Once it's solid, go play
Same family as the all-purpose strum, more “flowing”; slow it for ballads, speed it up for upbeat.
Leave a gap after beat 1 and hook the groove with the upstroke (the hand keeps moving on the rest).
The × lands on beats 2 and 4 — mute with the palm for a “chk,” like a snare drum.
Up-strum on the off-beats only, brushing the high strings, then mute immediately; leave the down-beats empty.
Double the wrist speed; nail the four sixteenths within a single beat before joining them up.
All downstrokes, even force like a machine gun; keep the wrist loose, don't clench. For more drive, lightly palm-mute the low strings for a “chug-chug” push.
“Boom” is a ↓ focused on the low strings (6/5/4); “chick” is a ↑ that only lightly brushes the high strings (3/2/1), alternating low–high like walking. That split is up to your right hand (the chart only marks direction); on the off-beats (the gaps) the hand keeps moving without touching the strings.
Think of each beat as a triplet “da-da”: the downstroke lands on the 1st, the upstroke on the 3rd, the middle is empty (hand keeps moving); the swing comes from the uneven “long–short” — hum along and you've got it.
Once it's solid, go play
The right hand swings sixteenths nonstop; the × is a “ghost strum” — lightly lift the left hand, let the palm rest on the strings, and brush out a “chk” rather than skipping it; only the ↓↑ actually strum the chord, and the ↓ on beats 1 and 3 is the heaviest. Go slow first and nail the three sounds ↓ ↑ × separately.
Once it's solid, go play
Give the downbeat a full downstroke; play the last two beats lightly.
Two big beats, three eighths each, “down down up”; the accent lands on the first of each group, with a swaying flow.
Thumb handles the bass (6/5/4); index / middle / ring handle 3/2/1.
Once it's solid, go play
One note per beat, right on the spot — good for your first fingerpicked song.
The first note “5” follows the root by switching strings: for G / Em start on 6.
Give the downbeat the root, then walk the high strings — a waltz groove (on the — the right hand keeps moving without plucking).
Once it's solid, go play
Each big beat is “low-high-high,” continuous and flowing.
Once it's solid, go play