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Bluegrass
Strumming for Beginners
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If I had to
compress bluegrass guitar playing down into a handful of skills
it would probably be confidence, timing, strumming and picking.
Of course confidence is something that could be considered
genetic or something that can be improved upon with time that
isn't necessarily on the "playing side of things". On the
playing side you have strumming, picking and timing. Out of
those three skills only strumming is required. Without a good
knowledge of strumming the guitar there is no way you can make
it sound like bluegrass. Timing will get better with practice,
lead picking can come later. Start out learning to strum...
follow along with breaks and the rest will come to you.
I learned how to play guitar backwards. I started playing rock
in high school. I started by learning to play my favorite heavy
metal riffs and licks. This did nothing to make me a dynamic
player. People who heard it thought it was semi-cool but really
I was a guitar playing robot. If I would have attended a jam
back then I would have felt like a complete idiot.
So with that background information (maybe too much!) I'm going
to try and demonstrate some basic strumming patterns for the
reader. These are by no means all the bluegrass strums. These
are by no means the greatest or worst, but they are without a
doubt a good place to start. Understand that playing guitar is
not as simple as looking at tab or a strumming chart and knowing
where to put the pick and which direction it needs to go. Timing
plays a big part in whether the strumming will sound terrible or
wonderful. With practice you'll get a rhythm all your own. If
you listen to the pros you'll hear them really turn up the
volume on their strumming at certain places in a song. You'll
hear them double strum on some chords. We aren't dealing with
them here but bass runs, step ups, transition licks and fill ins
play a huge part in defining your rhythm style as well.
• Traditional Strumming
This is what many people call the "alternating pick strum". Its
pretty much the basic strum for traditional bluegrass and old
time music. You simply pick a bass note and strum the remaining
strings. Pick the other bass note for the chord you are holding
and strum the remaining strings. I use this constantly, but I
don't overuse it. A beginner will assume this is used all the
time and its a turn off to more experienced players to hear it
all the time and the audience will view you as dull if you use
it too frequently. Match it with the appropriate song and it
goes together with it like a pea in a pod.
D D D D D
D D D D
-----3-------3-------3-------3------
-----3-------3-------3-------3------
-----0-------0-------0-------0------
-----0---0---0-------0---0---0-----
---------------------------------------
-3---------------3---------------3---
Good Example of Traditional Strumming - Pig in a Pen
(various artists)
Click here to listen to me playing an
example of alternating pick strumming
(mp3
format,
click save to send to desktop, or
open to play immediately)
• Contemporary Strum
I like to call this the "contemporary bluegrass strum". I hear
it constantly in music by Lonesome River Band, Kentucky Thunder,
Quicksilver and all the other contemporary bands who'll update
traditional music. Its not so far out there that it turns
bluegrass into jazz, but it will jazz bluegrass up.
D D U D U
D D U D
U D
---3---3---3---3---------3---3---3---3------
---3---3---3---3---------3---3---3---3------
---0---0---0---0---------0---0---0---0------
---0-----------------0----0--------------------
-------------------------------------------------
-3------------------------------------------3---
Good Example: Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver: Girl From West
Virginia: ("Dig a Little Deeper" Album)
Click here to listen to me playing an
example of contemporary strumming
(mp3
format,
click save to send to desktop, or
open to play immediately)
• Slow Contemporary Strumming
I love slow bluegrass songs. Many people like the fast stuff,
but I'm actually more fond of the slow songs. You really have
time to shine on the slow ones. They can be more thoughtful,
mournful and beautiful. A variation when strumming the second
alternating bass note is to follow it up by missing the first
downstoke and catch the U D U... mix it up... constantly keep
your strumming hand moving in its back and forth pattern...
don't be afraid to lightly touch some of the strings and hit
some harder. Play open 4th string, or don't play it... mix it
up. When swinging your playing hand glide over strings and then
catch them on the way back. Little nuances like that will define
your rhythm style and seperate the intermediate and advanced
players from the beginners.
D D D U D
D U D U
-----3---3---3-------3---3---3---3-----
-----3---3---3-------3---3---3---3-----
-----0---0---0-------0---0---0---0-----
-----0---0-------0-----------------------
-------------------------------------------
-3-----------------------------------------
Great Example: Ricky Skaggs: The Darkest Hour is Just Before
Dawn: ("Soldier of the Cross" Album)
Click
here to listen to me playing an example of slow contemporary
strumming
(mp3
format,
click save to send to desktop, or
open to play immediately)
• Stanley Country Strum
At the basic level this is just the slow contemporary strum sped
up. But the thing about bluegrass is that your pick angle,
attack on the strings and strumming hand movement can totally
change the sound of the strum.
D D D U
D D U D
U
-----3---3---3-------3---3---3---3-----
-----3---3---3-------3---3---3---3-----
-----0---0---0-------0---0---0---0-----
-----0---0-------0-----------------------
-------------------------------------------
-3----------------------------------------
Good Example: Ralphy Stanley: I Only Exist ("Clinch
Mountain Country" Album)
Click here to listen to me playing an
example of "Stanley Country" strumming
(mp3
format,
click save to send to desktop, or
open to play immediately)
• Combining Strums
Feel free to combine different strums together in a song. Here
is a great example of beginning with a contemporary strum and
then switching to an alternating traditional strum on the
chorus. I like to do this on fast traditional songs like Jimmy
Martin's Sunny Side of the Mountain. Its nice to switch your
strum during a fellow musician's break too... it can help
accentuate their playing.
Click here to listen to me playing an
example of strum combining
(mp3
format,
click save to send to desktop, or
open to play immediately)
• Technique
As I mentioned in earlier strum descriptions technique plays a
huge part in seperating beginners from advanced players. Pick
angle, pick attack (how hard you hit the strings), double time
picking (where you put twice as many D U D U's in as needed),
throwing in a complete chord strum (where you hold a chord and
downpick all 6 strings right in the middle of a song). Speed
variation can play a huge part in making your rhythm playing
sound better. A short delay can sometimes be used to accentuate
a note. One technique I've brought over from my heavy metal
years is palm muting. Personally I think it sounds great on fast
traditional songs. Mix it up and be creative. Some folks may
think traditional bluegrass is too limiting but I don't. If you
listen to the old masters such as Lester Flatt, the originators
like Charlie Monroe and the innovators like Dan Tyminski they
all get creative without sacrificing the traditional sound.
Click here to listen to me playing an
example of palm muting
(mp3
format,
click save to send to desktop, or
open to play immediately)
Thanks for taking the time to read this article on strumming!
(Discuss
this article on our message board)
- SD |
