Skill building is an important part of becoming a proficient
strummer. Therefore, take a moment or two and review the first two
installments of this article series so that you will be comfortable with
the concepts discussed therein. Make sure and practice all of the
exercises so that you will be able to simply immerse yourself in the
exercises contained in this, the third installment of the strum mastery
series.
Techniques
There are numerous techniques and manners of creating various strums
as well as ways to approach the strings of the guitar to alter and
effect the sound you are able to achieve. We'll discuss several of them
as well as exercises which can help you to become a more skillful and
diversified player. Keeping an open mind about novel ways of
conceptualizing the guitar and the fingerboard can help you to improve
upon your skills as a rhythm guitar player.
Snap Strum
This is a technique that I discuss at length in my beginning guitar
series located in the Phase 1 section of the JamPlay site. But if you're
not familiar with those lessons, the snap strum is simply a way of
referring to an up and down strum played as one single deft motion. In
other words, picture a huge rubber band around your shoulder and holding
your arm in place. When you do a down stroke on the strings of the
guitar, the rubber band brings it back up quickly and in a “snap”
motion. That is the essence of the snap strum and I will refer to this
variety of strum with a – between the strum indicators such as down-up.
We'll be using this variety of strum frequently in the exercises to
come.
Striking the Tonic
This technique simply involves striking the tonic of the chord
(frequently the lowest note) and then strumming the chord immediately
after it. This can be a great way to enhance the bass note of the chord,
especially if you're playing solo or without the assistance of a
bassist. Try to strum a simple chord like an A for example:
A major
E_0_
B_2_
G_2_
D_2_
A_0_
E_X_
In this example, you would pluck the A-string open as this is the
lowest note, and the tonic of this chord. Then you would strum the
remaining strings of the chord. Try a strum like this: pluck (the bass
note) down-up-down (snap strum). Repeat the pattern over and over again
placing the pick (if you use one) on or around the A-string.
Recall the concept presented in the first installment of this article
series concerning the idea of strum spheres. You will be creating a
strum sphere containing the five highest strings in this exercise, A D G
B and E, and using the A-string as your point of origin. Your strum
sphere should not go beyond the five strings mentioned above and should
be played smoothly.
Use the A-string as your jumping-off point to help you to find and
locate a specific spot on the fingerboard from which to create a precise
and clean-sounding strum. You should be plucking the A-string cleanly
and getting a sound that is clear and not muted. This exercise is a
great way to gain more control over your strum hand. Now let's try the
same thing but with two chords. Let's use the D and G chords:
D major
E_2_
B_3_
G_2_
D_0_
A_X_
E_X_
G major
E_3_
B_0_
G_0_
D_0_
A_2_
E_3_
Now we're going to play these two chords with the same strum pattern
as above but changing which strings are being plucked from chord to
chord, as well as the boundaries of our strum sphere. Starting with the D
chord, pluck the open D-string and then strum down-up-down just as we
did before. Then do the same thing on the G chord but pluck the low
E-string instead (a G note) , and then strum.
Your strum sphere will change drastically from a small one containing
the strings D G B and E to the larger sphere on the G chord containing
all six strings. Play the strum pattern moving back and forth between
the two chords and remembering to change your point of origin. In other
words, the string you pluck as well as your strum sphere should change
from chord to chord and you should be able to accurately pluck the
appropriate string as well as change the parameters of your sphere in
relation to your chord change. This technique is a great way to become
more accurate and precise in your strumming as well as introduce some
style as well.
This is a valuable technique that can and should be used with any
number of chords. Try to pick different groups and sequences of chords
so that you will be able to make string and sphere adjustments on the
fly.
Splitting your Strings in Two
I'm not suggesting that you literally break your strings, that seems
to happen all by itself anyway. This technique is simply based on the
notion that although you may have six strings on your guitar, you can
treat them as if they were two separate sets of three strings. Why on
earth would you do this you might be asking? Well, I'll tell you why!
Techniques like striking the tonic as well as others that we will
discuss in the near future can sometimes be simpler if the fretboard is
divided into two sections: one group containing E A and D, and the other
containing G B and E.
When we first start playing the guitar, most of us tend to simply
strum everything in sight in an attempt to just make something, anything
happen. We figure that if we're making some sound come out of the darn
thing then we're probably on the right track, right? But the more you
develop your skills the more you will likely see the benefits of
developing precision in your strums. Breaking the strings in two can
help with this process by forcing you to shrink your strum spheres down.
Let's take the E minor chord and use it as an example:
E minor
E_0_
B_0_
G_0_
D_2_
A_2_
E_0_
Using the strum down down-up-down play only the lowest three strings,
E A and D for the first measure and the three highest strings, G B and E
for the second. You should focus on creating a strum sphere that is
just big enough to play only the three strings indicated at the time.
Make sure that you are creating smooth strums and avoiding muting
strings as well. Did you notice that dividing your strings in this
fashion is almost like playing two different chords, even though you're
simply changing the way that you approach the strings.
Now let's try this technique again with a barre chord, in this case the B minor chord.
B minor
E_2_
B_3_
G_4_
D_4_
A_2_
E_X_
Using the same strum as we used above, try breaking the strings with
the barre chord making sure to keep the two sets separate and distinct.
This may be a little tougher for some in lieu of the fact that you may
need to shorten your strum or make an adjustment for the fact that you
are really only needing to strum two strings in the lower set, A and D,
making your strum sphere very small. This difficulty can be overcome by
simply muting the low E string, allowing you to play it as you might
normally play it, only without it ringing out.
Muting the low E can be achieved by extending your first finger up
past the A string onto the E but without exerting too much pressure.
This technique is important in other applications as well and should be
practiced in order to master it. You could also simply play the fretted
low E string (F#) since the B minor chord includes F# in its
construction. Just make sure if you take this route that you are still
maintaining good contact with the other strings in the chord and
avoiding muting.
Now let's try this technique with two chords, E minor and D. Using
the strum down down-up-down strum the lower strings, E A and D while
fretting the E minor chord then the higher three, G B and E while
playing the D chord. Pay attention to keeping the two sets of strings
distinct and separate from one another by keeping your strum spheres
compact and concise. Exercises like this will gradually train you to
strum with precision when the rhythm you are playing demands that sort
of thing. Ultimately though practicing breaking the strings helps to
develop the ability to play from the wrist and create new possibilities
and tools from which to draw from.
Breaking the Strings with Scales
Many guitar players seek to add scale patterns to their rhythms after
playing for some time and this will most certainly spice up your
playing. Breaking the strings will help you to keep focused on one
specific area of the guitar and will consequently help you to
concentrate on a specific riff or scale pattern.
Let's use the E minor chord again for illustrative purposes. Using
the strum pattern down down-up down down in kind of a James Bond
type-of-rhythm, remember to focus the energy of your strum on the three
low strings. Your strum sphere should not go outside of those three
strings so your pick will likely be right on or very near to the low E
string and will create a very low-end and bassy type of rhythm.
Play the strum pattern indicated above and then play:
|---------|--------|-------|-------| |---------|--------|-------|-------| |---------|--------|-------|-------| |---------|-----0--|-------|-------| |---------|-0h2---|-------|-------| |---0h3--|--------|-------|-------|
For those who are not familiar with tablature, play an ascending
scale starting with the open E string, hammer on the third fret (G note)
play the open A string then hammer on the second fret (B note) then
finally play the D string open. You can start by doing this exercise
as slowly as you need to but keep a couple things in mind. The idea here
is to maintain a compact and precise sort of feel both on the strum
pattern as well as the scale so keep your strum sphere small and only
containing the three lowest strings. Secondly, try to play your riff
while keeping time. This is an important part of adding scales to your
rhythms and will undoubtedly give some players a bit of trouble. Many
guitarists use a metronome for this purpose while others have developed
an inner sense of rhythm which can really help you in the long run. But
regardless of how you do it, it's extremely important that you are able
to maintain the integrity of your time signature while adding riffs.
Eliminating Strums
Usually if you are adding riffs into your rhythms it will force you
to change the amount of strums you are doing. This is necessary simply
because you are now devoting part of your time to the riff rather than
to the strum itself. We'll examine this phenomenon further integrating
the E minor and D chords again.
Use the basic strum pattern from the last example but add up down
down, so the pattern is now down down-up down down, up down down.
Remember that we are using these patterns only in the small region
(three strings wide) of either the top or bottom three strings so your
strum sphere is small and compact. The tighter you can keep your strum
as well as your wrist motions, the quicker you will be able to grasp
this technique.
Start playing the rhythm on the Em chord making sure that you are
maintaining a small enough strum sphere to stay only on the E A and D
strings. If you're having trouble staying within those lines, move the
starting point of your strum closer to you or above the low E string,
and try and keep your pick closer or even right on the E string itself.
This will give you a higher starting point and will hopefully help you
to remain withing the given boundaries of your strum sphere. Now do the
same for the D chord. Get comfortable with the strum pattern as well as
maintaining your three-string strum spheres.
Now we're gonna throw in the monkey wrench. Play the strum pattern
for the Em chord, but when you switch over to the D chord, you will only
be playing down down-up down down (our previous strum pattern) and then
adding the following riff:
|-3--2--0|--------|-------| |---------|--3--0-|-------| |---------|--------|-2--0-| |---------|--------|-------| |---------|--------|-------|
This is a descending scale beginning with the 3rd fret on the high E
string (G note) and then descending to F#, E, D, B, A and finally G.
Keep in mind that this riff should be played in the same amount of time
that the now missing portions of your strum would have taken so again,
if you use a metronome or are simply keeping time by stomping your foot
make sure that you fit the scale pattern into the same time.
One way to tell if you're doing this correctly is that you are able
to return to strumming your E minor chord without missing a beat. Try
the whole thing slowly to make sure you've got a grasp of it and then
speed it up gradually.
Let's try this again with some other chords shall we? This time we'll use C and Fmaj7!
C major
E_0_
B_1_
G_0_
D_2_
A_3_
E_X_
Fmaj7
E_0_
B_1_
G_2_
D_3_
A_0_
E_X_
Let's use the strum pluck down, up-down (twice on each chord before
changing) where the pluck indicates striking the tonic. On the C chord
the tonic will be on the A string, 3rd fret and on the Fmaj7 chord the
tonic will be on the D string 3rd fret. Practice playing this rhythm
with the two chords remembering to keep your strum spheres intact. In
this exercise, you will be plucking the tonic in one sphere and
strumming in the other so try and keep your actions specific to the set
of strings that you are targeting.
Now play the pattern with the C and F chords making sure you are
plucking the tonic and playing the chords cleanly and without muting
strings. Now we're gonna step it up a bit.
Play the C chord as you were doing before, pluck down, up-down (snap
strum) playing the pattern twice on the C chord, but when you reach the
Fmaj7 just play the pattern once and then play:
E|---------|--------|--------| B|---------|--------|-0-1-0-| G|---------|-0--2--|--------| D|0--2--3-|--------|--------| A|---------|--------|--------| E|---------|--------|--------|
This is a ascending scale beginning with the open D string (D note)
up to E, F G A, B, C and finally B. Again, you will need to keep track
of your rhythm and make sure that the riff should only take as much time
as the strums you left out so you'll need to keep track of time in some
manner.
This type of exercise can be assembled in almost infinite ways
depending upon the chords you choose, the strum patterns you choose to
incorporate as well as your skill level. But ultimately, you'll want to
make sure that if you are pulling strums out to substitute a riff, then
you need to make sure that the whole thing stays in time.
Switching Tracks
Because you are now becoming more and more competent playing smaller
patterns or spheres, you will also benefit from incorporating larger
strum patterns as well. Yes, it is important to be able to strum with
precise and sometimes smaller patterns but it's also equally important
to be able to play larger sweeping strums that incorporate most or all
of your strings.
It's important as a rhythm player to be able to combine various
strums, rhythms, patterns as well as scales and spheres as well as
combine them smoothly and seamlessly. Let's do a quick exercise which
will help you to gain some experience moving back and forth between
smaller and larger strum spheres.
Let's use E major and C add9 on this exercise:
E major
E_0_
B_0_
G_1_
D_2_
A_2_
E_0_
C add9
E_0_
B_3_
G_0_
D_2_
A_3_
E_X_
Now using the strum down down-up-down, play a small sphere on the E
chord and a larger sphere on the C chord. Try and make distinct sphere
sizes relative to the chord you're playing and make sure and really let
go when you're doing a full strum. The idea here is to differentiate
between the two sphere sizes and maintain control from one chord to the
next. This process can take a little practice but over time you will
develop a higher degree of control over the size of your strums as well
as the ability to incorporate riffs and unlimited scale patterns as
well.
Keep in mind that splitting the strings and playing different sphere
sizes are simply techniques, shiny new tools for your tool box that you
may incorporate at will. They are not intended to replace other full
strums but rather give you options and insights as well as help you to
learn the power of precise strumming and concision.
Muting
Palm muting is a broad term and can be achieved in a number of ways.
But there seems to be two predominant manners in which a muting effect
can be readily achieved.
The first is by exposing the outer line of the hand opposite the
thumb as well as the outside portion of the pinky itself to the strings
of the guitar. This line of the hand is particularly accessible to the
strings and can be readily exposed in various degrees. The other common
way of palm muting is to lay the entire hand across the strings with the
fingers bent at the joint and in essence, parallel with the strings.
This exposes a large portion of the hand including the flats of the
fingers and the opponents pad (the meaty area supporting the thumb) to
the strings giving you a large target in which to mute. Both manners of
muting are effective and can be achieved through regular practice and
application.
Palm muting can be one of the most profound methods of creating
change and texture in your rhythms and should be investigated and
studied by the aspiring rhythm guitar player. We'll delve deeper into
the world of palm as well as other types of muting in the next
installment.
Putting the Pieces Together
As we continue our discussion it is of the utmost importance that you
practice the techniques contained within and put as many of the ideas
together as possible. As mentioned previously, a good rhythm player
combines techniques together as seamlessly as possible to create a
collage of sound and color for the audience.
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