Okay, so I grew up playing the violin. I understand tuning, fingering, rhythm, a little bit of music theory, all the basic stuff.
I’ve decided I want to play my favorite pop songs on the guitar. I can learn how to tune it, figure out where my fingers go, and start practicing twisting my fingers around to play the chords.
So, I look at a sheet that supposedly tells me how to play “Last Train to Clarksville.” I can pick out the picked intro part. I mean, I can’t play it yet, but I understand it and I can see that with practice I can get it.
Then it tells me the chord changes: G-C7-G-C7-D. Okay, I look up the fingerings and practice the chords.
Yeah, but how do I play it? Strum on each beat? Each other beat? On the first and third beats? On the backbeats? Eighth notes? Sixteenth notes? Strum down-strum up? All down?
Once I can finger a chord and make it sound okay, what am I supposed to do with it? Remember, I’m a violinist. I’m used to being told exactly what to play for every note throughout a piece. What am I supposed to do with “G for eight measures”?
There’s occasionally a strum pattern listed. In the header to the song, it’d say something like “Strum Pattern: B2” and you’d have to look that up in the index of the song book. Otherwise you just guess, or listen to the song and improv it from there.
For continued G chord:
On beat one: Pluck bass note (6th string at 3rd fret for G)
Beat two: With your three fingers (not the pinky, and no thumb used at all) pluck the rest of the strings. Pluck means your finger goes sort of under the string and you pull it up–you can also strum by just extending your fingers outwards, brushing over the top strings)
Beat Three: Pluck bass note with thumb (5th String at second fret for “B”)
Beat Four: Same as beat two
Next measure:
Same as above, except pluck “D” (4th string, unfretted) on the third beat (in other words alternate between your bass string being: G, B, G D, G B G D)
6th string remember is the one closest to your head when holding the guitar–the bass string.
what intelsoldier said.
the trick is to learn a bunch of common rh strum patterns, and use whichever sounds most appropriate.
also, you usually play downstrokes on the beat and upstrokes on the & of the beat.
Complicating things a bit, the G chord in Clarksville should really be a G7 chord since the melody uses it, and it’s rock&roll. So you can also try replacing the 3rd beat bass from B or D to F (4th string, 3rd fret).
So
1: G (bass 6th string, third fret)
2: pluck/strum with fingers treble strings
3) F (bass 4th string, third fret)
4: Same as 2
just repeat. Without the seventh added, it won’t sound like Clarksville, it’ll just sound like a folk song. Keep hitting that 7th (F) on the G chord.
Strum patterns are widely diverse. It’s actually one of the personal stylistic components of the instrument. There are guitarists you can recognize just by the way they strum a G chord.
Sometimes notation is provided to indicate upstrokes or down strokes (V for a downstroke, ^ for an upstroke). Sometimes this will be accompanied by time values indicated by standard notations (for instance a “V” accompanied by a sequence of requisite quarter notes or 8th notes – not assigned pitch values, just time values).
With rock guitar, it’s best just to listen to the song. If you know the chords, the strumming isn’t that difficult to pick up. I would also point out that there’s a lot of room for variation and personal style. You don’t have to be exact. If it’s 4/4, just bang along in 4/4. You might not sound like the record, but you’ll sound fine.
Like everyone’s said, how you convey chords is one of the most expressive aspects of the guitar. Listen to SRV play rhythm and you hear that tactile KACHUNK-achunka you get with great muting technique, while Mark Knopfler can say all he needs with a few fingerpicked triads.
The thing is just to listen to alot of songs with simple strumming first (these are just what came to me, mostly just listen to whatever you like but pay special attention to the drums and guitar). Don’t worry about thinking the rhythm through–strumming is pretty much just muscle memory, and once you work yourself through a couple songs there’s a point when it clicks and becomes second nature. Until then you might find yourself getting tangled up. Which reminds me; it makes everything much easier if you think of your arm going up-down-up-down consistently, and just letting your pick miss the strings whenever you don’t want another accent. If that’s confusing, look at the first link I gave, which is In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. I count the intro to that in 6/8, and my strumming for each measure would be straight 16th notes up and down but with the 2nd and 8th 16th notes silent. They are just placeholders–I kinda jerk my hand up, but keep the motion small and off the strings so that the first eighth note rings out, and I still don’t lose the groove. Once you have this basic idea of strumming down, you can move on to the million other ways of playing chords.
edit: Ok I reread this post and I can see I made this about a million times more confusing than it should be. Bottom line: make your own groove and have fun, because it will come to you before you know it.
You can get away with a lot of rhythms in the time signature…just don’t abuse the beat (i.e. drag or rush). Often, IMO the uneven beat is caused by unequal upstrum and downstrum.
For a beginner who has musical background like you, I’d suggest writing yourself a few exercises. Start with simple quarter notes, all downstrum. When you have those very even, like a metronome, try the same but all upstrum. Then vary it (up, down, up, down; up down down up) and keep it consistent. Move on to more complicated patterns and always make your upstrum as smooth as your downstrum.
Thanks for all the advice.
Just a note, I’m opting for using a pick instead of five-finger strumming. Any specific recommendations for that?
And I think the faster I can play something recognizable, the more impetus I’ll have to keep going.
Any suggestions for books (available on Amazon) or other study guides. Or Web sites even?
I use .38mm Clayton picks on ultra light phosphor bronze strings. I like the shape because you can’t turn it the wrong way in your hand.
You’ll probably get a variety to try out at your local store. Thinner=you can play faster but they’re likely to break sooner. Once you figure out the strings and picks you like, you’ll probably order them on line as they’re a lot cheaper…unless you have a good store near you.
The thickness and stiffness of the pick will affect the sound quite noticeably. When picking individual strings, thicker picks give a deeper, louder sound. Thinner picks sound more trebly. I tend to use thick 1.5mm picks. For strumming, maybe a thin pick to give a soft, shimmering sound.
I had written about this in a previous thread and apparently didn’t subscribe to it. Rats.
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Start with a Thin or Medium pick. Thin will be easier but Medium is more versatile and likely where you’ll end up, but start with whatever keeps you playing.
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Most folks start holding the pick between their thumb and first two fingers. This is more comfortable, but it is inefficient - holding the pick between the thumb and the side of the index finger is more versatile - you can play more nimble single-note lead runs, jump between strings more easily and maybe even eventually hybrid pick holding the flatpick and using your middle and ring fingers to fingerpick at the same time.
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As I state in every new guitarist thread - make sure your guitar is set up properly, i.e., neck is appropriately straight, the action (distance b/t strings and fingerboard) is right for the guitar and the stings are intonated correctly. Nothing sounds worse than a newbie on a poorly set up guitar - so don’t discourage yourself that way…
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Strumming - what I said in the previous thread was: find easy, cyclical strum patterns based on songs you know, like and want to play - then practice for HOURS. For me, it was rock n’ roll so I picked songs like:
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La Bamba = DGAG
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What I Like About You = EADA
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Good Love = CFGF (play the G by moving the F shape up two frets on the neck)
You get the idea. The whole point is to get the concept of groove-based strumming to become second nature - once that happens, you can use it as a tool when figuring out how to play a song - you don’t have to both figure out how to strum AND figure out the song. I would take an unplugged electric guitar (quiet) and watch TV while playing strum patterns for hours…
Hope this helps.
Again, I thank all for the advice. I’m now having trouble typing from my sore left fingers 
Another favor to ask. Can anyone transcribe for me the introduction to “For Pete’s Sake” by the Monkees? The transcription I found online doesn’t seem to be correct.
I think I could post this three different places:
- Favorite Stevie Wonder song
- Ministre’s thread about learning methods
- Here, for lefties
Cool, bizarre…useful? I don’t know.
ETA: This guy does a very nice job on the song.
