Guitar strumming patterns: 17 to learn, with counts you can hear
A strumming pattern is the strumming hand swinging down and up in time without stopping, hitting the strings on some strokes and missing them on others. Every pattern on this page is that one motion; what changes is which strokes hit and which beats are leaned on. Learn the motion once, and each new pattern is a matter of where to miss.
Each pattern is drawn the way guitarists write them, with a button to hear it looped over its chords with a click on the beat, and a link to the exercise that drills it in the player, with drums, tab and a tempo that rises as you get it right. They're written for a steel-string acoustic and work the same on any guitar.
of each pattern's tempo, for the play buttons.
How to read a pattern
Each slot is an eighth note, or a 16th in the busier patterns, with its count under it: 1 & 2 & for eighths, 1 e & a for 16ths, 1 to 6 in 6/8. The hand goes down on the numbers and up on the counts between them, whether or not it touches the strings.
- A strum down, towards the floor.
- A strum up. It usually catches only the higher strings.
- The hand moves without touching the strings. Keep making these: they keep the next strum on time.
- A chuck: the hand lands on the strings and stops them dead.
- A single bass note, picked on its own.
- An accent: a slightly firmer strum.
Patterns to start with
If strumming is new to you, learn these in order: each adds strokes to the one before, and the last of them fits most songs.
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Quarter-note downstrums
D D D D · 4/4
One downstroke on every beat. It's the strum to learn chords with, since the strumming hand has nothing else to do, and songs still use it for a steady, driving pulse. The faint arrows show the hand coming back up between the beats without touching the strings.
Played over G · Em · C · D, a bar each, at 90 bpm.
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Half-note strums
D, D · 4/4
Two strums a bar, each left to ring for two beats: the strum of slow ballads and of a song's quiet opening before the band comes in. The hand keeps swinging through the beats in between, which puts the next strum on time. Let each chord ring out fully.
Played over G · D · Em · C, a bar each, at 80 bpm.
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Down-up eighth notes
D U D U D U D U · 4/4
Down on every beat, up on every 'and'. This is the motion inside every pattern after it: the hand swings down and up in eighths the whole time, and a pattern only chooses which of those strokes hit the strings. Make the ups as even as the downs.
Played over A · D · A · E, a bar each, at 85 bpm.
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Down, down-up, down-up, down-up
D DU DU DU · 4/4
The down-up eighths with the first up missed, which gives each bar a clear start. An easy step from plain eighths, it suits folk and country songs. Its exercise strums the bar's last up on the open strings while the fretting hand moves to the next chord.
Played over G · C · D · G, a bar each, at 90 bpm.
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D-DU-UDU
D DU UDU · 4/4
Down, down-up, up-down-up, also written DDU-UDU: the most used strumming pattern in pop and folk. The hand misses the strings on beat 3 and comes back up on its 'and', which gives the pattern its lift. If you learn only one pattern, learn this one: it fits most songs in 4/4.
Played over G · D · Em · C, a bar each, at 90 bpm.
Busier patterns in 4/4
Once the D-DU-UDU is automatic: patterns in 16ths and the muted strum of acoustic rock.
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16th-note pop strum
D DU UDU, twice a bar · 4/4
The D-DU-UDU in 16ths, so it fits in two beats and comes round twice a bar. The hand swings four small, light strokes a beat, and the gaps fall between the beats, which gives modern acoustic pop its busy, pushing feel.
Played over Am · Fmaj7 · C · G, a bar each, at 75 bpm.
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Gallop strum
D DU on every beat · 4/4
An eighth and two 16ths on every beat, down, down-up: the galloping strum of folk-rock and sea shanties. The hand swings in 16ths and misses the up after each beat. Keep the two 16ths quick and even, lean on the beat, and it drives a song forward.
Played over Em · C · G · D, a bar each, at 90 bpm.
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Palm-muted eighths
D D D D D D D D, muted · 4/4
Downstrokes on every eighth with the side of the strumming hand resting on the strings by the bridge, so the chords come out short and chunky: the driving verse strum of acoustic rock. Lift the hand off for the chorus and the ringing chords sound twice as big.
Played over E · A · D · A, a bar each, at 110 bpm.
Chucks and bass notes
Patterns that make one guitar sound like a band: a muted chuck for the snare drum, a picked bass note for the bass.
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A chuck on 2 and 4
D U X U - U X U · 4/4
A muted slap, the chuck, on beats 2 and 4, where a drummer plays the snare. The strumming hand lands flat on the strings as it comes down, then strums up out of it. With the chuck in, one guitar sounds like a guitar and a drum kit.
Played over Am · C · G · D, a bar each, at 85 bpm.
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D-DU-UDU with chucks
D XU UXU · 4/4
The D-DU-UDU with its downstrokes on 2 and 4 turned into chucks: the pattern behind countless busked and campfire covers. It's a small step once the D-DU-UDU and the chuck are each comfortable on their own.
Played over G · D · Em · C, a bar each, at 85 bpm.
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Boom-chick
Bass, strum, bass, strum · 4/4
A bass note on beats 1 and 3 and a strum on 2 and 4, the bass alternating between the chord's root and another of its notes (the dots). The rhythm of country, bluegrass and folk: one guitar playing the bass line and the chords.
Played over G · C · D · G, a bar each, at 100 bpm.
Offbeats and swing
The same down-up motion with the weight moved off the beat, or the beat split long-short.
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Offbeat upstrums
- U - U - U - U · 4/4
Nothing on the beats and a short upstroke on every 'and', while the hand swings down above the strings on the beat. Stop each chord straight after it and the rhythm bounces the way ska guitar does.
Played over Am · Dm · G · E, a bar each, at 110 bpm.
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Reggae chop on 2 and 4
- - D - - - D - · 4/4
One short downstroke on beats 2 and 4, a chop stopped the moment it sounds. At reggae's slow tempos the space around the chops is the groove. Play it on the top three or four strings and damp them with both hands straight after.
Played over Am · Dm · Am · E, a bar each, at 75 bpm.
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Swing strum
D, DU, D, DU, swung · 4/4, swung
A long down on 1 and 3 and a swung down-up on 2 and 4, the backbeat accented. In swing each 'and' falls late, two thirds of the way through the beat, so the strum lopes long-short. It fits blues, rockabilly and old-time songs.
Played over A7 · D7 · A7 · E7, a bar each, at 100 bpm.
3/4 and 6/8
Patterns for songs that don't count in four: the waltz in three and the swaying 6/8 of ballads.
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3/4 waltz strum
D, DU, DU · 3/4
Three beats a bar: a strong down on 1, then down-up on 2 and 3. Lean on the 1 so the start of the bar is heard; that strong-weak-weak is what makes it a waltz. Waltzes, many folk ballads and country standards count in three.
Played over D · G · D · A7, a bar each, at 110 bpm.
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3/4 bass and strum
Bass, D, D · 3/4
The boom-chick in three: a bass note on 1 and a strum on 2 and 3, the oom-pah-pah of country waltzes. Pick the chord's root alone, then brush the higher strings twice.
Played over G · C · D · G, a bar each, at 110 bpm.
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6/8 ballad strum
D D U D D U · 6/8
Six eighths a bar in two groups of three, down-down-up twice, accented on 1 and 4. Felt as two big swaying beats a bar, it's the strum of slow ballads and many folk songs. Count 1 to 6 and lean on 1 and 4.
Played over Em · C · G · D, a bar each, at 105 bpm.
How to learn a new pattern
- Say it before you play it: count out loud and say the strokes, "down, down up, up down up", until you can say it in time.
- Rest the fretting hand lightly across the strings and strum the pattern on the muted strings, so the strumming hand learns it with nothing else to think about.
- Add one chord and loop it, then the chord changes. If a change makes you stop, keep strumming and let the chord arrive late.
- Open its exercise in the player: it starts at 60 % of the tempo with drums and speeds up every two loops, and with a microphone it checks where each strum lands.
The chords on this page
Every one is an open chord, with no barre. The numbers under each diagram are the fingers: 1 the index to 4 the little finger.
Questions
What is the most common strumming pattern?
D-DU-UDU: down, down-up, up-down-up, in eighth notes. It fits most pop, folk and rock songs in 4/4 at a medium tempo, which is why it's usually the first real pattern guitarists learn, after plain downstrokes and down-up eighths.
How do I work out a song's strumming pattern?
Count along with the recording and listen for where the strums land and which beats are leaned on. Many songs vary the pattern from bar to bar, so any pattern that keeps time and matches the feel is right. Try D-DU-UDU for songs in four, the waltz strum for songs in three and the 6/8 strum for songs that sway in two.
Why does my strumming sound choppy?
Usually the hand stops between strokes, or the upstrokes are much weaker than the downs. Keep the hand swinging the whole time, missing the strings on purpose where the pattern has a gap, and make the strokes smaller. A thinner pick helps the upstrokes glide.
How do I strum faster?
Make the motion smaller rather than faster: at speed the hand turns from the wrist across only the strings it needs. Learn a pattern slowly, then let its exercise raise the tempo a step at a time while it stays even.
Should the arm go down and up even when it misses?
Yes. That's the whole trick of strumming: the hand moves down on the beats and up between them all the time, so every stroke lands where it belongs. The patterns only decide which strokes touch the strings.
The strumming exercises
- Quarter-note downstrumsOne relaxed stroke from the wrist on each beat; start moving to the next chord on beat 4.
- Down-up eighth notesKeep the arm swinging down and up all the time; the upstroke only needs the top three or four strings.
- Changing on the 'and' of 4Lift the fretting hand off on the last 'and' of each bar and strum the open strings as it travels.
- The D-DU-UDU strumKeep the hand swinging on beat 3 but miss the strings: the down you skip is what makes the next up land on time.
- 16th-note pop strumSwing the hand in 16ths all the time, four strokes a beat; the strings are only hit where the arrows say.
- Strumming with a chuckOn 2 and 4 let the side of the palm land on the strings as the hand comes down, so the strum is a thud, not a chord.
- Boom-chick: bass and strumPick the bass note alone, then strum just the higher strings; the boom is the root, then another bass string.
- Offbeat upstrumsSwing down above the strings on the beat and hit them only on the way up; ease the fretting fingers off to cut each chord short.
- Swing strumLong-short, long-short: the up comes late, just before the next beat. Lean on 2 and 4.
- 3/4 waltz strumCount 1, 2 and 3 and; accent the 1 a little so the bar's start is heard.
- 6/8 ballad strumCount 1 2 3 4 5 6 and lean on 1 and 4; the up on 3 and 6 leads into each accent.
- All acoustic exercisesStrumming, chord changes, fingerpicking and more.