Boom-chick strumming: bass note and strum
A bass note on 1 and 3 and a strum on 2 and 4, the bass swapping between the chord's root and another of its notes, through G, C and D. This is the 'boom-chick' of country and folk, where one guitar plays both the bass line and the chords. It trains the picking hand to find a single string and then hit the rest, and puts each chord's root under your fingers.
Opens in the player looped and counted in, with drums playing along, and speeds up 5 % every 2 loops to 100 bpm. No account or microphone needed.
- Goal tempo
- 100 bpm
- Starts at
- 60 bpm
- Length
- 4 bars, looped
- Tuning
- E standard
- Time
- 4/4
- Level
- Beginner
- Plays with
- Drums
How to play it
Pick the bass note alone, then strum just the higher strings; the boom is the root, then another bass string.
On beats 1 and 3, pick one bass string on its own; on 2 and 4, strum the higher strings of the chord. The bass alternates: on G the low E string's 3rd fret, then the open D string; on C the A string's 3rd fret, then the low E's 3rd fret; on D the open D string, then the open A.
For C's second bass note, the 3rd finger hops from the A string to the low E string's 3rd fret and back for the strum. The strums only need the top four strings or so, which keeps them light against the bass.
The last bar ends with a down-up on beat 4, a little lift back into the G at the start.
Mistakes to watch for
- Hitting two bass strings at once. Aim the pick at one string and keep the stroke small.
- Strumming down into the bass strings, so the strum swamps the bass note before it.
- Rushing the strum after the bass note: they're evenly spaced, one a beat.
A speed plan
The player starts at 60 % of the goal and plays each tempo twice before stepping up:
- 60
- 65
- 70
- 75
- 80
- 85
- 90
- 95
- 100
That's 16 loops and about 3 minutes before you're playing at 100 bpm. If it stops being clean on the way, stop the ramp there and loop that tempo until it is. With a microphone or an audio interface you can record while you play instead: Demiurg checks every loop and steps up only after two clean ones in a row, and back down after a poor one. Strums are checked for when they land, not for which strings rang.
Questions
How fast should I play Boom-chick: bass and strum?
The goal is 100 bpm in quarter notes, which is 1.7 strums a second. Start wherever every strum is clean: the player begins at 60 bpm. Signed in, you can set a goal of your own, slower or faster, on the Exercises page.
What is boom-chick strumming?
A rhythm where a bass note (the boom) and a strummed chord (the chick) take turns, one a beat. It's the backbone of country, bluegrass and folk guitar, and makes one guitar sound like a bass and a rhythm guitar together.
Which bass notes go with each chord?
Start with the root, the note the chord is named after, on the lowest string the chord uses. The second bass note is another note of the chord on a nearby string, often the fifth: D for G, G for C, A for D.
More acoustic exercises
All 20 acoustic exercises · Strumming patterns · Fretboard notes trainer · All 107 exercises