6/8 strumming pattern: the ballad strum

Six eighths to the bar in two groups of three, down-down-up, down-down-up, with the accent on 1 and 4, through Em, C, G and D. 6/8 is the swaying feel of ballads, folk songs and slow rock, and it counts differently from 3/4: two big beats a bar, each split in three. Keeping the accents where they belong is what gives it the rocking motion.

6/8 ballad strum: 4 bars of 6/8 in E standard, written at 105 bpm.

Bars 1, 2, 3

Bar 4

The strums: an arrow down or up for each strum, a cross for a muted one, a dot for a single note, and a faint arrow where the hand keeps moving without touching the strings.

Practise it at 63 bpm

Opens in the player looped and counted in, with drums playing along, and speeds up 5 % every 2 loops to 105 bpm. No account or microphone needed.

Goal tempo: 105 bpm
Starts at: 63 bpm
Length: 4 bars, looped
Tuning: E standard
Time: 6/8
Level: Intermediate
Plays with: Drums

How to play it

Count 1 2 3 4 5 6 and lean on 1 and 4; the up on 3 and 6 leads into each accent.

Count '1 2 3 4 5 6', a count for each eighth note. The pattern is down, down, up, down, down, up, with an accent on 1 and on 4, so the bar is felt as two big beats each split in three: ONE two three FOUR five six.

The ups on 3 and 6 are the lightest strokes and lead into the accent after them. Keep the hand's motion even; an accent comes from a slightly firmer stroke, not a bigger one.

The last bar, on D, ends with a down on 4 held to the end of the bar before the loop goes back to Em.

Mistakes to watch for

Counting it as 3/4, with accents on 1, 3 and 5 instead of 1 and 4.
Rushing the ups on 3 and 6, so the groups of three come out uneven.
Accents so heavy that the other strokes disappear. The sway comes from the contrast, not from hitting hard.

A speed plan

The player starts at 60 % of the goal and plays each tempo twice before stepping up:

That's 16 loops and about 2 minutes before you're playing at 105 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 6/8 ballad strum?

The goal is 105 bpm in eighth notes, which is 3.5 strums a second. Start wherever every strum is clean: the player begins at 63 bpm. Signed in, you can set a goal of your own, slower or faster, on the Exercises page.

Why is the tempo given in quarter notes for 6/8?

Guitar Pro and the player count tempo in quarter notes, so 105 bpm here means 105 quarters, or 210 eighths, a minute. Felt in two big beats a bar, that's 70 beats a minute: a slow, swaying ballad.

What songs use a 6/8 strum?

Slow ballads, folk songs and rock songs with a rocking, swaying feel, and many Irish tunes at a faster speed. If you can count 'one-and-a, two-and-a' along with the beat, it's probably in 6/8.

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