Once you’re comfortable with the downstroke strumming pattern, you’re ready to begin moving in a new direction—up. As you practice your timing with this strumming technique, you may find that your ability to keep time is compromised by the sluggish transitions of your fretting hand. In which case, I would impart upon you one of the most valuable pieces of advice any instructor can give: slow it down. You won’t learn proper technique if you rush yourself. Again, this sounds like common sense, but slow it down and pay attention to how you sound.
Okay, okay, let’s get to the lesson.
If you read the Strumming Downstrokes article, you’ll recall that as you executed your downstroke, your strumming hand was forming ovals in the air. In order to perform the upstroke, you’re going to tighten your oval and allow your pick to brush up against the strings on your way up. Pay close attention to the words “brush up” because they imply a light touch, lighter than your down stroke. This means that on your upstroke, you may not even strike the sixth (low E) or fifth (A) strings. That’s perfectly fine.
Once again you’ll be using a 4/4 tempo, which means that you’ll count to four and start over. Except this time around, you’ll complete your upstroke before beginning the next number. For example, on “1,” you’ll go down and up, then on “2,” you’ll go down and up, rinse and repeat. To stay consistent in giving your upstroke as much time as the downstroke, you should mark your upstrokes with “and.” That is to say, the count should look like this:
D U D U D U D U . . .
1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and . . .
As you can see, the beat still falls on the downstroke, but you’re adding an upstroke on the way up.
Wrists and Elbows
When you’re strumming, remember that it’s a combination of wrist and elbow. Ideally, more wrist than elbow. As you strum, try to angle your pick slightly to accommodate both the downstroke and the upstroke. That means if you put the process in slow-motion, your downstroke, for example, would reveal that your pick appears to be dragged across the strings with the pick’s point facing slightly upward. The subtle angle you implement here is because your wrist is moving back and forth with each upstroke and downstroke.
Leave a Reply