Start Playing Guitar In Just 4 Days! Day 2 – Some Simple Strumming

[fusion_builder_container background_color=”” background_image=”” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_preview_image=”” overlay_color=”” video_mute=”yes” video_loop=”yes” fade=”no” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding_top=”20″ padding_bottom=”20″ padding_left=”” padding_right=”” hundred_percent=”no” equal_height_columns=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” menu_anchor=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ layout=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none” last=”no” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_position=”all”][fusion_text]

     While you’re welcome to start “Day 2” right after your 30-minute Day 1 practice session, I’d like to point out that it takes time to digest this information. You can totally power through this whole guitar workout in 3 hours or so, but you’re kind of doing yourself a disservice if you don’t revisit it a few more times. It’s through repetition that we actually learn and internalize things, and taking breaks gives our brains and hands time to digest all of these new ideas and skills. I find for me, personally, I get a better outcome if I revisit something many times – it is more beneficial for me to practice one thing for 15 minutes a day, 7 days in a row (3.5 hours total) than it would be to practice that one thing for 3 and a half hours in a single day. This isn’t just me, though. “A 2010 Harvard study suggested that sleeping may reactivate and reorganize recently learned material, which would help improve memory and boost performance.” Source. If you want to have a longer (over 2 hours) practice session, maybe even try taking a quick power nap after the first big chunk of practice. Here’s an article explaining how this might help.

     So make sure you take your time with this and revisit the material often. Part of what has made guitar such a long-lasting part of my life has been the fact that I avoid overwhelming myself and have learned to set realistic but still challenging goals that I can keep up on a daily basis. Nobody wants to get home from work and feel like they have this big 4-hour practice session/chore ahead of them. Do what you can, but make sure you do it ALMOST EVERY DAY. That is the most important thing I have to say about this – if you want to be successful at ANYTHING, you need to do it almost every day, even if it’s just for 10 or 15 minutes.

We’ll start off Day 2 with a quick review of yesterday’s lesson. Everything we learned led up to playing along with “What I Got,” so I think strumming along, downstrokes only, would be the perfect exercise to warm up with.

[/fusion_text][fusion_separator style_type=”single solid” top_margin=”” bottom_margin=”20″ sep_color=”” border_size=”” icon=”” icon_circle=”” icon_circle_color=”” width=”” alignment=”center” class=”” id=”” /][fusion_text]

Warmup: Strum along (downstrokes only) to “What I Got” and focus on making clean chord changes. You want to have the chord ready to play on Beat 1, even if that means changing a bit early (on beat 3 or 4 for instance).

[/fusion_text][fusion_separator style_type=”single solid” top_margin=”” bottom_margin=”20″ sep_color=”” border_size=”” icon=”” icon_circle=”” icon_circle_color=”” width=”” alignment=”center” class=”” id=”” /][fusion_text]Now that we’re all warmed up, let’s look at something we haven’t talked about yet: strumming patterns. Technically, there are an infinite number of possible strumming patterns, but for some reason our ears are attracted to a few main rhythms that pop up time and again in various styles of music. “What I Got” uses literally the most common strumming pattern, “Down Down-up Up-Down-Up.” In the following lesson, feel free to use the D and G chords instead of G and Em or C and Am, although you’re welcome to try those if you wish.[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ layout=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none” last=”no” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_position=”all”][fusion_youtube id=”y36X-j3EqME” width=”600″ height=”350″ autoplay=”no” api_params=”” class=”” /][fusion_text]If you have any trouble with this pattern (it may be the most common but is definitely not the easiest) here are a couple of tips:[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ layout=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none” last=”no” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_position=”all”][fusion_checklist icon=”fa-music” iconcolor=”” circle=”” circlecolor=”” size=”13px” class=”” id=””][fusion_li_item icon=”fa-music”]Make sure you are moving your arm continuously, along to the beat, like I mentioned in the strumming pattern video above. You can try doing this without even holding a guitar – just wag your arm, up and down, along to the beat to “lock in” to the groove.[/fusion_li_item][fusion_li_item icon=”fa-music”]Notice how there are 2 upstrokes in a row. After the first upstroke we need to bring our arm back down (perform a downstroke without hitting the strings – “ghost stroke”) in order to play the second upstroke. It really helps A LOT to say “miss” out loud as you play the “ghost” downstroke. It will help you feel the missing beat.[/fusion_li_item][/fusion_checklist][fusion_text]If this is still giving you grief, don’t fret! Certain strumming patterns are easier for some people than others. Try this alternate strumming pattern instead (or if you want, LEARN BOTH!)[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ layout=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none” last=”no” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_position=”all”][fusion_youtube id=”lb2AqRQG3Bs” width=”600″ height=”350″ autoplay=”no” api_params=”” class=”” /][fusion_text]     Now that we have a strumming pattern ready, let’s revisit “What I Got” and see if we can play our first official song complete with chords and strumming pattern![/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ layout=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none” last=”no” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_position=”all”][fusion_youtube id=”9CAu9UfdhBI” width=”600″ height=”350″ autoplay=”no” api_params=”” class=”” /][fusion_separator style_type=”shadow” top_margin=”” bottom_margin=”20″ sep_color=”” border_size=”” icon=”” icon_circle=”” icon_circle_color=”” width=”” alignment=”center” class=”” id=”” /][fusion_text]

Day 2 – What To Practice

  • 5 minutes – Practice Strumming Pattern #1
  • 5 minutes – Practice Strumming Pattern #2
  • 5 minutes – Playing “What I Got” using downstrokes only
  • 15 minutes – Playing “What I Got” with either strumming pattern

30 minutes total![/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]