From all of the instruments that you can choose from these days, the guitar still remains one of the most popular ones. And it’s no wonder since it allows you to play a huge portion of the songs that everybody loves, all while keeping it pretty simple. It might seem a bit confusing to those who haven’t gotten the chance to try it, but it’s actually one of the simplest instruments for beginners to learn how to play (if not THE simplest). So today’s article is on how to strum a guitar.
On the other hand, you have to start somewhere, right? We can all talk for days about how the guitar is not that difficult to learn, but plenty of absolute beginners are still asking the basic questions about the instrument. In order to help you with everything, we’ve decided to do this simple and brief guide about strumming, with the main goal of helping you or any other beginner to get the right idea about how these things work.
Fretting Hand and Picking Hand
The first thing you should know about is how to utilize fretting and picking hands. The fretting hand holds down the neck, supports it, and utilizes your fingers in order to press down the strings on different frets. All of the chords, scales, intervals – it’s your fretting hand that will do the work for this and implements your music theory knowledge in practice. If you’re playing right-handed, your left hand will be the fretting hand. And if you’re playing left-handed, your right hand will do all the fretting work.
And then the other hand does all the strumming, picking, fingerpicking, plucking, and even muting when needed. Right-handed guitarists use their right hand for this purpose, while left-handed ones use their left hand.
How to Hold a Guitar Properly
The next thing to know before going onto strumming is how to hold a guitar properly. After all, you won’t be able to have the much-needed comfort and free movement if you’re holding it the wrong way. First, place the guitar on your left or right thigh. Classical players usually go with the thigh that’s closer to their fretting hand; although you can do whatever feels more comfortable to you. Hold the guitar close to your body and place the strumming arm over the guitar’s body, with the forearm resting on the front side and the body edge. You should place it so nothing obstructs the strings and that your strumming hand can move freely and do all the work.
The fretting hand goes on the neck, with the palm facing the back of the neck. Your tumb goes up and supports the hand while the rest of the fingers do all the fretting work. In most cases, you should position the thumb just above the middle of the neck. Of course, after gaining experience, this will slowly change, but this particular position is what you should aim for as a beginner.
There are also guitar players who use some extraordinary techniques. And you’re free to hold it the way you want to. However, the guitar is designed to be held the way we described it above and it will be much easier for a beginner to do it this way.
How to Hold a Guitar Pick
Next up, you’ll have to learn and practice holding a pick before you learn how to strum a guitar. Without a plectrum, it’s much harder to do any strumming and make it sound the way that it’s supposed to. And a proper technique will help you in that.
The main idea is to curl the fingers towards your thumb and place the pick between the thumb and the index finger. It should be placed right at the first knuckle of your index finger where you can grasp it securely with your thumb. But at the same time, you shouldn’t squeeze it too hard or keep it too loosely between your fingers. It takes time to get ahold of it. But, you should just hold it comfortably and naturally without using too much effort.
In order to get familiar with the feeling, you can practice it a little without actually playing your instrument. The point is to be able to hold it firmly for extended periods of time without feeling excessive fatigue.
Read more on how to strum a guitar below…
Strumming – How to Strum a Guitar
Then you should go over and start doing actual strumming. Don’t worry, for this process you won’t need to know any actual chords or scales or anything else. We’re focusing solely on the picking hand.
You’ll find many sources explaining where exactly strings should be strung on a guitar. However, you can use different spots in order to create different results. The more you go towards the bridge, the sound will be “twangier,” brighter, and more controlled. And if you go further away from the bridge and towards the soundhole, it will get louder and more bottom-end-oriented. For beginners, you should strum the strings just at the edge of the soundhole, going slightly towards the bridge.
Firstly, practice strumming only in one direction, all while keeping a consistent sweep over the strings. This means you should pick with the same intensity and without any breaks in between. You don’t have to “dig in” deep with your pick, just have its tip go over the strings. If you’d like to take strumming to the next level, you can take one on one or virtual lessons at Rock Out Loud, located in Morganville New Jersey.
Pick Action
Another thing to know about is the pick action, or how exactly are you picking the string with your plectrum. If it’s completely parallel with the strings, then you’ll get a sharper sound and stronger attack. And if you play at a more or less angled position, it gets smoother.
When it comes to regular strumming, you should place it at an angle, with your picking kind of going sideways. This will not only make your sound more controlled, but the whole strumming process will go much easier; with your output getting more consistent. For basic chords, this is the kind of hand and pick positions that will get the job done.
When you’re ready to take music lessons and truly learn how to strum a guitar, check out Rock Out Loud!
