10 Simple Strumming Patterns That Fit Hundreds of Songs

Writing a pattern: down and up arrows

Strumming patterns are usually written with arrows: ↓ for a downstroke, ↑ for an upstroke, and a gap for the hand moving through the air without touching the strings. The hand always keeps swinging continuously (see the article on strumming) - gaps change where the contact happens, not the motion itself.

The three most basic patterns

Start here - all three fit a count of four beats:

• ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ - four even downstrokes, the simplest pattern of all.
• ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ ↑ - a downstroke on every beat, plus extra upstrokes between beats two and three, three and four.
• ↓ - ↑ ↓ - ↑ - down on "1", skip on "2", up on "and", down on "3", skip on "4", up on "and".

Five intermediate patterns

A bit more involved - more upstrokes and syncopation:

• ↓ ↓↑ - ↑ ↓↑ - a classic "eighth-note" pattern with two down-up pairs and a gap on beat three.
• ↓ - ↓↑ - ↓↑ - a gap right after the first downstroke creates a light syncopation.
• ↓↑ - ↑ ↓↑ - an upstroke right after "1" with no downstroke on "2" - a signature rock-and-roll pattern.
• ↓ - ↑ - ↓↑ - sparse hits at the start of the bar, dense at the end.
• ↓↑ ↓↑ ↓↑ ↓↑ - continuous eighth notes with no gaps at all, the base pattern for muted strumming (see the article on percussive strumming).

Two patterns accenting the "and"

Skipping the downstroke on a strong beat and replacing it with an accented upstroke on the "and" right before it is a move that immediately gives a more alive, syncopated feel, characteristic of reggae and funk rather than strictly on the beat.

How to pick a pattern for a specific song

Start with the simplest of the ten that roughly matches the feel (see the article on figuring out a strum pattern by ear) and add upstrokes gradually, rather than trying to guess the original's exact notation right away - most patterns are similar enough that a simple version sounds musical even without a perfect match.