Beginner habit you really need to stop

[@BrandonDeon]

Stop being a n00b dammit. Also check out the pinned video "How Good is 52 Week Guitar Player Actually" for more information about the program. We are closed for enrollment but will re-open in on December 15. (Dec 12 for waiting list members). We will only accept 100 new students. Save the code BLACKFRIDAYFUN for when we reopen to get $400 off dammit!

[@blackweb.]

Ok danggit

[@nuthinbutlove]

I'll say it again...I love your vids!

[@agwpg1238]

shout out to all the drummers-to-guitarists out there!

[@Elicfox]

That’s me I understand guitar differently because I understand it like dave grohl does I see it as a different type of drum set

[@BestDurian]

it ain’t easy sucking at music all over again

[@sereypanhanuth5788]

And all those pianists who already know all there is to know about music theory.

[@nickz171]

thanks bro

[@nathanielnurse8340]

thats me 🤠

[@jaanaberg6125]

As someone who's been playing for 12 ish years, I can confirm that I have literally no use for "strumming patterns". All I think about is the rhythm. My best advice regarding strumming is that in most cases you wanna try to treat your strumming hand like a constant pendulum that's always going. Almost all strumming patterns will follow from this. One you get this down, you just strike the strings whenever the rhythm requires you to.

[@Laceration_Gravityyy]

Yea I didn’t really understand what he was talking about, but this is how i strum.

[@thedutchjuan]

I never look at the strum pattern... it just goes naturally for me or something 😅 the only problem is to learn it to a new guitarist😂

[@reaganharder1480]

Yep. Keep the beat with the moving hand, hit the strings or don't when you need to, and bam, strumming pattern. The only time this doesn't work just that simply is when you're doing that sorta in between strumming chords and picking arpeggios thing where you gotta actually think about which strings you're hitting when, and then sometimes you gotta think about up and down for the sake of hitting the right strings in the right order.

[@Chrisped.to.perfection]

Okay you should have done the video his explanation gave me no context or help

[@wiczus6102]

You just realised how to play alternate strumming. That's a step for sure but there are many other strumming patterns. For instance you can play |up down up up down up down| for a nice 7/8 rhythm. Also if you have something like 8 8 8 8 8 8 16 16 16 16 in a 4/4 it would be idiotic to wave your hand up and down for every 16.

[@illuminotme4261]

I will never forget one of the first band I was in was practicing a new song and the drummer said "Let's just get through the song and worry about the timing later!", 😂

[@Zack-bl2gg]

That drummer scares me

[@illuminotme4261]

@@Zack-bl2gg right! Another story with the same drummer was I came in with this new riff but everytime we tried to jam on it things went crazy. So a few months later I have a new drummer filling in and I start playing the riff with him and it starts popping and the bass player is like "That sounds cool now, but it never worked before" and the new drummer says "Well it's in 6/8 time." So yeah that's a true story and I am amazed at the response. Thanks.

[@nicolasreny221]

@@illuminotme4261lol

[@Zack-bl2gg]

@@illuminotme4261 duuudddeee a good drummer’s so important in a band. I’m a solo artist right now and let me tell you, if I could just have a drummer I’d be happy haha. Playing with other guitarists or bassists is fun but I could do that myself if I need to on a looper, that drummer man… I need that harmony

[@illuminotme4261]

@@Zack-bl2gg and no matter how many drum machines I try it always sounds the same... Boring!

[@predeterminedmeat5024]

Guy pulled out Green Day 21 Guns and though we wouldn't notice

[@Wh4ts3rname]

I KNEW IT SOUNDED LIKE GREEN DAY 😭 I WAS LIKE “Is this Holiday or 21 Guns?”

[@errix]

Love that chrod progression so much

[@realcbox]

kinda sounds like Say it Ain’t So by Weezer

[@predeterminedmeat5024]

@@realcbox It's not though

[@Opno]

That was profoundly unhelpful

[@CAPRESEGREEN]

Seems like he just told people to stop

[@shepherd8203]

What is easier 1& ,2&, 3& ,4 or (down up down up, down up down.) If you learn numbers its far easier to learn songs and keep time.

[@chaotica6165]

He could've said something about keeping rhythm in the movement of your hand. That's how it should b done. If you keep your hand moving constantly you also keep time better.

[@Param11930]

When you know about rythym, you don't have to learn when to up or down, it'll come more naturally

[@darmenias]

There was some missing info but I agree with him. For those confused and clicking this for more info on what the heck he just said, I'm a drummer-turned-guitarist who tried learning guitar at 16 and couldn't get over the strumming patterns. Then I learned drums and when I went back to the guitar 11 years after trying it the first time, I realized that the constant time-keeping movement on the hi-hat is the exact same thing as strumming on guitar and I literally did not have to learn any strumming patterns at all, ever. For now, just remember these things: 1. Try to keep your hand moving in such a way that you are always doing a downstroke on the 1 of every bar. 2. Keep your hand moving at all times in sync with the rhythm, usually downstrokes on every beat. 3. Focus on striking the strings only when needed. This is gonna be really sloppy at the beginning but as you keep doing this you'll start to see through the veil of strumming patterns. 4. When all this has become fairly natural, start messing with point no. 2. Triplets, pauses, etc. Experiment. Bonus point 5: Learn left hand muting when you've got the other stuff down.

[@ElPapu23_]

the "talk to a drummer" hits hard

[@MayelaQueen]

dont talk to me im definitely not a drummer

[@samuelnichols4709]

As a drummer, please talk to us about rhythms, my sister who plays guitar was asking about polyrhythms the other day and I had a field day with it

[@pedroulrich2465]

🎶🎶🎶 “One, twenty-one guns, throw up your arms into the sky, you and I…” 🎶🎶🎶

[@OneEyedB4stard]

Exactly

[@Keiko91101]

"When you're at the end of the road"

[@silverbluray2]

And you've lost all sense of control

[@Chehli]

Great point. For most complex strumming I do, I don’t even think about downs and up…. Just the feel and then it comes out naturally. I’d have to break it down and think about it to even know the downs and ups and then probably mess it up 😂

[@kkupsky6321]

“Talk to a drummer”. Best guitar lesson ever. Wise words.

[@agwpg1238]

I played drums before i got into guitar so it felt very intuitive for me when i first started out

[@MrPaulopp]

This is a hole in music theory. Down and up DO matter. They sound completely different. It's not just about the rhythm

[@Kaybo_Real]

Was a drummer for about a decade before I started guitar and what you said is 💯 true. I prefer guitar now that I’ve gotten into it.

[@jinfin221]

What's harder to learn in your opinion?

[@Wakawakawakawakawakawakawaka7]

Strumming pattern is only useful for pop or folk songs that keep the strumming the EXACT same so you can just get your hand doing the old floppy thing on auto pilot yk

[@luffygamering]

as a bassist, i can not clarify how effective this is

[@_ru_music_]

When I first learned the guitar, I’ve never had to learn “strumming” or the down and up lingo. I could just strum along to a song by ear.

[@austinsatterfield6792]

As a drummer learning guitar barre chords and rythem came super easy to me. My struggle is ear training and knowing what scale to play over chords with out looking them up

[@marcelofagundez9622]

Bro grasping at straws with this short I'm not gonna lie

[@GammaFZ]

“Do you know what’s worth fi-ghting for?”

[@asura_ph]

when it's not worth dying for

[@laserman7211]

Does it take your breath away,

[@sluttyMapleSyrup]

And you feel yourself suffocating?

[@predeterminedmeat5024]

@@laserman7211 And you feel yourself suffocating

[@mikellobabilozach3482]

I been a base drummer since i was a kid and i used playing the rhythm in my head while strumming instead. That's my mentor teach us back then, and im gratefully that it's actually useful.

[@amitchandra9046]

I’ve never learned these up and down patterns, I just feel the rhythm of the song and go along with that

[@jordanclymer5008]

It's pretty easy to hear the difference between a down and upstroke by ear, just listen to the song you're learning if you're worried about the strum pattern lol

[@_ru_music_]

That’s why I’m saying lol, idk why people need to learn strumming patterns, I thought you could just play by ear

[@polterheist77]

Except when just yesterday you learned what a 'fret' is, your ears won't be tuned to recognise a strumming pattern, let alone differentiate between a downstroke and an upstroke. This is why beginners gravitate towards and eventually rely on written patterns, focusing too much on if it's a down or upstroke, completely forgetting the actual point, the rhythm.

[@gabibonza]

"Good guitarrists play only down" - James Hetfield

[@jbruh6246]

Tendonitis my old friend

[@sue_m]

... speaking of drummers who became guitarists...

[@vixtermono5901]

@@sue_mright here my dude, I’m learning creeping death cause the down picking isn’t a struggle for me, alternate picking is a nightmare for me though. 💀

[@calebmunkirs9661]

I wouldn't ever think about down and up for strumming but I would consider it for lead playing and only if it would be more favorable to start with an up stroke. I'm not a bowed string player but I think I remember them having markings in their sheet music for the same or similar reasons. It's like when piano sheet music has a number from 1-5 over a note telling them which finger to play that note with because it puts your hand in a better spot for that section

[@misterman6853]

Yo thank you for the rythm tip, its kinda hard trying to read them as a self taught player, i just kinda do my own patterns but this will help a lot!

[@Oatmeal_Mann]

When I started strumming on an acoustic (started with metal and basically all downstrokes) and was told just to try and "make it sound right" i.e focus on the rhythm and figure out how fast to go as well as whether it's up or down myself and that really worked for me. It was just so intuitive, as opposed to learning what seemed like mechanical ups and downs. Maybe it just worked for me; idk about everyone else.

[@laudaifram2301]

Funny thing about the first time i learned is that i never really think about up/down strums. It just came naturally. I don't even know that's something a beginner need to learn until i saw other beginners struggle with it

[@Atharva-kd1gf]

100% agree to this, practicing strumming a few months would really get you to feel it giving a very natural vibe rather than memorizing patterns

[@shanept]

Only reason I find it matters is it sounds different depending on which way I strum. The rhythm means nothing

[@bassescovered7037]

precisely. Strumming pattern is about timbre.

[@Silmerano]

I was a band kid and played a bunch of instruments including a couple different drums. I always thought of strumming intuitively like this. I think it's also why I really like palm muting. The percussive nature of it just appeals to me.

[@Vman.]

“Talk to a drummer”😂

[@MotivatedOhio]

I remember when I began I was very frustrated how the strumming pattern of a song was never specified. You just get a feel for rhythm eventually, now I don't even think about it.

[@Dylanmccoy442.]

Learned drums for 7 years before starting guitar and it’s so easy to have good timing and strumming etc

[@tristan_840]

Beginners should instead learn to read rhythm. But most importantly, just listen to the song and develop good ears!

[@AlytheAlleyWay]

Dude this makes tons of sense now. I play violin and this is just like up and down bow for violin

[@JCVidZ0912]

i’ve never payed attention to my “ups and downs” when strumming and i’ve literally just strummed what felt right

[@hubberducky]

Strumming down vs up provides a different timbre to the sound of your strum, since you're hitting the higher strings first vs the lower strings. It absolutely makes a difference lol

[@bedroxzbass4706]

That's not what he said

[@_ru_music_]

Lol what?

[@skateup2291]

Best way to do it is to play a very simple rhythmic pattern while muting the strings. That will teach you the fastest. Just imagine a simple drum beat or find one and mimic the rhythm with muted strings.

[@iasyama1999]

Learning with the strumming pattern in mind was helpful as you consciously know what strumming "up" vs "down" sounds like. After a week or two you'd probably know the basic strumming patterns and can play it subconsciously.

[@jjgalletta66]

Love him or hate him…he’s undeniably correct.

[@damyoinin]

Man i don't even think about strumming, or anything in general...

[@sneakysouth3840]

Wow. The best play I’ve seen from you all year. 🎉

[@logank.70]

There is a difference in how it sounds when a chord is played when strumming down versus up though. You can play the rhythm that is notated in the sheet music but it doesn't sound quite right (if you are playing someone else's music) because you down-strummed everything and the strumming pattern is down-up-up-down (for example). In violin the sheet music differentiates between playing notes with the bow moving up or down. I don't know why you wouldn't want to do the same with guitar. This could definitely be ignorance on my part.

[@weets69]

So agree. As a high beginner I was having trouble with this. When I think I needed a down then a up etc I would always mess it up. When I stop thinking about strumming patterns and just play and listen it just works. Bottom line stop thinking and just strum. If it sounds right then it’s right.

[@arthurmonoyas6395]

as a drummer to a guitarist myself, its a blessing to have sense of rhytm, its pretty much what guides the drums, shout out to all guitarists that had to develop that while learning scales and shit

[@deadosaka1712]

started out by playing the drums when I was like 7 or 8, definitely helped with my rhythm!

[@ramonbarinosilva5318]

I think its crazy how many noob habits are developed in the guitar world. My first instrument was clarinet and it took me some time to learn some basic things (like 1 week to play my first decent note), but still its better than beeing stuck on a beginner level for years. When I decided to learn guitar I was surprised with the quantity of noob tips that just help you playing something but not even understanding or knowing what notes you're playing.

[@jimjimmington1]

“talk to a drummer; learn about rhythm” is probably the last thing that anybody who sees this video will do

[@VincentiusTheSecond]

100%. If you focus on downs and ups you arent focused on the right thing, you can play an upstroke on beat 1 and it wont make a difference as long as you're comfortable playing. Some people write riffs with only downstrokes and that down up mentallity will fail you when ya get to that point.

[@ChampaRealLordChampa]

I never really paid much attention to the specific up-down patterns learning songs, I just played what feels right and I developed a good sense of Rhythm by ear instead of worrying about studying the strumming pattern. I think that’s a good approach to getting out of that habit, just let your feel and ear guide you

[@nathantwining6266]

This is actually one of the main reasons why I prefer Songsterr over ultimate guitar for tabs. It shows the rhythm instead of strumming patterns. Very cool!

[@AstroSully]

I’m glad I never got this habit. It was always about timing and feel. But back then I thought it was the wrong way of going about it 😂

[@jochem420]

my teacher told me to before starting to play just keep hovering my hand up and down with the rhythm and just strum like that

[@grantreborn]

You are so Canadian it's painful. Love it

[@Ishment]

This is why I’m glad I took percussion and piano lessons before I ever took guitar lessons. I had a great rhythm foundation to build off of. Learn your rudiments y’all, especially if your play style is more classical fingerpicking. Flam accents sound dope when ur fingerpicking

[@pugamagar6191]

I just did it by feeling the beat and melody😆. Strumming was easy AF to learn for me

[@developer2]

I played ukulele heavily as a child so I’m glad I got out of this habit then before I started playing guitar 😂

[@jackpepperpwb]

Even as a beginner I never used up and down, it just came so much easier to just feel it. If I tried concentrating on it it became so much harder. I'd just listen to the song and tap the rhythm out with my hands.

[@fenderstrat2202]

Its way easier to just focus on what im playing first and then get the strumming right after. Its easier to just hear out the strumming in the song its easier to replicate then some beginners may think. Just gotta trust your own abilities

[@frederikweishaupt6371]

I also think it’s important to think about the frquencies of the sound. Watch strum can have a bass, treble or balanced sound. As well as how much force you put in the strum.

[@KanameAkiyama]

I suck with rhythm and independence to strumming and singing yet i want to be a rhythm singer 😂😂😂

[@EpicBowlingChamp]

I’ve only been playing for like 6 months and I don’t think about strumming patterns like that at all. I just study the rhythm and then move strum to whatever is the easiest unless it’s like a chord arpeggio and the song requires either to start on the low string or high string.

[@ben_hoyce]

in a large group usually it looks better for everyone to strum the same to look together. there are up and down symbols (although more common for string orchestra) if you're by yourself it doesnt matter. if you're in an orchestra, it does.

[@saltorix4760]

my entire advice for this is literally feel the music and strum based of that

[@polterheist77]

This is so real, anytime my friends ask me "what's the strumming pattern?", I have no idea what to answer because each time I'm playing, I just come up with a pattern that naturally comes.

[@noahjensen7719]

Before i started guitar, i would play out the rhythm for our beginning worship guitarist. Drummers that start playing guitar generally have natural strumming pattern

[@thekidtrey1949]

How you can spice that up down rhythm up that he just showed is letting your chords ring out or adding alternate strums and honestly a beginner can alternate strum and the rhythm usually finds itself

[@samthomlinsonmusic]

Downs on the down beat (1234), ups on the and (1+2+ etc). Lean that in double time. Downs on 1 + ups on e a. That will get you through 90% of what you need to do. Your arm should just swing like a pendulum.

[@leviackermann770]

As a drummer I approve this message

[@justinejorge5897]

Thanks bro i didn't know i was doing it wrong. Thanks for correcting me!

[@poppopp0p]

I applied this subconciously when learning Everlong and now it sounds so much better

[@charliemoore2551]

Good advice. Everyone should talk to a drummer. But be careful not to antagonise them and make sure you've got an escape route planned.

[@curiousconsultant7922]

As time went on I stopped even thinking about the difference and would hit down up down up almost unconsciously when I need it for a given riff or song

[@mylesstopmotionsandcats2482]

ive been playing since march and am mostly self taught, i usually just play along with the record and keep the rhythm

[@raviteskk]

as aa 1 month guitarist, all the musics i learn since the start of my self-learning progress (teachers are expensive and + im brazilian.) and i just know the strumming patterns from hearing the song. Idk why. i just do.

[@hotasianstepsister3039]

Sounds like the rythm of Complicated by Avril Lavigne That's a pretty good song and also a pretty cool song for beginners

[@Jennifer-297]

I honestly never thought about up or down lol

[@OnceLia.428]

As a person who uses youtube to learn songs on acoustic guitar, has a choir teacher who obviously shows us how to read music and plays bass guitar himself, i understand why d and u shouldn't be the onlying thing im using to learn. I will be reading sheet music from now on.

[@mason069]

Ive been a drummer almost my entire life and ive been trying to learn guitar for about a month and its like the harsest thing ever 😭

[@theguitarplayer6816]

I have been playing guitar for years and i never once said “down up” while strumming

[@gabevaughn1178]

That telecaster is so fire

[@kiefscooper7]

Honestly never had to learn strummig patterns ive always just kinda got it

[@Imulletman12]

I’ve never ever thought about up/down strumming, I’ve always just thought about what works rhythmically in whatever setting I play in and I feel that’s how everyone should look at it.

[@bedroxzbass4706]

Yeah same. It should just be automatic

[@erikracz4162]

It was nice to see Brandon with an acoustic, very cute! 👍

[@MrKodFish]

I just listen to the song to know how long to strum. It's much easier than learning

[@nathanrech7400]

drummer guitarist here, never ever have I used the "DU" thing in my life 😂

[@kahlilandari4580]

Dude i never once payed atention to those down up markers, i would just listen to the song and play something similar by ear. I feel do justified rn

[@graham12648]

I love your videos!

[@shenyathewelder9695]

Strum patterns become useless when it's more than just 1/4 and 1/8th, or 1/8th and 1/16th. It has to have a ratio of the faster speed being half the longer, or strum patterns start to brake down.

[@ThibautVDP]

do whatever hits the notes in time. if you can down down down every strum in a song like peace of mind, go for it champ.

[@AverageJoe09]

I’m so bad about this. I don’t follow the down up whatever sheets, but I do just kind of guess the rhythm to get it right. So I’m probably off but it sounds right in my head. I am going to learn to read music sometime, but finding motivation to do that is definitely a challenge.

[@biguniversemusic]

For real… I was just wondering this morning when this “strumming pattern” obsession came about. It seems like a new phenomenon that we have to learn strumming patterns in order to play a song. Counting is so much easier

[@screaming_cat_]

As a drummer, I appreciate this.

[@sadie376]

Great advice, apart from "talk to a drummer...".

[@thehevytrooper]

yup. get a bass player. drummers are more of a risk... you got some that really get rythem, and then a ton who really have no clue. i think bass players are generaly better at rythem.

[@Munchticles]

Talk to a rhythm guitarist. A drummer will be too drunk to tell you anything and a bassist will have no idea what you're trying to ask.

[@keithrawlings7633]

Someone finally said it! I hate when they give the strumming directions.

[@proxideprincess]

just blew my mind 😅

[@randombotaccount]

I must have been naturally blessed with rhythm because I never learned anything like that 😂

[@fieder4280]

Same I just go by ear

[@sparklyqueen12]

i hate it when people ask for the strumming pattern like just listen to it

[@Tiptronics]

This is pretty silly though - you basically also compared tablature to scripture. Tabs don’t have rhythm written out either, it’s implied that you use your ear to work out the rest, same with strumming patterns - they are there to get you started, but you always should use your ear to compare them to the song. By this standard, learning tabs is wrong too? We should all just be using classic staves.

[@bassescovered7037]

yeah, he also totally missed the point how timbre exists and playing upstrokes and downstrokes sound much much different. It’s not about rhythm lol, it’s about how the artists play the song, not to say you can’t playing differently… but come on. Like reggae with downstrokes? And any music with power chords using upstrokes is actually impossible.