Strumming Patterns for Guitar

A quick note beforehand; the strumming patterns are not 1:1 perfectly accurate to how they are played in the songs. Since they are not always played on guitar, I have adjusted the rhythms in some cases. So it’s basically a guitar version of it.

If you think you want to adjust the rhythm or play it differently, you can do so without hesitation, no one will notice. 😛

As always, the bars above the tabs indicate downstrokes and the “V” indicates upstrokes.

You can look up all rhythms (eighth notes, sixteenth notes, etc.) here again -> Note and Rest Values

Alan Walker — Darkside

Click on images for Audio Example

This rhythm is interesting because it switches from downbeats to offbeats. Downbeats are beats that fall on 1, 2, 3, 4. Offbeats are on the respective “+”. Offbeats, or syncopations, are played as upstrokes (this only applies if there are no sixteenths in the rhythm!).

Here, however, the first two sixteenths should also be played as downstrokes, according to theory. But it can also be played simply by feel, as I have written it down. If you don’t have the downstrokes and upstrokes in your feel yet, you should maybe skip this one and start with other rhythms first.

Alan Walker — Alone

Same same but different. It’s actually the same here, only the whole thing starts directly with the offbeats. So the first beat, which we are actually used to playing, is not played here. We only play on the 1+ (i.e. the eighth note directly after the first beat).

Since we also have 16th notes in this example, the 8th notes (the upbeats) are played as downstrokes again. The 16th notes (let’s call them “e”) are now played as upstrokes.

Rolling Stones — Angie

Here we have a dotted eighth note. Dots after the notes mean that the note (in this case an eighth note) is half as long again. So the whole formula: 8th * 1.5 = (8th+16th) or = three 16ths.

Sido — Astronaut

This rhythm is a bit simpler. We play 2x quarter notes, then 4x eighth notes. Upstrokes again on the offbeats.

Ugly Kid Joe — Cats in the Cradle

The dotted quarter note is calculated exactly the same as the dotted eighth note. In this case simply a quarter note + eighth note.

Tones and I — Dance Monkey

Here I have written down both rhythms that occur in the verse. Once in the first line, the almost normal rhythm which is played on 1, 2+ and 4 respectively. The second beat of course with upstroke, since it is on an offbeat.

On the second line, however, it gets a bit more complicated. Here the rhythm changes to a 16th rhythm. First beat on 1. Then on the last 16th of the second beat (you can also call it 2+e. So you know, it’s the “e” after the “+”) and then immediately again on the 2nd beat.

At the end of bar 1, 2 and 3 we have an anticipation, or an anticipated note. Instead of this note coming on the first beat as expected, it is played a 16th note too early and connected to the first beat of the next bar.

Toploader — Dancing in the Moonlight

Lots of offbeats, so upstrokes. Count well here. It can also help to tap your foot on the even beats (1,2,3,4). Whenever the foot comes back up, it’s the offbeat.

Midland — Drinking Problem

The tabs marked with an “x” are called “ghost notes”. There we block the strings with the right hand (can also be done with the left hand, but in this example the right hand should be used, as we have open strings that could sound). Now if we play over the strings, a dull almost-chord sounds. This is called ghost notes.

Lynyrd Skynyrd — Free Bird

Weezer — Island in the Sun

Now we combine offbeats with ghost notes.

Pink — Just like a Pill

In this example we have 8ths mixed with 16ths again. Accordingly, we play downstrokes on the even beats (1,2,3,4), downbeats on the respective offbeats (+), but also upstrokes on the last 16ths.

Kaoma — Lambada

…exactly the same here. Only we don’t have a constant rhythm, but in between eighths which are both played with downstrokes. In addition, we try to play only the bass note on the even beats (1,2,3,4) (the bass note is the lowest note that can be played).

Passenger — Let Her Go

Again with the 8ths, the offbeats (+) are played with an upstroke. Since there are no 16ths, the strumming behavior changes accordingly.

REM — Losing My Religion

Fortunately, there are only 8th notes here too. Mixed with ghost notes, eighth rests and anticipations.

Justin Bieber — Love Yourself

Dotted eighth notes (=three sixteenths) and a sixteenth note again make a quarter note. With this rhythm I would count in 16ths, namely “1 e + e, 2 e + e..” and play on the first (1) and the last 16th (e) respectively.

Lukas Graham — Mama Said

A bit simpler but still tricky. 😛 The reason, on the last quarter a different chord is played. So rhythmically nothing special, but the chords have to be changed quickly.

Bligg — Mundart

The dots below the notes mean “staccato”, which for us means “chopped off”. So we play the note and immediately block the strings with the right or left hand. In this case with the right hand, otherwise it is not enough to play the chord again in time.

Mark Ronson — Nothing Breaks Like A Heart

Once again the dotted eighths followed by a 16th and two eighths. This rhythm is by the way in 99% of the radio songs. Listen carefully. 😛

U2 — One

I have also simplified this rhythm for the general good. But the basic structure of the rhythm is of course retained. Dotted 8th followed by three 16th notes.

Ed Sheeran — Perfect

I admit, I did not write this rhythm “perfect”. 😛 The reason, you can see the middle of the bar, but it would have been even nicer if you had written the dotted quarter as a quarter note and eighth note and connected these two. But I’m sure no one will hang me for it.

Ed Sheeran — Photograph

The second Ed Sheeran is even more exciting than the first. Here we play a so-called melodic rhythm. It actually has no rhythm, only eighth notes. Sure, “only” eighth notes are a rhythm, but I’m talking more about an audible rhythm that also has pauses in between, etc.

But through the ghost notes a rhythm is suggested here, although there is none. The next important point is that the open notes are played on the first beat, the 2+ and on the 4th beat.

Whim — Small Infinity

Back to a real rhythm, I wrote this one down a bit more precisely. So the second eighth is connected to the following 16th. I could have also simply written a dotted eighth note, but that would not have looked too nice.

Alvaro Soler — Sofia

This one is great. Namely only offbeats. Accordingly only upstrokes!

David Bowie — Space Oddity

Actually we already know many rhythms and ways to play them. But, here it is special again because the chord is changed so often.

Dire Straits — Sultans of Swing

Anyone who has ever tried this song knows it is mega difficult. But of course, like everything else, it is doable. The difficulty here is the ghost notes, mixed with the anticipations and the fast chord changes. So even if you can’t play this rhythm perfectly within 10 minutes, don’t worry about it! 😛

John Denver — Take Me Home

Anyone who says, “I hate country” but still sings along to this song, obviously doesn’t really hate country. Nevertheless, the rhythm is very country-like and definitely passes as a country rhythm.

Amy Macdonald — This is the Life

We have also seen these parts a few times now. Find out for yourself now. 🙂

Mr Big — To Be With You

We have also seen this rhythm several times. You know it by now, right?

Natalie Imbruglia — Torn

In this example it is important to play an upstroke again after the dotted 8th. If you miss it, the whole rhythm gets out of control.

Coldplay — Viva La Vida

This rhythm is very exciting because it switches from downbeats to offbeats, but only as long as you don’t get thrown out.

Avicii — Waiting for Love

The special thing here is that we play everything with downstrokes. The reason; everything is about the same volume and equally emphasized. That’s why I personally would play everything with downstrokes here. Of course, it is allowed to play the offbeats as upstrokes. But that is, as always, up to your own discretion.

Avicii — Wake Me Up

This could have been written a bit nicer as well. Nevertheless, after the dotted eighth note, be sure to start again with an upstroke.

Shakira — Whenever, Wherever

Almost exclusively upstrokes. Why? Because none of these notes (except the first one in each bar) fall on the downbeat. They all come on one of the “e”s.

Cat Stevens — Wild World

It’s also very interesting to see that you play all 8ths with downstrokes and then the last sixteenth with an upstroke again.

Oasis — Wonderwall

The classic. Wonderwall. Not much to report about it. 😛 In any case, eighths and sixteenths again. We know it by now. Pay attention to the up- and downstrokes!

Leon Bridges — Texas Sun

The arrows from bottom to top (viewed from the guitar) mean that the chord is not played quickly downwards as usual, but is “strummed” a little slower. Otherwise, we have the ghost notes again, which are played on beat 2 and 4 respectively.

Downloads

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