In music, a strum or stroke is an action where a single surface (whether a fingernail or plectrum) touches several strings of a string instrument, such as a guitar, in order to set them all into motion and thereby play a chord. Strums are contrasted with plucking, as means of activating strings into audible vibration, because in plucking, only one string is activated by a surface at a time. A hand-held pick or plectrum can only be used to pluck one string at a time, but multiple strings can be strummed by one. Plucking multiple strings simultaneously requires a fingerstyle or fingerpick technique.
A strumming pattern or strum is a preset pattern used by a rhythm guitar. Compare with pattern picking, strumming patterns may be indicated through notation, tablature, up and down arrows, or slashes. For example, a pattern in common time or 4/4 consisting of alternating down and up eight note strokes may be written:
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The pattern most typical of rock and related styles would be written:
Patterns may alternate or vary through one song.
Examples of primary strumming patterns in songs [2]:
The simple four-to-a-bar rhythm is associated with Jazz guitarists such as Freddie Green, although they may subtly vary the chord on each beat.
A simple eight-to-a-bar rhythm is known as "straight eights" as opposed "swung eights", in which each pair are played as the first and third notes in a triplet.
The fretting hand can also be lifted off the fretboard to damp a chord, creating staccato and percussive effects. In reggae and ska, a few staccato "chops" are played per bar. In funk rhythm playing, the strumming hand keeps a fairly steady motion in 16th notes, while the left hand, basically holding down a jazz chord damps some of them in a syncopated pattern.
Some of the many possible fingerstyle strums include
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