Lesson: Dynamic Strumming

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Want something simple to spice up your strum? Adding a little twist to your playing can make a big difference.

In this video, guitar instructor Justin Horenstein demonstrates how to add some dynamics and accents to a basic strumming pattern. Combining these elements creates a new musical feel. This can be applied to any set of chords, and can be altered to match the style you are after.

Here’s a diagram that shows the strum pattern used in this lesson. As you can see, there are mostly downstrokes in this pattern with the upstroke on the very end of the 2nd and 4th beat indicated by the V figure.

Justin Horenstein is a guitar instructor and musician in the Washington, DC metro area who graduated (cum laude) from the Berklee College of Music in 2006. He plays in Black Clouds, a 3-piece atmospheric/experimental band. Their debut album was recorded by J Robbins (Jawbox, Burning Airlines). Justin’s 18 years of musical experience also includes touring the U.S., a record deal under Sony, starting his own teaching business, recording several albums, and playing club shows with national acts including Circa Survive, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Biffy Clyro, United Nations, Caspian, and more.

More about Justin at 29thCenturyGuitar.com and BlackCloudsDC.bandcamp.com

Justin Horenstein
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