The accessory promises to promote proper form, and was developed over the course of 5,000 guitar lessons and seven prototypes
A Kickstarter has been launched for Strum Perfect – an acoustic guitar attachment that aims to get aspiring guitarists comfortable with the art of strumming.
The attachment was designed by James Lenger – a guitar instructor with a background in education and athletics – who put seven different prototypes through 5,000 one-to-one guitar lessons to develop a device that he says will help players strum “from the very first swing of the wrist”.
In practice, the Strum Perfect attaches to the body of the guitar via a series of straps, and provides two foam pads on the upper bout that sandwich the strummer's arm in place. The placement of the pads, meanwhile, is said to encourage optimum form by restricting unnecessary movement.
It also boats a universal acoustic fitment, soft touch fabric and an adjustable fit.
(Image credit: Strum Perfect)
While Strum Perfect’s claim that it is “reinventing how the guitar is taught” might be a tad bold, it looks as though it delivers on its premise by putting the emphasis on the player’s wrist action and away from whole-arm movement, which is, after all, key to a good strumming technique.
Lenger explained, “The guitar has been instructed the same way since the inception of a program by the first guitar instructor. There has never been a device that helps with the strumming hand of the guitar, which is what gives most of the character to an artist.
“After years of watching numerous students struggle with their strumming hands,” he continued, “I needed something to add to my program that would help them feel the eurythmic progression on the guitar, thereby motivating them to learn more.”
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(Image credit: Strum Perfect)
(Image credit: Strum Perfect)
(Image credit: Strum Perfect)
(Image credit: Strum Perfect)
The journey began back in 2017, and throughout the course of 2020, Lenger fine-tuned five separate iterations of the attachment over thousands of lessons. By late 2021, the seventh and final Strum Perfect was ready, and now requires crowdfunded Kickstarter support to get to the manufacturing stage.
Lenger continued, “The Strum Perfect has taken years to refine and we are now at the stage where we can share it with the world. It’s been a long journey to get here, sometimes it was not easy, but we made it.
"With the raised funds from this project, we are set to start mass production and order fulfillment right away.”
According to Lenger, the benefits of the Strum Perfect may stretch beyond the music classroom and into the physiotherapy ward. In January this year, the company began testing the product on persons with various movement disorders, such as Parkinson's and Cerebral Palsy.
Lenger is now in the process of coordinating with neuroscience professionals to explore future applications of the device for persons with disabilities.
At the time of writing, the Strum Perfect has received $3,961 of its $10,000 target, and has a total of 101 backers with 23 days left on the crowdfunding clock.
Matt is a Senior Staff Writer, writing for Guitar World, Guitarist and Total Guitar. He has a Masters in the guitar, a degree in history, and has spent the last 16 years playing everything from blues and jazz to indie and pop. When he’s not combining his passion for writing and music during his day job, Matt records for a number of UK-based bands and songwriters as a session musician.
