Hey there, it's time for some reggae. Now if you
tried a reggae strum before and you found it difficult you're gonna
love this. I really break it down step by step and I give you some very
practical ways to practice it so you can get smooth. Now
if this comes pretty easy for you make sure and get to the last few
minutes because I have a great play along track that you're going to enjoy.
Let's do this.
We're gonna do two versions of this strum. A simpler one and a little more
complex one. The first one is a great stepping stone
to the next one because then we're just going to add something to it.
I'd really encourage you to get this first one and it's very
practical and useful as well. Here's what it sounds like -
so let's break this down.
The technique we're using here is called a mute. We're going to put the palm
on the strings to stop them from ringing. Now it's going to be next to the bridge
but not on top of the bridge. It's most noticeable once you've already struck
the strings so that you can hear them being choked off or the sound stopping
so if I strum and then mute, the string stops ringing.
Go ahead make an A chord and let's try strumming
and then mute that's what we're looking for. Sounds simple
but you'll see as we start incorporating it, it's very effective.
Strum, mute, strum, mute. Okay, how you doing?
You trying this along with me? Give it a shot. Come on. Strum
mute, strum, mute. Now we're going to start with the mute
ready go mute, strum
mute, strum, mute, strum, mute, strum. I think we're ready to go on.
Let's add a little more to this rhythm pattern. So we've got the mute
and the strum, mute, strum. Now on the first strum we're going to go
down and up so it sounds like this now mute
down up, mute, down so that's four beats 1 2 and 3
4. I use AND to indicate that coming up of this
pick. Try that with me. You can just mute the strings right now just to get the
pattern. Ready, hit it mute
down up, mute, down. Let's do it again. Ready, hit it mute, down
up, mute, down. Again mute, down up, mute, down. Let's try it with an A
chord. Ready here we go mute, down up, mute,
down. Again. Ready, hit it. Mute, down up, mute,
down. Again. Mute, down up, mute, down, mute
down up, mute, down, mute, down up, mute,
down. Okay, it's starting to sound like a groove.
We're going to need to pick it up a little bit. Let's try it with a drummer.
First we'll mute the strings and then we'll try it with the A chord
2 3 4 1 2. Start with a mute, mute, down up, mute, down, mute
down up, mute, down, mute, down up. Let's try it with A chord. Now make your
A chord. Here we go 2 ready start. Mute, down up, mute.
Good work. Now in this step we're going to add a base note to the pattern.
Now I want to show you that the pattern you've learned up to now
is useful and if you want to stop here that's fine. I would encourage you to
skip ahead to the last minute or so of the video
because I have a neat way for you to practice but if you'd like to add a
little more pizzazz to the strum here's what it'll look like. Bass down
up, mute, down, bass down up, mute, down. Now what I'm doing
is a muted bass note and that's another technique
similar to the palm of the entire strings but I'm going to need to hit the
string and mute it at the same time. If I hit it
like this it's not the same when I choke it off so
let's practice that. Open strings, we're going to hit the
fifth string and you're going to mute the strings at the same time. So you hear
that? I'm choking the string right from the get-go. I'm not letting it ring.
Try it. How's it sound? Sound like mine? Keep working and move the hand around a
little bit. If it's too far in the bridge it won't work.
So now we're going to add that into the rhythm pattern.
It's going to be this mute and then you're going to go
down up. Let's try it without a chord first.
We're going to mute the A string and then go down up.
Try that with me. Ready, hit it. Mute, down up.
Again. Mute, down up. Muted bass note.
That's a good technique. Okay, let's start with the A chord now.
Make your A chord. We're gonna mute, right? Now let it ring and then down up. Don't
worry if you don't get there at first. It really does
take practice for most people over a period of time.
Here we go. Mute, down up, and then mute, down up.
Again. Mute, down up, and I'm choking the strings right at the
end of that. Ready mute down up. I call that choking when I let
the strings ring and then stop the sound as opposed to muting
right from the get-go. Again. Mute, down up. Let's try the whole pattern
now. So it's going to be that much mute, down up
then I'm going to go down and then choke it off, mute again.
Ready mute, down up, mute, choking off and then
strum down then start over. Mute and see when you start over it serves to choke
off the strings again. Ready, go. Base note,
down up, choke, down. Again. Bass note,
choke, down. Again
one more time.
I think you're ready to try it with the drummer.
Here we go 1 2 ready, hit it.
Over the years I've taught many people how to play guitar and I've taught them
with strums like this one and I found that until
the student practices it for some period of time
it doesn't really sound right. So to that end, I have a play along track for you
to practice along with. Now of course you need to do some work
before you play along with the track but try it and see where you're at.
You might find it's it's not that hard and if it is hard practice a little bit
more and then come back. Now two things you need to know. First of
all, this play-along track is not some random play-along track. It's actually
the chords to a Bob Marley song called Three Little
Birds and more on that in a minute. Secondly,
it's going to use just 2 chords. It's going to use that A chord that
we've been using but I'm going to throw in a D
chord. So the thing you'll need to know about that is where the bass note is for
the D chord and I'm assuming of course you
know your basic open D chord. So if you make your D chord you're
going to find the bass note on the fourth string
and it'll sound like this - bass, down up, mute, down. When you get to the A chord
bass, down up, mute, down. Now again I want to emphasize
it's really fine matter of fact I encourage you at first to just do the
simpler version which is mute, down up, mute, down. You can always
add that bass note. It's actually more important to get the
timing and be able to change chords in time so you can always add a
little more finesse to the strumming pattern
but the timing will get you 98% of the way there.
So this pattern is going to look like this. We're going to do two bars of A
one of D and one of A. Another way to say that
is two strums. One strum equals one bar one measure same thing. One strum of A,
two strums of A, one strum that's the third
measure of D and then one strum of A four bars total and then it repeats so
it's going to be that's one, that's two then to D
one bar and then back to A and then it starts over. Now when you
start over, you're gonna start on A again so
sometimes people lose count because they can't remember if that's the last bar or
the first bar or the next circle. Let's practice it a little
bit just get the hang of that getting back into it. I'll go very slowly so just
do the best you can 1 2 ready start
down, down up, mute, down. Again. Mute, down up,
mute, down. Now to D mute, down, mute, down. Back to A.
Now we'll add that bass note. Bass note that's one strum, two
to the D three
and back to A that's four. Now we're going to start over
1
2 3
and 4 one last time
1
2
3
and 4.
Okay, I think you're ready. I'm gonna bring in the drummer
and let's do this
1 2 - 1 2 3 4
so that's the end of this lesson but not the end of your
adventures with reggae. Okay maybe I'm exaggerating a little
but take your time and get to know this strum and I
promise you you'll find lots of uses for it once it begins to feel kind of
natural. Now to help that along not only do I
have a play along track but I've created another lesson
which is more in depth on the Three Little Bird song by Bob Marley and I'd
really encourage you to try that out with this strum.
As a matter of fact I'll include a play along track that you can actually play
along, hear the melody and see the chords as I'm playing them.
so I'll put a link to that. Thanks for joining me today. It's been a
pleasure. Don't forget to give me a thumbs up
and leave me a comment. Let me know how you're doing. I appreciate it and
if you're ready to get some more help you'd be amazed at the amount of lessons
and resources I have available. Check out my real guitar success website
realguitarsuccess.com. I look forward to seeing you again soon.
Bye.