The Bass-Strum Style

Exercise 29 The main thing to watch for in this exercise is to hit the correct bass note. It's the deepest sounding note in each chord (remember when you look at the chord diagram the strings marked with an X are not part of the chord). After you've picked the bass note try to strum from about the next string down. It's not necessary to strum exactly the right number of strings. More importantly concentrate on getting an even flowing rhythm. Listen to Exercise 29 sound file * then have a go yourself. I hope you didn't forget the first and second endings and the repeat. Another thing to look out for is the rhythm notation symbol for a three quarter beat. It's the half beat symbol with a dot after it in the last bar. A dot after a rhythm symbol or music note means to add half again to what you just played. (2+1=3... right?)

Exercise 30 A common technique used in the bass-strum style is called alternating bass. It's used mainly in country and folk styles of music but also pops up from time to time in rock ballads. This exercise is in four/four time with the bass note alternating between the first and the third quarter beat in each bar. Listen to Exercise 30 sound file * then pick up your guitar and try it. .

Exercise 31 Now try the same chord progression using an up stroke after each down stroke. Listen to Exercise 31 sound file * to hear the difference. That was probably slightly harder than the previous exercise because it's harder to accurately pin point the bass note after each up stroke simply because there's less time to do it. The sound should be fuller than without the up stroke so it's worth the effort.

There are more chords coming on the next page so go there when you're ready.

 
next page

 
previous page

home | lessons | sound files | off-line | chords | glossary | links | bookstore | guestbook

---

Copyright ©1997 Kim Wainwright.