Making Joyful Noises

Strums, continued

Somewhere in the middle of each beat you are bringing your hand and foot back up again to get ready to strum down. Our pendulum shows exactly where the is on each beat. This is important if you’re going to play a repeating pattern in which you bring your hand at the same place each time. (Knowing the halfway point helps you keep track of to bring your hand up . . .) Try the pattern shown above but with a new “wrinkle.” Strum on the down motions. You could count it like this: halfway point up when and up

B

B

B

B

B

A

A

A

A

A

and

and

and

and

and” etc. Up etc.

You Say:

“One

Two

Three Down

Four

One

Down

Up

Down

Up

Up

Down

Up

Down

You Play: Strum #2

You Tap:

beat

The new notation for this strumming will be . It means two strums per

, one at the beginning and one

halfway point

at the

.

Strum Two

B

B

B

B

B

A

A

A

A

A

and

and

and

and

and” etc.

You Say:

“One

Two

Three

Four

One

You Play:

You Tap:

4 beats per measure - (strumming 8 times) (strum down, then up)

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

3 beats per measure - (strumming 6 times)

1

2

3

1

2

3

2 beats per measure - (strumming 4 times)

1

2

1

2

44 • Making Joyful Noises: Master ing the Fundamentals of Music