Beginning Strumming Patterns

This page contains some strumming exercise for the first time beginner.
These exercise use four different chords Em, Am, C and G. The chord
diagrams for the chords are shown below.
     Em           Am             C             G             

 6 5 4 3 2 1  6 5 4 3 2 1   6 5 4 3 2 1   6 5 4 3 2 1
 o_______o_o  __o_______o   ______o___o   ____o_o_o__
 |_|_|_|_|_|  |_|_|_|_o_|   |_|_|_|_o_|   |_|_|_|_|_|
 |_o_o_|_|_|  |_|_o_o_|_|   |_|_o_|_|_|   |_o_|_|_|_|
 |_|_|_|_|_|  |_|_|_|_|_|   |_o_|_|_|_|   o_|_|_|_|_o
 |_|_|_|_|_|  |_|_|_|_|_|   |_|_|_|_|_|   |_|_|_|_|_|
 |_|_|_|_|_|  |_|_|_|_|_|   |_|_|_|_|_|   |_|_|_|_|_|

NOTE:

In the exercises below, the scrawl above the chords is supposed to represent
up and down strums. All the patterns on this page are 4 beat patterns.

(1)  The first exercise uses all down strums with accents
placed at various beats.  The four measures are repeated 4 
times, each time with a different accent pattern.

    1  2  3  4 | 1  2  3  4 | 1  2  3  4 | 1  2  3  4  ||
    |  |  |  | | |  |  |  | | |  |  |  | | |  |  |  |  ||
    |  |  |  | | |  |  |  | | |  |  |  | | |  |  |  |  ||
    V  V  V  V | V  V  V  V | V  V  V  V | V  V  V  V  ||
1x  >          | >          | >          | >           ||
---------------|------------|------------|-------------||
2x  >     >    | >     >    | >     >    | >     >     ||
---------------|------------|------------|-------------||
3x  >        > | >        > | >        > | >        >  ||
---------------|------------|------------|-------------||
4x  >     >  > | >     >  > | >     >  > | >     >  >  ||
               |            |            |             ||
               |            |            |         (4x)||
||: Em         | Em         | C          | C          :||
||             |            |            |             ||


(2)  This exercise use down and up strums.  The up strums
come on the 'and' of beats 2 and 4.  The is a very common 
strum used in country and folk music.

    1   2 + 3   4 +   1   2 + 3   4 +  

    |   | A |   | A   |   | A |   | A
    |   | | |   | |   |   | | |   | |
    V   V | V   V |   V   V | V   V |
||: C               |                  | Am     | Am      |
||                  |                  |        |         |

                                                      (2x)
|   Em              |  Em              | G      | G      :||
|                   |                  |        |         ||

(3)  This is a mildly syncopated rhythm that uses the 'and'
of beats 2 and 3.  Notice that on the 3rd beat there isn't a down 
strum however the down motion is made (while intentionally missing 
the strings) so that you can do two up strums in a row.

     1   2 + 3 + 4    1   2 + 3 + 4   

     |   | A   A |    |   | A   A | 
     |   | |   | |    |   | |   | | 
     V   V |   | V    V   V |   | V                 
||: Am              | Am             | G       | G        |
||                  |                |         |          |

                                                       (2x)
|   C               | C              | Em      | Em      :||
|                   |                |         |          ||


(4)  This is another syncopated strum that uses the 'and' of
beats 1 and 2.

     1 + 2 + 3   4   1 + 2 + 3   4   

     | A   A |   |   | A   A |   |
     | |   | |   |   | |   | |   |
     V |   | V   V   V |   | V   V          
                                                    (4x)
||: Am             | C              |  Em      | Em    :||
||                 |                |          |        ||


(5)  This syncopated rhythm uses up strums on the 'and' of all 
four beats as well as down strums on beats 1 and 3.

     1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +   1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +  

     | A   A | A   A   | A   A | A   A 
     | |   | | |   |   | |   | | |   |
     V |   | V |   |   V |   | V |   |         
||:  C               | Em               | Am    | Em   :||
||                   |                  |       |       ||


||:  G               | G                | Am    | Em   :||
||                   |                  |       |       ||