2nd Most Common Strumming on Guitar

The strumming patterns below start with the 8th strumming we covered at Level 2. This can sound better with 'accents' (playing some strums louder, shown by the > symbol). We then add up strums to make what I considered the 2nd most common strumming pattern ever (the most common pattern is at Level 6!)

Songs around this level that you can try out these 8th strumming variations include:

Knockin’ On Heavens Door, Sweet Home Alabama, Can’t Always Get What You Want, Wanted Dead Or Alive (from Level 5), Love The Way You Lie, Yellow and Get Lucky (from Level 6), plus Stand By Me, Hey Jude and Hotel California (from Level 7). So LOTS!

At this level, it can sound a little relentless and flat. To spice it up, the first thing we can do is play beats 2 and 4 louder, known as adding an ‘accent’. We do this on beats 2 and 4 as this is where the snare drum will play, which is the loudest part of a regular drumbeat. The accent is shown by the > symbol.

If you’re up for a challenge, you can then play the thicker strings only on counts ‘1 +’ and ‘3 +’. This will further accent 2 and 4 as the others are now quieter.

You can also try adding a little up strum as shown. This technically makes it a 16th strumming pattern which is hard! But I’ve found some people can do it at this level, so give it a go!