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Simple Strumming Patterns

Simple strumming patterns improve your playing for guitar and ukulele!

simple strumming patternsSimple strumming patterns will improve your playing! Using strumming patterns can be super handy for perfecting your guitar or ukulele accompaniment. Eventually you will figure out your own patterns for any song that you do, but in the meantime try these as a place to start. Just choose a chord you can play easily and strum down or up where indicated. Count out loud to help yourself with your timing.  Click here to download the PDF

One interesting exercise is to choose a lyric line for a song you know well- for instance, from the Eagles’ Hotel California: “On a dark desert highway”. Now see if you can strum that “syllabically” meaning, use either an up or a down strum per each syllable. Something like this below, which you can download a pdf for here.

Looking for online guitar or uke lessons? First one is free!

2023-11-08T21:37:56-05:00
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Tune your guitar with a Snark tuner!

If you’re just starting out, tuning your guitar can be problematic. Knowing what note the string should be tuned to and whether the tuner is indicating a note higher or lower than that will be helpful. Here’s a video that will help you tune your guitar correctly.

2021-02-13T15:32:59-05:00
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Learning an instrument is great for your brain!

There’s an excellent article here about just how good learning an instrument is for your brain health: brain structure, function, development and acuity. From John Rampton’s article:

“The more we know about the impact of music on really basic sensory processes, the more we can apply musical training to individuals who might have slower reaction times,” said lead researcher Simon Landry.

“As people get older, for example, we know their reaction times get slower,” said Landry. “So if we know that playing a musical instrument increases reaction times, then maybe playing an instrument will be helpful for them.”

Previously, Landry found that musicians have faster auditory, tactile, and audio-tactile reaction times. Musicians also have an altered statistical use of multisensory information. This means that they’re better at integrating the inputs from various senses.

“Music probably does something unique,” explains neuropsychologist Catherine Loveday of the University of Westminster. “It stimulates the brain in a very powerful way because of our emotional connection with it.”

If you’re looking for a way to maintain or improve brain function, you could do much worse than picking up a guitar!

Playing music:
  1. strengthens bonds with others
  2. strengthens reading and memory skills
  3. Make you happy!
  4. Enhances the ability to process more than one thing at once
  5. increases blood flow to your brain
  6. helps the brain recover (from a stroke, for instance)
  7. Reduces stress and depression
  8. strengthens the […]
2023-06-07T13:50:18-04:00
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How to play “Star Spangled Banner”

Star Spangled Banner is a great tune to learn on guitar and not too difficult. Here are the chords and lyrics. E-chords, incidentally, is a great resource for guitarists looking for tunes with chords and lyrics! https://www.e-chords.com/chords/francis-scott-key/star-spangled-banner-v2

2025-07-14T15:19:55-04:00
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Online Guitar Lessons for Seniors

I’m really blessed to be able to share my love for guitar with people around the country via internet.
For some guitar students, online lessons are a very good fit and for some senior guitar students, it is an excellent fit.

If you can use Skype or Zoom, you can take online guitar lessons. All you really need is a guitar, a computer or laptop with an internet connection and Skype (or one of the many alternatives), a quiet place to work and the willingness to try something new. Lessons are at your own pace, meaning we go as fast or as slow as you want! e do have to set goals though,  so you’ll let me know what yours are, and what your expectations are.

Online guitar lessons are a lot of fun and they’re also good for your head! A recent study, noted here had these results:

“At the end of three months, Park and colleagues found that the adults who were productively engaged in learning new skills showed improvements in memory compared to those who engaged in social activities or non-demanding mental activities at home.”

So get a guitar and let’s get started!

2025-07-13T15:33:03-04:00
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how to play “My Religion”

Often students want to learn to accompany themselves on guitar while they sing, and I love to help them with that! This is an example of a tune that a remote student is working on currently.

2021-02-15T13:05:33-05:00
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How to play “down to the river to pray” fingerpicking

Play “I went down to the down to the river to pray” fingerpicking style. This great old sweet-sounding gospel tune is not too hard to play with a standard tuning.

A great old-time bluegrass tune. Pure and simple. I’ve included a lyric and chord sheet you’ll find helpful if you want to play the tune finger-style

There’s a page on my website with links to other finger picking examples and tutorials as well:

I often put video lesson on line and if you want to subscribe to my youtube channel where you can see plenty more stuff like this, you can do that here.

Looking for online guitar lessons? First one is free!

2023-10-14T18:48:46-04:00
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