help strumming

[Tibbys96Z]

yes I'm a newb, I'm not having problems training my fingers to hit chords, but more problems strumming. In many videos everyone concentrates on the chord hand.
For example, what is the strum tech for Big Eyed Fish? Your on 5,7 with A,D then slide down to 3,5 etc, but how are you strumming?
I can't seem to get it to sound right!

[Dwill26]

not sure how to describe it....but here is how I do it. you can kinda see my right hand here...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmYLjRb_D6Q

[ultrauber]

Dan is on a 12 string which makes it so that he is strumming twice as many strings. So correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that on a 12 str you will be "strumming" more than "picking" that song. When I play BEF (on a six string) I basically pick that part (verse). I just concentrate on making tiny strokes and only hitting the one or two strings. (while dan is hitting two or four). Otherwise I'm not much of an expert so I can't say anything more. Hope that helps.

[dancheatham]

Originally Posted by ultrauber

Dan is on a 12 string which makes it so that he is strumming twice as many strings. So correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that on a 12 str you will be "strumming" more than "picking" that song. When I play BEF (on a six string) I basically pick that part (verse). I just concentrate on making tiny strokes and only hitting the one or two strings. (while dan is hitting two or four). Otherwise I'm not much of an expert so I can't say anything more. Hope that helps.

You don't play a 12-string any differently than a 6-string; while you are technically playing twice as many strings, they're paired up so that it's almost impossible to just play one of them without playing its paired string. It's really the same as playing a 6-string, but each string makes two tones instead of just one.

[Tibbys96Z]

YES! I can see that Dan. Thank you.
Thanks Max, I've been strumming with my fingers. Just to be quiet'er'/considerate for my wife. I'm trying to talk her into learning piano so we can take lessons together ;)

[ultrauber]

Always fun to play with people after I wrote that, I played BEF and realized that I actually mute the low E string too, so I can strum louder. Whatever works though.

[dancheatham]

A few things to keep in mind with strumming:

1) Keep a fluid motion going with your strumming arm/hand. In other words, you want to keep your hand going up and down in an even rhythm, even if it's not hitting the strings every time it goes past them.

2) Make sure you're not locking your wrist and only moving your elbow. I see a lot of newer players strum this way, and it makes it a lot harder for them. Your wrist, forearm, and elbow should all be part of it.

Once you get the hang of it, if you have pretty good rhythm, strumming will come pretty naturally, and you won't have to think about how you're doing a particular song (this is why it's kind of difficult to explain how to strum something, if that makes sense).

[ultrauber]

I was under the impression that they were farther apart, Thanks for clarifying.

[Tibbys96Z]

Thanks forthe great advice everyone! I really appreciate it. I'll keep practicing!