Guitar Lessons: Fast Strumming Guitar Tab

#-----------------------------PLEASE NOTE------------------------------#
#   The owner of this website has not reviewed the contents of this    #
#   file. If you feel that the content of this file may be violating   #
#   copyright law, you may not use the information displayed here in   #
#   any way.                                                           #
#----------------------------------------------------------------------#


In this day and age, approaching a song rhythmically in the rock idiom usually 
requires knowledge of two basic techniques. There’s the muted eighth-note 
type of playing where you mute the strings with the palm of your right hand. 
Usually only the first two or three notes are strummed. Then there’s the 
full-fledged “k-r-r-r-anges” where you strum a chord all the way through, 
another example of “big rock tone”.

In any case, no matter what you’re doing rhythmically, it’s important to 
play in synch. That means in time. The exception, of course, is if your desired 
result is to sound drunk (or, if you are drunk). When practicing rhythm, 
a drum machine or metronome should always be used. In the cases where you’re 
trying something maybe a little beyond your physical capabilities, start 
at a speed at which you can play cleanly. It must be clean! Gradually bring 
the speed up.

Here is a speed-rhythm playing technique. This example requires a loose 
wrist. Shake your right hand as fast as possible (careful not to hurt yourself!). 
Now, when you apply this to strings, it probably won’t sound too good at first. 
Notice the position your wrist and hand form in order to move at the fastest 
possible speed. The object is to get the strings to sound clean when you apply 
the pick at this speed. Once this becomes clean with the up-down strumming 
motion, try adding accents to it and alternating your strumming pattern. 
In 6/8 time, try strumming this pattern using any chord:

(D = down strum, U = up strum):

The faster you get, the harder it is to get a full strum from the quick downstrokes. 
Try to get even 16th notes happening at a rate of quarter note = 108, or faster.

This technique is also good for odd rhythm playing such as 5/8.

To come up with some more examples to try, just randomly write down a bunch 
of D’s and U’s with all of the U’s followed by D’s and not having to play more 
than two D’s in a row. For example, D U D D U D U D U D D U. Then try to play them evenly.

1) At the bridge of the guitar, strum from high strings to low strings with 
the pick. This will exaggerate the high overtones of the notes, giving a 
bell-like quality.

2) Strum with the pick perpendicular to the strings. This will cause many 
nice overtones when you strum in the right spot. Experiment.

3) Try strumming with foreign objects for different tones, such as a smooth 
stone, a coin, a pencil, a letter, a razor blade (careful!), etc. Don’t hurt 
yourself, now!


Brought to you by the GuitarMasta
http://www.guitarmasta.net/g/guitar_lessons/338237.html