Truefire – 30 Strumming Patterns You Must Know (2013)

“I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream.” Walter Williams and the Pennsylvanians sang that back in the day when there were pretty much just three flavors to choose from; vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry. Thanks to Ben and Jerry, today we have a symphony of flavors to scream for. Back in the day, you could also play a lot of music with just three guitar strums; the single quarter-note down strum, the eighth-note down-up strum and the good ole boom-chicka (throw in the four-to-the-bar and swing-eights strums if you were a jazzer). Thanks to Vicki Genfan’s 30 Strumming Patterns You MUST Know, we now have an infinite variety of strumming patterns to choose from. Progress.

How many strumming patterns do you really know? Survey says that most intermediate players just know a few. Survey will also tell you that any level player is hungry to learn more and that’s what 30 Strumming Patterns You MUST Know is all about — a hands-on practical reference guide designed to equip the player with 30 essential strumming patterns for jamming, accompaniment, cover tunes, and original compositions.

“Every now and then, I feel an urge to get out of my strumming rut and broaden my palette (I’m a singer, songwriter and rhythm/lead guitarist). This course is very helpful for that. The strums she demonstrates cover a broad range of musical styles, and they work for electric guitar as well as acoustic. As she breaks down each strum pattern, she has a laid back teaching style, that’s conversational and encouraging. The tabs and chord symbols seem to match what she actually plays, which is good. She has great drum tracks that she’s playing along to, and I love the jam track option in the course, which allows you to play along with just the drum track. Not only is it a great fun way to practice keeping time – but it also inspired some song ideas.”
– Nikki O., TrueFire Student

Vicki performs a practical application of each strumming pattern over a drum track for context and then breaks down the pattern for you rhythmically in a very accessible manner. You’ll learn patterns for all popular styles of music: Southern Rock, Alt Bass Country, Simple Reggae, Classic Ballad, Staccato Pop, Funky Octave, Light Rock, Folk Hip, Country Waltz, Slow 6/8 Blues, Swing Pop, Funky R&B, Slow Funky Latin, Folky Hop, Southern Strut, Gypsy Rock, Chunky Rock, Stop ‘n Go Pop, Pop Sixteenths, Pop R&B, Udu Hip, Funky Slide, Laid Back Latin, Jazzy Pop, Soul Sixteenths, Acoustic Rock, Reggae Bass Line, New World Roll, Driving Quarters and Harmonic Brushes. Everything is tabbed and notated, plus you get all of the drum tracks to practice the rhythm patterns in context by yourself.

Feel free to reward yourself with an ice cream cone every time you add a new pattern to your repertoire. You’ll be learning a ton of them, so we suggest single servings of the Premium Churned Reduced-Fat No Sugar Added Caramel Turtle Truffle. Progress indeed.