Every guitarist dreams of playing the rhythm like a pro. In Spanish music the main rule is compas (rhythm) and there are several guitar strumming techniques. Jazz and pop music also requires at least basic understanding of rhythm patterns and chord progression. We know it is imperative to master it, and be able to change it however we desire. These guitar strumming lessons are meant to show you the way.

But how do they do it? If you look at the great Al Di Meola or Paco de Lucia, Eric Clapton and so many others they never miss a beat, and they always flourish the song so that it gives us a feeling relevant to what they’re playing.

I can go about the different guitar strumming lessons in several ways.The first distinction is whether we use a pick or our fingers.

The pick is mostly used by electric and jazz guitar players. With a pick the motion is simple, either up-down or the other way around. A couple things to keep in mind: try not to keep your hand on the guitar body when playing rhythms, this will make your movement difficult and you will not be able to keep up when accelerating; you should keep your hand together as a fist, holding the pick between your thumb and index fingers.

Finger picking is mostly used by classical and flamenco guitar players. The right hand technique of the flamenco music is far more complex than it’s classical counterpart.

A common technique to both styles is using your hand as you would a pick, keeping it together as a fist and using the thumb and index fingers to brush the strings, creating the desired rhythm.

The most important flamenco rhythm technique is the rasguedo. And there are 2 broad ways to do it. Either by using your 4 fingers(except the thumb) one at a time to produce a galloping sound, usually starting with the pinky and finishing with the index finger, or by using a circular motion with the thumb and middle finger for a faster, but less powerful effect. Another techniques involves using your index finger going up-down to create the rhythm and another finger to hit the guitar case. This is a much harder technique to master.

I hope these guitar strumming lessons will help you improve and broaden your guitar playing.