6-2 How to Read A Strum Diagram
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- DESCRIPTION
Strum Diagrams are a simple and effective way to visualize a strumming pattern. They’re easy to read once you know the basics. And they’re useful for learning new songs quickly.
BONUS: The Mystery of Strum Arrows on TAB Solved!
Sometimes I get students that are baffled by the arrows showing strum direction on guitar tab. At first glance it appears that the arrow is going the wrong direction… or is it?
On paper the lowest string (6th string) is the bottom of the tab lines. When you look at the tab from a musical perspective the arrow is telling you to strum from the lowest string to the highest string.
What that looks like on your guitar is strumming physically down. Makes sense… but not very intuitive 🙁
For that reason I’ve stopped using tab for most strumming lessons (with a few exceptions). Instead I use a single line with the arrow indicating the physical direction (example below).
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Tab confused me for a long time because it seemed upside down. Then someone, maybe you Tomas, pointed out that when you’re holding your guitar the 6 string is the closest and looking at the tab diagram the bottom line is closest. That simple thing helped.
I discovered on my own if I just rotated the guitar and held it in front of me that would line it up correctly, too.
Anyway, the strum direction arrows look perfectly okay.
awesome always wanted to learn how to read those strumming diagrams, im sure we will be using those more and more , yes Tomas? Thank You