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Boom-chick strumming pattern
On the boom-chick strumming pattern you start out set to a G chord and you alternate from strumming the low E string and the B string. During this you strum the full guitar. My main question is that when you switch to a C cord and a D cord, which strings are you supposed to hit when you strum?
You don’t strum the full guitar, right?
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4 Replies
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Right. Most exclude the low E on the C Chord (although technical it is in the C Chord or use a pinky or ring finger to add a G for a fuller C chord on the 3rd fret on the low E. On a D the low E is not played. Some wrap their thumb around the neck at the second fret of the low E to get an F# and will play it for effect. Hope that validates your thoughts. Keep having fun.
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Hi Price.
Typically, G chord it is the Low E and the D,
C chord or is typically the A and the D, and the
D it typically the D and the G (although I’ve been taught the D and A)
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While it’s easier to remember which strings to use or the relative positions, it’s useful to notice the notes being played. For a open G chord, the notes in ascending order are G B D G B G, so alternating between the 6 or E string and the 4 or D string is moving between a G and a D. For an open A chord, the notes are A E C A E, so alternating between the 5 or A string and the 4 or D string is moving between A and E. For an open D chord, the notes are D A D F#, so alternating between the 4 or D string and the 3 or G string is moving between D and A. You’ll also see people move between the 4 or D string and the 5 or A string. Again this is moving between a D and an A.
What do they all have in common? The movement is between the 1st and the perfect 5th. These are the notes in a scale that resonate together best. There’s a bit of physics, specifically harmonics, behind why, but it just sounds good. That’s also why the 1st and the 5th are in both the major and minor chords, and why a power chord is the 1st and the 5th.
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@drew.sudell Great insight into the boom chick pattern. I often thought that the second note was what what I’ve heard referred to as the perfect fifth, but I never knew for sure. Thank you for helping me understand that better. You’re right that we should understand the notes we’re playing and why they all fit together. That’s once nice thing about Fretboard Wizard and other courses that teach the fretboard, and it helps to understand the relative notes of the many different scales and how they interact with each other.
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