In this lesson we will:
I do hope your thumb control for the pick strums you learned in Lessons 2 and 3 is becoming easier. It is most important that you perfect these simple pick strums at this stage of the course as future lessons will include many new techniques on thumb and finger picking.
By now you should be reasonably familiar with the chords you have learned so far. If the F chord is still troubling you, please keep working on it. It will come right!
This lesson includes a comprehensive chart of most of the chords
you will need during this course - except for Barred chords which
will form part of a subsequent lesson.
Here's the new strum which I call a long 4/4 strum:
This is a more complicated strum than the previous strums you have learned. You need to count it out very carefully. Note that it is silent on the third beat. This creates the effect of a pause in the middle of the strum. It sometimes helps, initially, to accent the first beat heavily to get the timing right. You can always tone it down later.
Practice this strum without any chords on until you get the feel of the rhythm.
Now practice it counting to get the timing correct. (Click on the strum diagram above to hear how it should sound.)
Put easy chords on and do a number of strums on each chord. Keep
practicing it until the timing becomes completely automatic.
This strum and the strums you have already learned in previous
lessons (the basic 4/4 strum and the alternating bass strings
pick strum) are all interchangeable and can be applied to all
your songs so far.
Please note, however, that if you want to apply the new long strum to one of your earlier songs you will need two timing marks for each strum because one long strum counts for two basic 4/4 strums. For example:
4/4 strum: A/ / / / /
Long strum: A/ / /
By the rivers of Babylon
4/4 strum: / / / /
Long strum: /
Where we sat down
The long strum also sounds particularly good with Jamaica Farewell if you happened to choose it for Lesson 1.
Here are the words and chords of your new songs. Instructions for each song and a sound file showing how the song should be played are included within each song. The songs are
Here is the comprehensive chord chart we promised you. Click on each chord to hear how it should sound.
This chart includes most of the chords you will need during this course with the exception of the Barred chords which will be covered in a later lesson. Please practice them all until you get a clear, clean sound from each of them.
While the original intention of the paid course was to include personalized feedback from Joni on your progress and any problems you may experience, this no longer applies to these free lessons.
However, if you have found the lesson useful, Joni would appreciate an email from you on shuter@mweb.co.za
We strongly recommend that you spend at least one week on this lesson before obtaining the next lesson. If you try to proceed too quickly, you may well develop some bad habits that will be difficult to correct at a later stage.
Having said all that, you are still at liberty to proceed at your own pace if you wish.
Lesson 5 will introduce new strums and pick strums for 3/4 time, cover some practicing tips, and new songs with a variety of chords. The songs are
To get lesson 5, please click here.
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