Can you give me techniques on how to strum REALLY fast?..?

Question

i know practice is key but are there techniques to make strumming easier.. and... faster? thanks. this is for rhythm guitar so.. i mean, i need to play REALLY fast.

Answer 1

strum both up AND down.  also, try strumming by moving your wrist- not your whole arm.

Answer 2

strum one string at a time. use all your arm muciles. make sure you use the pick going both up and down. to practice you could take your guitar and just strum while you're watching tv or laying around. good luck. :)

Answer 3

Well just cause you're playing rhythm guitar doesn't mean you have to strum fast. But if that's what you're in the market for then PRACTICE! :) It's the only way to go.

Answer 4

H Angel

Strumming depends on wrist movement entirely and not the arr.

The arm is basically used to add a little more accent on the wrist especially if you want to accents certain beats on certain counts.

Answer 5

Hello,

Some of the above posters are correct.  It's all about your wrist when strumming.  The arm is used more for show / presentation than anything.  

Make sure you use as minimal movement as possible.  Also make sure your full strum doesn't go past the strings (the bottom strings, no need to for your hand to ever be below the strings).  

The up strum is usually what kills a lot of beginning and average players.  You need to make sure you pinch the pick between your thumb and index finger.  This way on the up strum, you are driving the force with your index finger pushing up.  

Also keep in mind the strings you are attacking when strumming.  Even when you are strumming chords, you usually don't strum all 6 or 5 strings, unless you are doing an appregio or something.  You usually target two or three strings with each strum, pay attention to this.  The less amount of space your hand travels, the faster you can go.  

Also pull out a metronome.  This will help you get accurate and fast.  Just set it at something like 75 to start with.  Then down strum on every click and up strum between each click.  If that's too hard, then alternate down strum and up strum on each click.  As you progress faster, move the tempo up.  

I hope that gets you going in the right direction.  Strumming can be difficult, but once you understand it, it makes playing any song really easy.