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Eighth Note Rhythms
All the rhythm patterns you have played so far use a downward strum ( ), on the first, second, third and fourth beat. To make rhythm patterns more interesting, up strums can also be used. An eighth note rhythm uses a combination of a down and an up strum within one beat. The downstrum “on the beat” is played louder than the upstrum which is “off the beat”.
An up strum is indicated by a , and is played on the “and” section of the count. To play an upstrum, start the strum at the first string and strum all four strings.
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The following chord progression contains a G chord and uses eighth note rhythm pattern 1.
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Practice new chord changes using a basic rhythm pattern first. Once you are confident with the progression, use the eighth note rhythm pattern. You can apply any rhythm pattern to a chord progression. This one uses eighth note rhythm pattern 2.
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23 | Oh Susannah |
This song uses eighth note rhythm pattern 4. Note that the melody of this piece starts on beat 4 so give yourself 3 beats before you start the first word.
23 | Oh Susannah |
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