How To Improve Up Strums On Guitar
Looking for answers on how to up strum on the guitar or how to improve your up strums on a guitar?
Then look no further!
The biggest issue students have with strumming the guitar tends to be the up strums, not the down strums. This is usually due to muscle tension in the strumming hand.
The biggest thing with rhythm is to take your time, go slow and practice over an over again until it becomes more natural.
Return to All Guitar LessonsHow To Get Better Up Strums On Guitar
FIRST: Make sure you are using the right sized pick.
Yep, your pick matters!
Thinner picks (0.43-0.50mm) help your guitar to sing better than a thicker picks.
Why?
Because many students have a lot of stiffness and tension in their wrist when they first play guitar. A thick pick is not forgiving, but a flexible pick with absord some of the tension and allow the guitar strings to ring through better.
Don't believe me? Give it a try!
Or watch the video below and I will show you.
SECOND: You need to take your time and slow down.
I mean really slow down.
Most students practicing timing and rhythm too quickly.
When we slow things down, we can focus on relaxing our muscles, which is super important in strumming up, but we can also give our brain more time to process.
If you suffer from really jerky up strums on the guitar, it's most likely a tension issue.
You can solve that by....
THIRD: Overexaggerate the motions.
Did you know that you are already doing an up strum on your guitar naturally.
It's true!
If you can play a 4 down strum rhythm, you are already putting up strums into your playing.
You have to come up the guitar to play a down strum.
The only difference now is that you are thinking about the up strums which is causing you to hesitate.
By going slow and overexaggerating the strumming motion, you can smooth out your guitar up strums within a week.
I promise!