Applying Rhythm to Chords
Whenever you're talking about strumming chords, you have to necessarily think of the guitar as a percussive instrument just as much as a harmonic one. Even a great progression can become boring without a driving, interesting rhythm. We have lots of tools at our disposal to create one. The sharp attack but lasting sustain make for quite a contrast, but can still be contrasted further with rests. Mutes and palm mutes further enhance the percussive nature of the instrument and increase our palette. This is all in addition to a wide dynamic range accessible by pick strength, as well as the different tone of downstrokes vs. upstrokes.
Contents
PreReqs
Technique
Even the most famous shred players tend to alter their technique when strumming chords. If plucking single strings is like writing with a pen, strumming is more like painting with a paintbrush. There's typically elbow and wrist movement, with each stroke having a bit more "momentum". The back-and-forth motion should be continuous and consistent, even if you are not actually strumming on some of those strokes. Your right arm should be like a pendulum of a grandfather clock, perfectly keeping time. It should not be waiting on the left hand to fret notes. It's more important to stay in-time and play on the beats than to perfectly fret every note, but obviously if your left hand is way off, it's still going to sound bad. If you can't make the chord shapes fast enough to keep time, you'll need to either slow down or work more on your left hand chord shapes.
Typically, the right hand should be strumming with downstrokes on all the beats and strumming upstrokes between the beats. For example, in 4/4 time, the downstrokes are the quarter notes on the beats, while the upstrokes are the eighth notes in between them.
1 n 2 n 3 n 4 n d u d u d u d u
For any chords that sustain longer than a half of a beat and extend into the next stroke, your right hand should still be making the strumming motions as though you are trying to strum the chords; however, you are strumming over the strings without making contact. This seems a bit ridiculous, but it really helps keep your right hand locked in-time and makes it much easier to play off-time strumming without getting lost.
1 2 n 3 (4) n d (u) d u d (u) (d) u ()'s indicate not to hit strings
For any chords that divide the beat into quarters instead of halves, you will have to essentially double your right hand speed temporarily.
1 n 2 u n u 3 n 4 n d u d u d u d u d u
Triplets or other tuplets that contain an odd division of a beat (such as 3rds, 5ths, or 7ths) are going to throw us off a bit. We play them the same as above by speeding up and playing on each stroke. The problem is we end up reversing our up and down strokes, due to the odd division. If the pattern has two triplets, then we don't need to worry about it because they will cancel out. If not, we need to find some space to try to get back on beat. Or we just have to recognize that we've reversed down and up strokes and keep chugging along.
1 n 2 tr lt 3 4 n d u d u d u (u) d u using space to get back on beat - play a mini, fake upstroke on the 3.5 beat.
1 n 2 tr lt 3 n 4 tr lt d u d u d u d u d u two triplets in the same measure - let them cancel out
1 n 2 tr lt 3 n 4 n 1 n 2 tr lt 3 n 4 n d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u only one triplet in a measure - just deal with it and switch
Mutes and Rests
Mutes and rests become quite important to get a good rhythmic feel to strumming chords. Muted strums are very percussive, moreso than any other variety. Rests are also useful to contrast against all other types of playing. For any beat, we can play a strum, sustain a chord strummed on a prior beat, play a muted strum, or rest.
The way to perform a rest is incidentally by muting the strings, using both the left and right hands, as described previously. This is not to be confused by a muted strum, which uses a left hand mute while strumming with the right hand, which is unfortunately often called just a "mute". So, I use the classical term rest to describe it here to avoid confusion.
Muted strums' percussive nature allows them to have clarity while strumming quickly. They are also easier to play than most chords, as they require less precision. When alternating between barre chords and muted strums, it's often simple enough to simply reduce left hand pressure on the strings so they come off the frets but are still pressed against the fingers. If barring on a strong harmonic placement, such as on the 5th, 7th, or 12th frets, you may need to shift position slightly when muting to avoid getting a natural harmonic instead of a strong muted strum.
F# E F# B e--2----2----x-x-x-x-2----2----x-x-x-x-0----------2----------2--------- b--2----2----x-x-x-x-2----2----x-x-x-x-0-----r----2-----r----4--------- g--3----3----x-x-x-x-3----3----x-x-x-x-1-----e----3-----e----4--------- d--4----4----x-x-x-x-4----4----x-x-x-x-2-----s----4-----s----4--------- a--4----4----x-x-x-x-4----4----x-x-x-x-2-----t----4-----t----2--------- e--2----2----x-x-x-x-2----2----x-x-x-x-0----------2--------------------
Simple Strumming Patterns
Straight On-Beat
Playing Off-beat
Accenting Backbeat or Raggae Feel
Rather