Ask the expert – why so many 16th note picking patterns?

Kathleen Trissel emails:

“Does the Intermediate Acoustic Guitar Box set utilize 8th note strumming patterns, and not all 16th note patterns? It seems all the patterns I’ve seen are 16th note patterns. I have a default strumming pattern, d d u u d u, that I always fall into. Also, do you cover combining finger picking and strumming? “

Andy replies:

Yes, the majority of the strumming patterns in the intermediate guitar are based around 16th note patterns. This is because the majority of popular worship songs tend to use 16th note patterns.

8th note patterns are generally used for really slow, gentle songs (such as Jesus, Friend Forever) or fast songs above 130 bpm where it would be physically quite difficult to keep a 16th note pattern going for that long. Most popular worship songs right now fall into the mid tempo and mid dynamic category but you do need to be aware of 8th note patterns as they do come up from time to time and are useful if your church plays songs at breakneck speed.

That said, if you want to get away from your default pattern, learning the 35 example patterns we show will certainly help you to do that.

On the other question I don’t do anything that combines finger picking and strumming in the same song but there’s no reason why you can’t combine one of the 18 finger picking patterns on the DVD with one of the strumming patterns into a song as it progresses dynamically, as long as the groove is the same of course.

Other posts you may like:

Video clip – tips for acoustic guitarists

Practical ideas on chord charts and notation

Travis picking demonstration

Ask the Expert – Choosing strumming patterns

What’s the difference between the three Intermediate Guitar courses?

Free lesson from our new Intermediate Acoustic Worship Guitar DVD