Supercharge your strumming skills
Make your strumming feel easy and natural (and sound great)
The advice sounds simple: “Just play what you feel!”
Unfortunately, the way my gut told me to strum a guitar felt really, really awkward.
And judging from the slightly horrified look on my teacher’s face, it must’ve looked awkward too.
Long story short: for me correct strumming technique did not come naturally. And after teaching guitar for over a decade, I know that’s true for almost everyone.
But I totally understand why experienced players say ‘play what you feel’ or ‘don’t overthink it!’
Once you get your basic technique right, strumming should feel easy, automatic and effortless.
The question is: how do you get there?
I created this course to answer that question. It will help you:
1. Understand how to strum a guitar and to get the proper technique in your system. You’ll build your strumming technique from the ground up, using over 40 songs to put in the focused practice that will make strumming feel natural and easy.
2. Tap into your innate sense of rhythm. If you’re thinking of a strum rhythm as a series of up and downstrums, it will sound mechanic and robotic. But if you think of it as a rhythm that you can nod your head or tap your foot to, it will sound more natural and simply better.
3. You’ll also learn the theory you need to know how rhythm works, and learn to recognize strum patterns by ear, so you can just listen to a song and play it by ear.
How does the course work?
For this course, I chose a bunch of different formats to help you learn. Here’s a quick overview.
Animated Explainer Videos
To learn the (little) theory you need to know, I’ve made a couple of simple animated explainer videos for you. I believe effective courses should be 10% explanation and 90% practice though, so really this is only a small part of the course.
One Chord Songs
It’s hard to focus on more than one thing at a time. So I’ve created a dozen or so songs that use just one chord. This allows you to focus completely on your strumming hand while you learn new techniques and practice new rhythms. If you ever lose track of the rhythm, the arrows on screen will pop up to show you what you need to do.
Real Songs
Practicing with real music is so, so important. That’s why the course includes exactly 30 songs from a range of different artists. Practicing with these songs will help you cement everything you’ve learned and help you understand how strumming works in the real world of music. I’ve done two things to make this as easy as possible.
Thing 1: You can play each song with beginner guitar chords (i.e. open guitar chords) if you have a capo. There’s a toggle that allows you to switch between a capo and non-capo version of each chord progression. Thing 2: As you play each video, the chord scheme ‘listens’ to the music and will highlight the chord you need to play.
Songs + Ear Exercises
Two of the six sections in the course are all about learning to listen to a song and figuring out the strum rhythm by ear. This might be tricky at first, but we’ll build it up slowly. I’ll help you with each song with an interactive tool I built for this course. It will check your answer and tell you if you got it right.
30-day No Questions Asked Money Back Guarantee
When you join StringKick you are fully protected by my 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. If you change your mind for literally any reason (don't like the colors on the site / decided you'd rather learn the trombone), simply let me know within 30 days and I'll give you a full and prompt refund. No hassles or hoops to jump through.
Course Overview
Section 1: Strumming Foundation
Strumming starts with a solid foundation. After learning how you can think of rhythm as a heartbeat, we’ll get right to practicing strumming along with three songs. The first is only on one chord, so you can focus completely on your strumming hand. You’ll then learn why you should never stop moving your strumming hand. Ever. (Seriously.) Next, we’ll take a closer look at strumming technique, some important rhythmic theory and see all of this in action in a couple of songs. We’ll end with a song that serves as both a technical as well as an ear training exercise.
Section 2: The Grid
You might’ve wondered about this before. When should you strum up and when should you strum down? In this section you’ll learn about what I call ‘the strumming grid’, which is the absolute easiest and simplest way to understand the logic behind strumming. With that in mind, you’ll learn three new strumming rhythms and test-drive them in eight songs.
Section 3: Play it by Ear
After completing the first two sections, you’ll have learned five different strumming rhythms. In this section, you’ll learn to recognise these strumming rhythms by ear. I’ll first explain how to do this and then you’ll get right to practicing with an interactive tool I built for this course.
Section 4: Skipping Downstrums
In this section, you’ll learn the most popular strumming rhythm there is. Once you learn it, you’ll start to recognize it everywhere. It comes with a tricky technical hurdle you need to jump: you need to ‘skip a downstrum’. If that sounds vague, don’t worry. You’ll understand by the time you get here and we’ll make sure you know exactly how to do this.
Section 5: Shuffle and Swing
You’ve heard thousands and thousands of songs with a so-called ‘swing feel’. Songs have been written about how great swing is. (“It don’t mean a thing, if it ain’t got that swing.”) But what exactly is swing? And how do you play a song with a swing feel? This section will answer these questions. Of course, you’ll also practice playing with a swing feel with a bunch of songs.
Section 6: Mixing it up
First of all, this section recognizes how awesome you are for making it all the way here! Once the festivities have ended, we’ll test-drive all the skills you’ve picked up so far. You’ll figure out the strumming rhythm of 10 songs by ear, again using the special interactive tool I built for you. The songs will slowly become faster and more challenging. But I know you can do it!
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Strumming Skills Bootcamp?
Strumming Skills Bootcamp is a guitar course that helps you develop strumming technique that feels simple and natural. Through animated explainer videos, one-chord practice songs, and 30 real play-along tracks, you’ll build correct technique from the ground up while connecting to your innate sense of rhythm. The course covers straight and swing feels, rhythm theory, and trains you to recognize strum patterns by ear.
What exactly will I learn in this course?
You’ll learn to strum with confidence and feel, not just mechanical patterns. The course covers strumming foundation and technique, the logic behind up/downstrum patterns, how to recognize rhythms by ear, skipping downstrums, shuffle and swing feels, and how to mix it all together. You’ll practice everything with 12+ one-chord technique songs and 30 real songs by artists from Oasis to Fleet Foxes. By the end, you won’t need someone to write out “D D U U D U” for you anymore!
Is this course suitable for beginners?
Yes! This course is perfect if you can play basic open chords but want to develop solid strumming technique. The course starts with foundational concepts and builds systematically through six sections. If you’re returning to guitar after a break or feel like your strumming is holding you back, this course will help you build the right habits.
How long does it take to complete the course?
The course has six sections covering technique foundations, rhythm patterns, ear training, and different feels. With 30 play-along songs plus technique exercises, there’s plenty of material to work through. You can progress at your own pace, spending more time on sections that challenge you. The play-along songs are designed to be practiced repeatedly, so you can keep improving even after completing the course.
How do I get access to this course?
This course is exclusively available to StringKick All Access members. When you join, you get instant access to Strumming Skills Bootcamp and all other courses on the site. You can start learning right away.
Can I try this course before joining?
Yes! You can enroll in the free sample course to try the first three lessons before you commit to anything. You’ll get a feel for the teaching style and interactive format, so you can see exactly how everything works. If you like it, you can join All Access for the full course and everything else on StringKick.
What if I don't like the membership?
Simple: if you decide the membership is not for you, you’ll get a full refund within 30 days. No matter the reason.
Why is learning proper strumming technique important?
Strumming is how you bring songs to life on guitar. Good technique means you can play relaxed for hours without fatigue, lock in with the rhythm of any song, and express yourself musically. Many guitarists develop bad habits early on that limit their playing. This course helps you build correct technique from the start, or fix habits that are holding you back, so strumming becomes natural and effortless.
What chords do I need to know for this course?
If you have a capo, you just need to know most of your basic open chords. So: E, Em, F, G, A, Am, C, D and Dm. These chords and a capo are enough to play almost all songs in the course. If you don’t know these chords by heart, you can always look them up on the course’s chord cheat sheet. You can also take Guitar Chord Bootcamp: Open Chords to learn these chords and practice them in a bunch of songs!
If you don’t have a capo, you need to know how to play major and minor chords in all keys. To learn that, check out Guitar Chord Bootcamp: Barre and Beyond.
What artists are the songs by?
It’s a mix of a bunch of different artists, styles and genres. Here’s the full list:
Femme Vanille, The Turtles, JJ Cale, Fleet Foxes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Daniel Johnston, Lucy Kaplansky, Imagine Dragons, The Head and the Heart, Joe Pernice, Material Issue, White Stripes, Sharon van Etten, Arcade Fire, Jenny Lewis, Oasis, Green Day, Ingrid Michaelson, Of Monsters and Men, Morrissey, Death in June, Death Cab for Cutie, Kings of Convenience, Feist, The Mavericks, Train and The Lemonheads. And there’s a bunch of songs I recorded for this course.
Hopefully you’ll discover some new favourites!
Can I do this on my phone, tablet, or laptop?
Yes, the course works on any device with a web browser. You can login to StringKick on any device you own and switch between them whenever you want. The videos and play-along tracks work great on mobile, so you can practice wherever you are.
How can I get in touch if I have any other questions?
Feel free to contact me here or email me at just(at)stringkick.com if you have any questions!
