Week 7 of 27
Goal: You strum evenly down and up and use it to play songs with A and E7.
Review
Last week: A and E7. Warm up with Hänschen klein in A.
Step by step
- Your hand swings like a pendulum from the wrist: down on beats 1, 2, 3, 4 – up on every “and” in between.
- On the upstroke you mostly hit the thin strings. That’s just how it should be – it’s lighter and softer than the downstroke.
- Open the rhythm tool, choose “Down-up” and a slow tempo. Say it out loud: “1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and”. More in Strumming patterns.
- Now with chords: first just A in down-up, then a song. During a change, the last upstroke may hit open strings – that’s fine.
Time to make music: your piece
Row, Row, Row Your Boat in A with down-up – nice and even, like a rowing boat. Then Mary Had a Little Lamb in A.
Homework for next time
Five days, about ten minutes each:
- Tune first every day.
- Days 1–2: down-up with the metronome, just on A.
- Day 3: down-up switching A – E7, one bar each.
- Days 4–5: play along with Row, Row, Row Your Boat in A.
- Fun: play the song as a round with someone singing!
Done when …
- you play down-up evenly with the metronome
- you get through a song with down-up without stopping
If you get stuck
- Losing the beat? Your hand keeps swinging, even during a change. Better to skip a strum than to stop.
- It sounds harsh and loud? Loosen up – strum from the wrist, not the arm. Hold your pick or finger nice and relaxed.
For teachers: lesson plan
- ≈ 10 min Warm-up: swing down-up “in the air” without guitars, saying “1 and 2 and …”.
- ≈ 15 min Practice: half the group plays only downstrokes, the other half only upstrokes – together it makes down-up.
- ≈ 20 min Together: Row, Row, Row Your Boat in A – first all together, then as a round in two groups.
Differentiation: those who are confident play the piece with down-up or help a partner; those who need more time strum only on beat one of each bar.
For the board: openstring.de/gitarre/en/lesson/7/