If you would like to gain full access to all our Guitar Teaching Materials please visit the Secret Guitar Teacher Site and take a free tour: http://secretguitarteacher.com/youtube/ssb/Beginner/pD5vl6Hz2e0/112932810-whats-wrong-with-my-strumming-hand.php Here's the abridged transcript of the video: SECRET SOUND BITE B1 Title: What’s wrong with my strumming hand? A frequent question I get asked by people at the beginning stages of guitar playing is: ‘What am I doing wrong with my strumming hand? I just can’t seem to get the right strumming pattern for the song I’m playing. They find they are strumming their way through a chord sequence something like this: But when they listen to a more experienced guitarist playing they can hear something more like this When this happens, the tendency is to focus in on the strumming pattern itself. So they trawl the internet for advice on strumming patterns, or they’ll visit their local music store and buy a book that has strumming diagrams in. But I can tell you with certainty that none of these measures are likely to make any difference to the problem. This is because, what is wrong with the strumming hand… …Is the Fretting hand! Many beginners simply underestimate the amount of practice needed to get the fretting hand up to speed with changing chord shapes. When we first learn to play the guitar we learn it wrong. We actually have no choice. Let me explain… We learn to hold down a chord shape with our fretting hand… …And then hit it with our strumming hand This Hold it and Hit it approach is the only practicable way to start, as a complete beginner. But it is not how the guitar should actually be played. The guitar is played by strumming a constant rhythm with the strumming hand Upon which we impose chord shapes… …With the fretting hand Here’s the acid test for proving that your playing has successfully made this transition from the ‘beginners way’ of playing guitar to the ‘proper way’ Video yourself playing through any simple chord sequence like the one I have been using in this video Making sure that the video is zoomed in on just your strumming hand. Then play the video back without the sound You shouldn’t be able to see where the chord changes are, by watching the strumming hand. So what is the best way to use this information? Well, if you are struggling with the strumming hand, my advice is to to completely ignore it for the time being. Concentrate instead, entirely on your fretting hand. And practice nothing but chord changes. I suggest learning all the basic open chords, shown on the printout that comes with this video, and then practice them in random sequences like this. Notice I am simply hitting each chord once - nothing to be gained at this stage, by hitting it more than once - we would just be wasting chord changing time! As you progress with this exercise, some changes will undoubtedly show up as being harder than others. Well focus in on those - they are the ones that will do you the most good! After a few hours concentrating on improving the fretting hands ability to change chord shapes, you’ll be amazed how the strumming hand suddenly seems to sort itself out. If you found this little video useful, please click on the ‘Like’ button and do feel free to share the video with your friends. And if you’d like to gain full access to all our guitar teaching materials please visit the Secret Guitar Teacher website and take a free look round at what’s available there. See you again soon!