TrueFire - Guitar Lab: Solid Strumming

Brad Carlton is back with another intensive series of interactive video guitar lessons covering essential techniques and know-how for optimizing your rhythm guitar skills. As always, Carlton drills down deep, working through all of the basic techniques involved in plectrum rhythm guitar. Topics covered include technical issues such as how to hold the pick, various positions of the wrist and fingers, pick angles, free strokes, rest strokes, accents, palm muting, palm slaps, choking, tonal variation, down and up strokes, string groups, pivot and guide fingers, and ghost strokes. Carlton also covers the art and science of rhythm as it relates to strumming. From a rhythmic standpoint you will learn to understand quarter notes, eight notes, and 16th notes. You will receive a number of variations involving the mixing of these three different time values to develop an inventory of strum patterns. The question of pick stroke direction will also be explained.

To ice your strumming cake, Carlton takes you to school on the theoretical aspects playing rhythm guitar. From a theory standpoint you will learn the diatonic triads in the following keys: C, G, D, A, and E. You will also receive a chart listing 30 different two chord building block progressions which will develop your facility at changing chords as well as enhancing your ability to hear these progressions. You will be encouraged to be creative by mixing a combination of these diatonic triads.

Table of Contents
24 Total Video Lessons

Solid Strummng
View the Guitar as a Drum Kit
Picking Hand Posture
Viewing Chords as Voices
Quarter Note Rhythm
See All

Skill Level

Intermediate
Late Intermediate

Instrument

Guitar
Electric Guitar

Curriculum

Strumming
Rhythm
Chord Progressions
Power Chords

Styles

Rhythm

Series

Guitar Lab