How To Sound Better On Guitar  By Getting A Great Guitar Strum Sound

In an earlier lesson we looked at the technique of strumming your acoustic guitar. The next step is knowing how to get a great guitar strum sound. 

Strumming in time, and with the correct motions (ie. down, up etc) is very important in developing a good foundation with your playing, but if you are wanting to sound better on your guitar, then you need to focus on how to get a good guitar strum “sound” as well. 

Here are three key ways to sounding better on your guitar by getting a great strumming sound.

1. Choosing Your Pick

The sound you get with your strumming will depend a lot on what pick you are using. In general you will get a better guitar strum sound with a thinner pick as compared to a thicker one.

Thinner picks have more flexibility in them and are designed to make your strumming sound smoother. Guitar picks are measured in millimeters (mm) and normally range from 0.38mm through to 2.0mm, although some picks can measure up to 3.0mm. 

You will get a much better sounding strum on your guitar by using picks ranging between 0.50mm - 1.00mm. Anything else is too thick for strumming and will sound rigid and awkward.

Experimentation is the key, so choose a range of picks to try, and definitely consider the material that they are made from as well as this has a big effect on the guitar strum sound you get too.

2. Great Guitar Strum Sound Through Dynamics

In a nutshell, dynamics refers to how hard or soft you are playing your guitar. To get a great strumming sound on your guitar, you need to increase your dynamic range in regard to how soft you can strum and how hard you can strum. If you were to strum everything at the same volume, it would sound bland and have no depth or feel to it at all.

In an earlier lesson you learnt about accents in music and how they are great for increasing your awareness of the beat. Well, doing the same exercises, only strumming now instead of clapping or tapping, is a great way to sound better on your guitar.

For example strum the following rhythm:

1   +   2   +   3   +   4   +  

Listen to how this sounds:

Remember to alternate your strumming with Down strums on the beat and Up strums off the beat 

Now strum the same pattern, only now lets add accents on beats 1, + of 2, and 4:

>             >             >

1   +   2   +   3   +   4   +

Listen to how this sounds. We have the same rhythm but a different strumming sound through dynamics. 

I am strumming with more force on the accented beats, however, I am also strumming softer on the beats that aren’t accented to get more of a contrast between the two.

I have purposely exaggerated the accenting in the strumming above and you should as well to really increase your dynamic range.

Doing the above with other rhythms from the lesson on timing and accents will go a long way to having your guitar strumming sound great.

3. Targeting Different Parts Of The Chord With Your Guitar Strumming

The final area to focus on in getting a much better sound on your guitar through strumming, is where to strum.

If you were to strum all six strings of your guitar with every strumming motion, it would be overkill and sound too heavy and rigid. Truth is, most the time you are not strumming all six strings. Instead, you need to target different parts of the chords you are strumming.

For example strum the E chord below:

Be sure to listen to this example and hear how the strumming sounds.

Now try this:

* There is no need to hit the exact strings that I do with each strum. It’s more of an estimation of where to target the chord when strumming.

Again, listen to this so that you can hear the difference.

In the second example I am targeting different parts of the E chord with my strum. This sounds so much better than the first example where I am strumming all six strings of the chord.

Notice too, that by targeting different areas of the chord, I am also getting a much more dynamic sound with my strum. A great way to accent certain parts of the beat, as in step 2, is to strum more of the chord on those beats, and less on unaccented beats.

Following these three steps will have you sound much better on the guitar. Timing is important, but it does not necessarily equal a good strumming sound.

Learn how to master your acoustic playing with these online fingerstyle guitar lessons