To see and hear

Mandolin strumming patterns

7 strumming patterns for mandolin, from four down-strums to the bluegrass chop. Each is shown as a bar of counts with an arrow under every strum: ↓ down, ↑ up, × a muted chuck, a small arrow a lighter strum. Press Play to hear it over a few chords, and play along.

How to read the patterns

Count each bar out loud: “1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and”. Down-strums fall on the numbers and up-strums on the “and”s. The strumming hand keeps moving down and up the whole time, even where there is no arrow: it just misses the strings. That steady motion keeps you in time.

Tempo80
1

Down on every beat

4/4

One down-strum on each beat, with a pick held loosely.

2

Driving down-up

4/4

Down on the beat, up on the “and”: the motion of all mandolin strumming and of tremolo picking.

3

Old faithful

4/4

Down, down-up, up-down-up: fits a great many songs.

4

Pop with a muted backbeat

4/4

A muted chuck on beats two and four: on mandolin this is the bluegrass chop, a short chord choked at once.

5

Waltz with up-strums

3/4

Three beats to the bar, for waltzes.

6

Shuffle

4/4, swung

Swung eighths, long-short: blues and swing.

7

Sixteenth folk-pop

4/4, sixteenths

Down and up on every sixteenth: the start of tremolo.

Practising a pattern

  • Start slow. Play along at 60 or 70 beats a minute, and only go faster when the pattern feels easy for a whole minute.
  • One chord first. Learn the pattern on one chord, then on two, changing on beat 1. If the change is late, leave out the last up-strum of the bar to give the fretting hand time.
  • Keep the hand moving. Most mistakes come from stopping the hand for a missing strum. Move it anyway, just above the strings.
  • With a click. The metronome keeps a steady beat to strum against.

Where next

Learn the chords to strum on the beginner chords page, practise the changes with the chord change trainer, or strum along with any chord progression: every progression plays with the pattern you choose.

Questions

What is the most common mandolin strumming pattern?

Old faithful, also called the calypso or campfire strum: down, down-up, up-down-up (D DU UDU). It fits a great many songs in 4/4.

What is the easiest strumming pattern?

Four down-strums, one on each beat. Then down-up on every beat, then old faithful.

Should I strum with a pick?

Either. A thin pick is easiest for strumming; fingers or the thumb give a softer sound.

How do I get faster?

Play the pattern slowly and evenly with a metronome, then raise the tempo by five beats a minute once it feels easy. Evenness first, speed later.