I have been learning to play guitar but I have a question. When I look up chords for songs online I never know the strumming pattern it just gives me which chords to play. How do I know the strumming pattern for the songs? :confused:

Listen to the song maybe. Can you give me a better example?

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Originally Posted by workhelpme

Listen to the song maybe. Can you give me a better example?

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Umbrella Chords (ver 3) by Rihanna @ Ultimate-Guitar.Com
Go to the link and you'll see :x

Some transcriptions give you only limited information. Like in your case, all you're probably given are the chord names. If there is no additional music or musical notation (like a staff with notes or strumming rhythm), you'll need to listen to the recording and figure out for yourself. Most sheet music will give you the melody written with standard notation (using notes on a staff) that will contain the rhythmic structure of the melody; unfortunately, few transcriptions out there will give you the strumming pattern.

One handy shortcut is to use downstrokes on downbeats and upstrokes on upbeats. But yea, ultimately you'll have to use your ears. If you're hearing stocatto strumming that's "chunky," you've probably got downstrokes. If you're hearing stocatto snappy "chuck, chuck" (like in reggae) sound, it's probably upstrokes. Combination of the two will sound smoother.

Best of luck.