Strumming patterns for songs

[FloydD]

Hey guys,
i'm new to guitar and i'm having a really hard time trying to figure out the strumming patterns by both looking and listening.
I was hoping for some of the more experienced guitarists here to start listing the strumming patterns for songs.
to get you started i'm trying to work on learning bartender, don't drink the water, crush, and big eyed fish.

and i was thinking maybe a format for the pattern would be something like this:

now i'm sure dave doesn't play in that timing most of the time (i think) i don't have any music background, just picking up a guitar and trying to learn

basic strumming pattern:
1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &
D x D U D x D x

how does that look?
i know this is going to help for many beginners and i'd really appreciate it.
thanks guys

[Donnyboo23]

a lot of songs are down up down up etc almost all of daves are. he just mutes and what not to make it sound like it does

[FloydD]

a lot of songs are down up down up etc almost all of daves are. he just mutes and what not to make it sound like it does

Either way, it's still tough to figure out when to mute and stuff.
If anyone can post any strumming patterns it would be really helpful
thanks

[41StonesCT]

My suggestion would be to just listen to the dave and tim versions of the songs that you want to play, thats what helped me at least. Like the donnyboo43 said its all about the muting and you just listen and play a long and practice to get it right. It really takes that rather than seeing strumming patterns written out. Just keep practicing, once you get the Dave strumming down on a couple songs then it becomes easier.

[blinkage]

Strumming parents aren't usually tabbed out because it is actually hard to say what the strumming pattern is a lot of the time even when you can play it correctly. Listen to the guy who said Dave always plays down up down up. He does that almost always and just mutes. Pay more attention to your rhythm and chord changes and the strumming that fits naturally will fill itself in as long as you keep the rhythm for the changes. That may not make sense, but it doesn't have to. The longer you play the easier you'll pick it up. It just comes.

[FloydD]

yeah i guess i just have to keep playing and listening. hopefully it will get better through time
thanks guys

[Easy E]

yeah i just don't see how typing out strumming patterns would help, it's all listening


It's not like you can look at text and say "ooooooooh its up down up down up down"

[FloydD]

yeah i just don't see how typing out strumming patterns would help, it's all listening


It's not like you can look at text and say "ooooooooh its up down up down up down"

you can do that exactly - there are many beginner lessons online that use that method to teach strumming

[dmb spook]

yeah i just don't see how typing out strumming patterns would help, it's all listening


It's not like you can look at text and say "ooooooooh its up down up down up down"

you can do that exactly - there are many beginner lessons online that use that method to teach strumming

Easy meant that dave typically uses an up/down/up/down motion and that the mutes and accents are what gives rhythm, which i agree completely with.. wrote the initial version of this post and then went and played the songs you mentioned just to see if i could explain it any better... then i realized easy and I were wrong, once you develop the skill and feel for playing it seems completely like just DUDUDUDUDU strumming... Although as I felt and listened to what I was playing I noticed that I was , almost un-conscientiously, playing fairly complex strumming patterns that involved mutes, accents, rests and such, all why keeping the rhythm with an DUDUDU motion in my strumming hand.

While strumming patterns may help you learn a song, they are almost as much of a pain as tabbing itself is, becuase there is almost no point in putting out a halfassed strumming pattern which will help you sound "kind of like the song" if you want to play like dave. And a perfect strumming pattern would be a pain in the ass. Plus I personally feel that it limits your growth as a guitarist.

Basically you need to do a few things to figure out what dave is playing... the chords and when to change the chords... figure out the rhythm and just strum away up/down style while keeping a rhythm (he is a rhythm guitarist) and just make sure you fretting hand changes chords at the right time... and you figure out chord changes by listening... WHICH IS WHY people are saying listen to Dave and Tim, becuase you can easily hear the chord changes. "oh but you want to play with the full band and they play it a little differently?" once you listen to D&T and you know where the chord changes are, you can listen to the full band and at the very least have a decent idea of when the chord change should be coming up, which will make LISTENING much easier...
Once you know the changes, really listen to daves playing. Focus on just one part, in Dont Drink the Water, just focus on that main verse D chord. Play along with it until it feels comfortable, or play that and the G 5557xx. If you take the song part by part you will get it. Your probably not going to be able to emulate Dave right away, but the more songs you learn you notice patterns, you pick up certain intricacies of his playing, all those little nuances, and you begin to add those to your playing, sooner than you might think youll be set.... but all in all, I feel that strumming patterns are a waste. you already grasp the 4/4 concept the 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & thing. which almost all of daves tunes are in... Ive got more I could say about rhythm and time signatures and patterns (more my area than all the tabbing and notes since Im first and formost a jazz drummer) but this is long enough... If you really need more help figuring out specifics, let me know... I check this forum every day sometimes twice, and Im never to busy to help... Hell , I can even write you some lessons to help figure out rhythms on your own, (again because I say FUCK written out Strumming patterns). Strumming patterns make you cookie cutter, we want rhythm and feeling, personal to you, this is music, not math.

[blinkage]

Yeah I agree with dmb spook completely. That is basically what I was trying to say in my first post. The strumming pattern is almost the end result... when the rhythm is correct and you're changing chords and notes at the right times then the only strumming pattern that could fit is the correct one.

The only difference I really see in Dave and Tim songs compared to full band songs is that Dave rests a lot more full band and strums more openly for D+T shows. If you're going to pick one to emulate you should pick the D+T style because you're going to be playing the songs by yourself. He rests more full band because there other instruments that fill in the gaps. When you play with just two guitars you have to fill in the gaps for the missing instruments so you compensate with more guitar.

[dmb spook]

yep, and once you play full band you can always choose to make it easier on yourself by playin less, because you already know how to play more... playing less to begin with and then trying to fill it out is quite a bit harder.

[blinkage]

That is true. Luckily there are only a few examples I could think of since Dave pretty much strums to the max in almost every song regardless.. Old Dirt Hill, #41, Ants, Spoon, and that is all I can think of where it would be an obvious difference.