The Right Stuff

Nile Rodgers-style funky strumming

- BY CORY WONG

THIS MONTH, I'D like to talk about the paramount importance of the right, or pick, hand - how it's the keeper of time and the thing that gives us the groove while we play. I'll demonstrate some examples and practice tips for you to work on to help develop your strumming technique.

When it comes to strumming, I subscribe to the “steady motor” method, keeping my hand in perpetual motion, in an unbroken down-up “pendulum” pattern, most often in a 16th-note rhythm, even when I'm not hitting every 16th note. As shown in FIGURE 1, I'm strumming steady 16ths in an alternating pattern while dampening all of the strings with my fret hand.

In FIGURE 2, I apply this strumming technique to a chord progression. Notice that, in bar 1, on beat 2, I strum G5 and let it ring for the equivalent of three 16th notes as my hand keeps moving before striking the chord again. In bar 2, I switch to eighth-note accents on beats 2 and 4. In