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Adding Dynamics To Your Guitar Playing

Strumming · About 1 min read

When you’re playing guitar dynamics are very important. The same is true for any instrument, but how do you add dynamics to your guitar playing?

Although there are many ways of adding dynamics to your playing, one great way to do that is to change the intensity you play with. One way to do that is to mix up picking and strumming, moving from one to the other. Guitar picking tends to have a softer, more mellow sound, and guitar strumming can be used for more of a pushing, lively portion of the song.

It is important to note that you don’t have to be an expert at fingerpicking or strumming before you can start adding guitar dynamics to your playing. Take the simplest picking pattern that you know, and the simplest strumming pattern that you know, and start using them together! Don’t make it complicated, just try to start experimenting with it.

9 responses

  1. carl

    nice playing got some good ideas thanks

  2. mike

    turn up the volume

  3. Rob Roman

    Love the lessons

  4. barbara anne

    Johnathan,yes !

  5. Bretto

    sounds real nice, well done and thanks

  6. ozzy

    Ohhh yeah…that was great Jon,really liked that. I love the sound of that Tak also. Great job,man.

  7. Barno

    Picked up guitar Jan. 1 2012 and started watching and following you and a couple other video teachers online. I can’t believe I can  actually do this. Another great video lesson Jonathan! 

  8. gomaonaigh

    good man Jon–excellent lesson—from Ger the Guitarman in Galway Ireland.

  9. Douglas

    love this exercise.Thanks for the great lesson.

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