Elderly Woman Strumming Pattern

hawkeye8388

Hello...Can someone help me with the stumming pattern for Elderly Woman. The chords are simple, but it's not quite sounding quite right. This novice probably does not have the strumming pattern correct.

Thanks in advance.

sennin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bgseny7p-FM&mode=related&search=

does this help?

xtremehardy388

It's in three so when Ed counts it off, that's the pattern. 1-2 and three, 2-two and three

Tom K

I'm not very good and I don't know if this will help, but It helped me to hum "hearts and thought they fade, fade away" to myself when I was learning the strumming pattern...

lucylespian

If you follow the GTW tab precisely, the strumming pattern is there. It is in waltz, 3/4.

if d is down and u is up, then it goes

d (1/4 note), dudu ( each du is 1/4 note) repeated like that, each chord change at the end if the bar.

I'm gonna have a go at making some short clips to show some of this stuff soon. I'll put it on the list.
I'm no master, but cos I learn everything the hard way by breaking it down, I should be able to show it OK.

who's_pearljam?

It's in 3/4 time which means you count to three over and over, but try thinking of it this way.
1 strum for the first beat then 4 strums for the next two beats:

1 1234, 1 1234, 1 1234, 1 1234

Play it over and over slowly and it'll come to you.

If it doesn't, I guarantee your money back!

xtremehardy388

who's_pearljam? wrote:

It's in 3/4 time which means you count to three over and over, but try thinking of it this way.
1 strum for the first beat then 4 strums for the next two beats:

1 1234, 1 1234, 1 1234, 1 1234

Play it over and over slowly and it'll come to you.

If it doesn't, I guarantee your money back!

Explained it better than I could!

hawkeye8388

who's_pearljam? wrote:

It's in 3/4 time which means you count to three over and over, but try thinking of it this way.
1 strum for the first beat then 4 strums for the next two beats:

1 1234, 1 1234, 1 1234, 1 1234

Play it over and over slowly and it'll come to you.

If it doesn't, I guarantee your money back!

Thanks to all. This explanation really helped

CornishMan

I remember when I started it took me ages to get the strum pattern right for this song. It was really frustrating because the chords are so simple... but it was hard to get the song sounding right! I just kept playing around with it and listening to the CD and one day it just clicked, and it sounded perfect!

Pearl Jam and toast

I don't understand how so many people have strumming pattern problems.

Don't feel bad dude it's like 99% of people who're learning to play guitar. My mind just doesn't work like that.

MichaelMcKevin

Pearl Jam and toast wrote:

I don't understand how so many people have strumming pattern problems.

Don't feel bad dude it's like 99% of people who're learning to play guitar. My mind just doesn't work like that.

I know what you mean. I've always just answered "Just strum it how it feels right" The key is to not overanalyze how it is strummed and let your hand move freely to the rythm

lucylespian

Or you can learn how to read rhythm and play it right. I have mostly played by the "feel" method, but I often played things inaccurately. Not that there is really any problem with that, but if you want it to sound "correct", then reading rhythm and playing the same pattern of the recording can't be beat.
It's much more important for some songs than others.
"Elderly Woman", I learnt the correct strum pattern from tab, "Crazy Mary", I just play by feel.
"One More Cup of Coffee", I just completely do my own thing.
What I have found, is that once I have learnt an alternative pattern, going back and learning the original pattern usually feels terribly wrong, until I get it, then it feels terribly right.

Switch

Tom K wrote:

I'm not very good and I don't know if this will help, but It helped me to hum "hearts and thought they fade, fade away" to myself when I was learning the strumming pattern...

That's precisely how i learned. And the only song i can sing to due to that.

blackredyellow

CornishMan wrote:

I remember when I started it took me ages to get the strum pattern right for this song. It was really frustrating because the chords are so simple... but it was hard to get the song sounding right! I just kept playing around with it and listening to the CD and one day it just clicked, and it sounded perfect!

yeah... I think the more that you think about it the more difficult it is. I remember when I was learning Rival, I kept trying and trying to get the strumming right and eventually gave up. A couple of days later, I had the song in my head so just picked up my guitar and played it perfectly before I even realized what I was doing.

Vandal

I'm new here and have only been strumming a few months, but this is one of the songs I chose to learn. The January '08 edition of Acoustic Guitar has this song in it along with a strum pattern that sounds great once you get it down. It's a bit deeper and more complex than the standard D DUDU version I've seen and heard others do.

Pearl Jam and toast

lucylespian wrote:

Or you can learn how to read rhythm and play it right.

I use my ear. If I tried to read a rhythm I'd probably just confuse myself, but I can play anything I hear accurately.

Damn why'd I jump in this thread, it doesn't look like I'm going to be of any help .