Sunday Strum: Episode 3 Learn an Easy Acoustic Guitar Strum Pattern with Raking

In this week’s episode of Sunday Strum, I show you how to do some basic raking.

A rake is just striking the strings with the right hand normally, but muting them with the left hand to get a percussive sound.

By replacing just one hit with a rake, I’m able to carve out a new vibe to an existing progression or song.

This is a great way to vary up your strumming patterns.

After you get the hang of it, try experimenting with the rake on different parts of the measure.

For example, rake on both beats 2 and 4 instead of just 2. There are countless possibilities with this simple change.

Justin Horenstein is a guitar instructor and musician in the Washington, DC metro area who graduated (cum laude) from the Berklee College of Music in 2006. He plays in Black Clouds, a 3-piece atmospheric/experimental band. Their debut album was recorded by J Robbins (Jawbox, Burning Airlines). Justin’s 18 years of musical experience also includes touring the U.S., a record deal under Sony, starting his own teaching business, recording several albums, and playing club shows with national acts including Circa Survive, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Biffy Clyro, United Nations, Caspian, and more.

More about Justin at 29thCenturyGuitar.com and BlackCloudsDC.bandcamp.com