The Acoustic Guitar Forum

Go Back   The Acoustic Guitar Forum > General Acoustic Guitar and Amplification Discussion > PLAY and Write

Reply
 
Thread Tools
  #1  
Old 11-27-2018, 09:37 PM
jpricewood jpricewood is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 592
Default Advice on figuring out strum patterns for old hymns

Hi all,

Up until the last couple of years, most of my guitar playing has consisted of playing songs for myself and my wife. Now I am involved in an annual multiweek church camping retreat that has daily worships. I am often asked to play guitar but I don’t know a lot of hymns. I know some classics like “Amazing Grace”, “Old Rugged Cross” and “Because He Lives”, but there are a lot that I don’t know. Are there any strum patterns that fit most hymns, which I can use on the fly? I know most of the chords are the same amongst songs, so if you have any tips for strum patterns I’d love to hear them.

Thanks!
__________________
Eastman: AC630 Super Jumbo (2019)
Gibson: Eric Church Hummingbird Dark (2016), J-45 Standard (2013), Gibson L-00 (1930s)
Guild: D-55 (1998)
Martin: D-41 Reimagined (2019), 000-15SM (2018), OM-28 VTS Custom (2016), D-18 Golden Era (2014)
Taylor: K24ce Builder’s Edition (2020), K14c Cedar (1999)
Yamaha: CSF3M Parlor (2019)

Last edited by jpricewood; 11-27-2018 at 09:46 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 11-27-2018, 11:19 PM
dougt dougt is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 71
Default

Amazing Grace and Old Rugged Cross are in 3/4 time and a bass-strum-strum will always work with this type of song. Because He Lives is in 4/4 so a bass-strum-bass-strum will fit perfectly in. There are plenty of variations and you can be as simple or fancy as you care to get.

these songs IMO are simple songs for the most part and the focus should be on a simple rhythm.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 11-27-2018, 11:34 PM
ljguitar's Avatar
ljguitar ljguitar is offline
Charter Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: wyoming
Posts: 42,556
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by jpricewood View Post
Hi all,

Up until the last couple of years, most of my guitar playing has consisted of playing songs for myself and my wife. Now I am involved in an annual multiweek church camping retreat that has daily worships. I am often asked to play guitar but I don’t know a lot of hymns. I know some classics like “Amazing Grace”, “Old Rugged Cross” and “Because He Lives”, but there are a lot that I don’t know. Are there any strum patterns that fit most hymns, which I can use on the fly? I know most of the chords are the same amongst songs, so if you have any tips for strum patterns I’d love to hear them.

Thanks!
HI jpw

A couple suggestions…
  • YouTube is your friend…
  • So are older traditional church pianists who you could jam with…bring a capo
  • Find a traditional church with a 'band' who play hymns and jam with the guitarist over coffee…

Had an old friend who used to say "Better caught than caught…" and "Better felt than tell't…" Playing with others or hearing others play and playing along will give you the feel for it.

I facilitate a group at our church called "Folks Like Us…" because we noticed a lot of folks like us (my wife and I are 70 yrs old), and there was no unique activity for them…so we started it 4 years ago. We have a monthly Thursday noon pot-luck, and sing hymns out of hymnals.

It's a good thing I grew up in church singing hymns, and that I can play by ear. I let them pick-em and we sing-em. The only caveat is if they pick one I don't know they have to do a solo…(keeps the old Presbyterians in check).

Hope you find the help you need…



__________________

Baby #1.1
Baby #1.2
Baby #02
Baby #03
Baby #04
Baby #05

Larry's songs...

…Just because you've argued someone into silence doesn't mean you have convinced them…
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 11-28-2018, 05:31 AM
icuker icuker is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 550
Default

We play a lot of music in our church. They like the hymns and we also do a lot of old timey gospel stuff that everyone seems to enjoy. I agree that youtube is your friend. What I do is type in the name of the hymn and then add "guitar" after it, it usually brings up someone just playing solo and singing which makes it easier to get a tempo and style that might fit better on guitar.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 11-28-2018, 08:47 PM
jpricewood jpricewood is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 592
Default

Thanks for all the great advice. We let the campers pick the songs which makes it difficult to prepare. It sounds like I just need to work more on my 3/4 and 4/4 strumming (I really know nothing about music. I just use tabs and figure out strum patterns by listening to the song or watching YouTube.), and learn as many songs as I can ahead of time.
__________________
Eastman: AC630 Super Jumbo (2019)
Gibson: Eric Church Hummingbird Dark (2016), J-45 Standard (2013), Gibson L-00 (1930s)
Guild: D-55 (1998)
Martin: D-41 Reimagined (2019), 000-15SM (2018), OM-28 VTS Custom (2016), D-18 Golden Era (2014)
Taylor: K24ce Builder’s Edition (2020), K14c Cedar (1999)
Yamaha: CSF3M Parlor (2019)
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 11-29-2018, 09:49 PM
icuker icuker is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 550
Default

Yeah, learning some more popular hymns will get a you a long way. If people suggest something it's usually something more familiar. My friend at church does a good job keeping the chord structure simple (more than I do) but when put on the spot it makes it much easier keeping to fewer chords.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 11-30-2018, 10:23 AM
archerscreek archerscreek is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jun 2017
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 1,236
Default

I play in church and would estimate most (55%-60%) of the songs are in 3/4. There are a lot of songs using keys of Ab, Eb, and F, in case you're going by ear and want to stay in that key, and I've also come across a few that use modes.

When I strum alone, I generally maintain a consistent pattern throughout the song which I feel gives these songs necessary flow. It turns them away from being chants and into songs. So in 3/4 it's ONE two three, ONE two three (which I usually play as ONE two and three and, ONE two and three and, or a variation of that).

However, when I accompany others I unfortunately cannot do that because the people I play with speed up, slow down, and emphasize words instead of beats. They don't seem to care about rhythm. When I'm in that situation, I sit back, listen, and abide by the "less is more" philosophy, trying to tastefully harmonize their playing and singing with notes or chords.

Last edited by archerscreek; 11-30-2018 at 11:48 AM. Reason: improved accuracy
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 11-30-2018, 01:01 PM
stanron stanron is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 2,428
Default

A lot of the old English hymns were arranged for four voices rather than for modern chordal accompaniment. The four voices were Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass, sometimes called SATB. These hymns may have a different chord for each beat.

In Pop songs a chord can last for a whole bar or several bars. You can, occasionally, get a chord that lasts for one beat only but it's rare. In SATB a chord that lasts for more than one beat can be as rare.

The chords in SATB wont' be complex. There are only four notes and some of them can be doubled, but it is worth taking the time to work out what they should be.

As to how to strum them, one strum per chord/beat may well do.
Reply With Quote
Reply

  The Acoustic Guitar Forum > General Acoustic Guitar and Amplification Discussion > PLAY and Write

Thread Tools





All times are GMT -6. The time now is 05:03 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Copyright ©2000 - 2022, The Acoustic Guitar Forum
vB Ad Management by =RedTyger=