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Old 07-16-2021, 09:40 AM
Tigro Tigro is offline
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Default What's this folk pattern called and how to play it?

I've found again and again a lot of folk songs are played using this distinctive "oom-pah" pattern, like here for example. Does this pattern have some kind of name? I'd really like to learn it cause gives this specific flow to many folk songs (like the war ones or from the soviet era) but I can't seem to find any tutorials cause I don't know what to call it
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Old 07-16-2021, 10:24 AM
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Originally Posted by Tigro View Post
I've found again and again a lot of folk songs are played using this distinctive "oom-pah" pattern, like here for example. Does this pattern have some kind of name? I'd really like to learn it cause gives this specific flow to many folk songs (like the war ones or from the soviet era) but I can't seem to find any tutorials cause I don't know what to call it
Hi Tigro…

At first I thought that this mix of muted-strumming and unmuted-strumming certainly didn't sound like the folk music I grew up with in the 1960s.

Then I noted where you live.

I listened to about 7 or 8 of his other recordings, and he uses the same strong down-beat to initiate his patterns, and they are sometimes muted, sometimes not, but the strong beat or pulsing beat is certainly one of his frequent techniques. His strumming is mostly muted in your posted example, with occasional strums not muted for accents. It would be good if you wish to learn this style to find videos where the hands are showing as people play this way.

My favorite part of the video you linked to is the baby in the background!!




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Last edited by ljguitar; 07-16-2021 at 10:32 AM.
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Old 07-16-2021, 10:34 AM
fwellers fwellers is offline
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Originally Posted by Tigro View Post
I've found again and again a lot of folk songs are played using this distinctive "oom-pah" pattern, like here for example. Does this pattern have some kind of name? I'd really like to learn it cause gives this specific flow to many folk songs (like the war ones or from the soviet era) but I can't seem to find any tutorials cause I don't know what to call it
It just sounds to me like regular 4/4 timing, maybe 3/4 but just pairs of 8th noted.
Down on a base note and hitting a triad with 3 fingers. Over and over base, chord - base, chord - base, chord.
Maybe try it with a d chord and then a c back and forth. Alternate between 4th and 5th string for the base on the d and hit the top 3 strings on the upbeat.
Then switch to c using 5 and 6 for the base.
Try and see what you come up with.
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Old 07-16-2021, 02:17 PM
jpmist jpmist is offline
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Originally Posted by ljguitar View Post
Hi Tigro…

At first I thought that this mix of muted-strumming and unmuted-strumming certainly didn't sound like the folk music I grew up with in the 1960s.

Then I noted where you live.

I listened to about 7 or 8 of his other recordings, and he uses the same strong down-beat to initiate his patterns, and they are sometimes muted, sometimes not, but the strong beat or pulsing beat is certainly one of his frequent techniques. His strumming is mostly muted in your posted example, with occasional strums not muted for accents. It would be good if you wish to learn this style to find videos where the hands are showing as people play this way.

My favorite part of the video you linked to is the baby in the background!!

Yeah, that baby really got into in just after the song started! Probably has heard papa play quite often. I began to wonder if that was a tambourine in it's hand . . .<grin>

To concur with the above, I got the sense he was playing without a pick with pretty strong emphatic downstokes with the occasional softer upstrokes. Likely he's hitting the strings with the back of his first 3 fingers mainly on the fingernail. All just my 2˘, just a guess to my ears . . .
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Old 07-17-2021, 03:22 PM
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Hi folks…

Most often (on his site) he's doing even rhythms (2 or 4 beats to the measure) and he's often hitting a clean bass note, followed by a muted strum.

If you are not using a pick, the easiest way to achieve a muted strum is to strum with the nails (fingers curled) and drop the palm of the strumming hand onto the strings.

He never shows his strumming/picking hand.




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Old 07-17-2021, 04:07 PM
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It sounds like a very fast alternating thumb with muting and maybe with the back of the fingers as well.
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Old 07-19-2021, 07:10 PM
Cecil6243 Cecil6243 is offline
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My favorite part of the video you linked to is the baby in the background!!




Me too! The baby seems to be his metronome!

Btw I'm good with some foreign languages but Polish would give me fits!
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