The slash sheet exercises below are quite simple. They are arranged as quarter notes on the staff that you see, but really you should just think of them as four beats played based on the chord provided.

In the audio example, my metronome is set to 75 bpm.

Exercise 1:

Exercise 2:

Exercise 3:

Exercise 4:

Important…

What you have really just done is play a series of chords in simple ‘down up’ or ‘up down’ or ‘down down’ or ‘up up’ formation. You haven’t learned a single thing about strumming. All you have learned is that you can play four beats on each chord. This should be natural to you, even if you only know a few chords. If it isn’t, then we have much more work to do (which is fine).

There has always been a concern from all guitar instructors across the world that we are moving too fast for absolute beginners. In some cases it is true, but to be honest – if we move too slow, then forget frustration – instead you’ll just quit entirely. It’s one thing to be frustrated, but it’s another to give up. Strumming WILL ABSOLUTELY positively become second nature to you in time, so never worry that you aren’t keeping up with the rest of the crowd.