The Mandolin Studio

Lesson One: Basic Strumming with the Right Hand

One of the most basic fundamentals of playing a mandolin is having the ability to strum and maintain a consistent rhythm.  One band member that I played with was a mandolin player who could play leads on the mandolin but when it came down to playing back-up rhythm or "chops" as one technique is called, his playing disappeared.  Picking the lead of any instrumental is only half the battle.  In fact, approximately 75% of playing an instrument with others will be dedicated towards backing up the band.  Thus, it is essential that you focus as much time on strumming the instrument, as you do learning the melody lines.

This lesson will focus on some basic strumming patterns.  However, in order to strum correctly, you first must get acquainted with the very basic matter of how to position your picking hand and how to hold the pick.

In order to strum correctly, it is vital that a student learns the appropriate positioning of the right hand. If your mandolin has a pick guard, it helps to lightly rest your pinky on it.   If your mandolin does not have a pick guard, you still can slightly rest the pinky below the strings.  By referring to the photos above, you will see how to position the right hand and how to hold the pick. 

Now that you have learned a little about positioning the right hand, you are ready to learn a couple of basic strumming patterns.    Let’s first look at the following two basic strums: