of time create the sensation of greater speed and momentum.
WHY STRUMMING FEELS FAST Try this with me. Choose a couple of chords, or just mute the strings with your fretting hand if you prefer. Set your metronome( or play along with me, at gradually increasingly dense textures. Follow the diagrams below as you go through the accompanying video with me.
Diagram 2
Now compare that to whole notes with the same pattern in mind. That interwoven texture was much busier than the whole notes, agreed? Did the tempo change? No, it did not.
THE DRIVING ANALOGY Imagine driving your car at 80 miles per hour on a road with a forest on either side. Trees are flying past your windows. It feels fast. Now imagine driving the same speed across an open desert highway. Same speed, different perception. Strumming works the same way. Think of the BPM as the speed you’ re driving, the metronome as the speedometer, and the subdivisions as the scenery.
THE BRAIN’ S TEMPO ILLUSION This isn’ t just a guitar thing. It’ s a music perception thing. When our brains hear more rhythmic events, we often perceive greater momentum. All the groove examples I played used the exact same tempo of 80 BPM— the tempo never changed, only the subdivision did. This is why drummers can make a groove feel like it suddenly accelerated without accelerating, why a chorus can feel bigger than a verse, and why strumming can create energy without changing tempo.
HOW TO USE THIS APPROACH PRACTICALLY If a song feels boring, don’ t immediately speed it up— subdivide it with more intricacy instead.
Practice with a metronome so it can keep you honest while you explore how different subdivisions feel. And think of strumming as controlling rhythmic density: you’ re shaping how energetic the music feels, not just hitting strings.
CLOSING THOUGHTS / NEXT STEPS Strumming more points of contact more frequently doesn’ t automatically make music faster— it makes music denser, and our brains interpret that extra activity as speed. BPM measures the tempo; subdivisions measure what happens between the beats.
So next time a strumming pattern feels fast, ask yourself: did the BPM increase, or did the subdivisions increase? Most of the time, it’ s the subdivisions.
That said, human factors like nerves or sluggishness can genuinely affect tempo. Always do your best not to drag, and especially not to rush. We are all drummers in disguise, and good drummers are steady and consistent. Keep strumming!
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David Harsh David Harsh is a nationally touring worship leader, songwriter and performing artist. He is passionate about equipping guitarists to discover their potential. Learn more and join now at www. GuitarSuccess4U. com
Now, what happens if we selectively remove some of these sixteenth notes? That’ s what I call the Triple Down Strum— a mix of interspersed eighth and sixteenth notes. It’ s a strum I really enjoy and so has just about every drummer or percussionist I’ ve shared it with. Great contour. Diagram 3
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