Tune Up
Intro

One of the first styles that almost every acoustic guitarist learns is the accompaniment pattern that goes bass note/brush/alternating bass note/brush. Typically it’s done with a flatpick, with a downstroke for both the bass notes and the brushes, but it also works well with a thumbpick. With bare fingers, using your thumb for the bass note and one or more fingers for the downstroke gives you a little more ring (from the fingernails) than using your thumb twice.

Here’s a table of the alternating bass strings I’m in the habit of using with my basic strumming patterns:

Another guitarist might start you off with different patterns or rely on slightly different chord fingerings, but almost all guitarists would agree on the first of the two notes. That’s because, in every case, the first note is the root note of the chord—the note that the chords is named after. For example, when you pluck the fifth string in a basic C chord, you’ll produce a C note—the surest way to establish the C-ish-ness of the chord. In the absence of any other consideration, it will be the strongest-sounding note to play first.

If you’re not already used to alternating bass notes, take some time to learn these patterns with some familiar chord changes. Example 1 demonstrates how these patterns work in the key of C. When you play the high notes with a downward brush, it's more important to keep a steady beat than to worry if sometimes you hit two or four strings instead of exactly the three that are written.

Example 1