00:00:00 The right hand (or left hand if you’re lefty) is so crucial
00:00:34 Using the bass strings/notes to add depth and variety to your sound
00:01:31 You have a choice of bass notes to play each time you strum
00:02:00 The strumming patterns and chords a.ka. how to add depth to a slow-ish tune
00:02:50 The bass, strum, down-up down-up pattern deconstructed (and slowed down)
00:03:48 Adjusting the “oomph” of your right hand through each strum cycle
00:04:10 The slightly “busier” strumming I was doing on the full version I sang
00:04:39 That faster pattern deconstructed and explained
00:05:13 Take it slowly! Be in the moment, and ease into it…
00:05:29 Experiment — find what works best for you, especially while you’re trying to sing it at the same time
00:05:39 This bass, strum pattern is useful for SOOOOOOOO many good tunes on acoustic!
(And these chords shapes are in lots of Bob Marley, Van Morrison, The Band and Beatles tunes.)
00:06:20 Don’t force your loved ones to listen to this early-learning stage unless they WANT to… go somewhere, shut the door, come out when you’ve got something to show off…(if my wife has had to listen to me slowly working out the chords, etc., she’s probably not gonna’ want to hear the darn song in full for about a year. Truth.)

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When you play slower songs, it can often feel like your strumming is just dragging along. Often what you need is just a simple, staccato “counter-beat” from the guitar to fill out the sound. This strumming pattern can be used for SO many tunes, and for faking your way through lots of other ones. (*See Song 3, Part I for how to play and sing the whole song.)

Played using the chords D, Bm7, C, G and Em, this is a beautiful melody built around a simple, entrancing chord structure. “Racing in the Street” is an excellent singalong tune; even people who don’t know it will grab the melody in about 2 lines, and once tuned-up, any other guitarist can easily jump in. Basically, the intro/break/out-tro follow one pattern (D, Bm7, C, G) and the verses/chorus are all simply D, G, Em, G…how simple is that? For beginner-ish guitarists, this means just simple strumming and singing, while more experienced guitarists can experiment with much more right-hand strumming synchopation, and hammer-ons/offs plus walkdowns amongst the chords.
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In addition to having so many talented muso friends, some do great photography and other visual media (in the original sense of the word). The chalk-on-paper piece to the left behind me is from fine human, artist and occasional musician Pamela Asai of Brisbane ( & just do a google search of “Pamela Asai artist images” ), and the photo to the right is from equally fine human, musician/potter/magician/artist David Culton ( ), based in Westerly, Rhode Island.

My reputable repairer in Brisbane is Guitar Rescue, Everton Park…he’s a guitar whisperer, and loves what he does;

I play with Dunlop picks: (12-pick variety pack ; .6 mm 12-pack ; .88 mm 12-pack ; 1 mm. 12-pack );

I use Shubb ( ) or Kyser ( ) capos;

a Snark clip-on tuner ( ) or any clip-on tuner with an image of how flat/sharp/exactly tuned you are;

any string-winder, with a snipper is an added bonus ( );

for steel strings: any decent-brand light or medium-gauge ones (make sure they’re for a 6-string acoustic guitar): ;

and to pick-up the guitar and voice sound together quite nicely, I use a Rode (Australian) NT1-A cardiod condenser microphone (which comes with cable and P-pop shield): . and a mic./ headphone splitter for my Motorola One phone (note: you can only use the mic OR the headphones at any one time…please do solid research about compatibility with your device/s before buying one) ;

finally, I get this nice video quality on a Motorola One Vision cell/mobile phone, at a fraction of the cost of other phones that have this level of camera ( )

Link do Vídeo