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The Carter Strum
Every picking pattern that we have played up to this point has been made up of quarter notes. That's the logical place to start because, as I pointed out in the last chapter, the time signature tells you to play four quarter notes in 4/4 time and three quarter notes in 3/4 time. That's a great framework to start with, but as I mentioned in our earlier discussion on note values you can use any combination of notes in a measure as long as they "add up" to the value dictated by the time signature. In 4/4 time we can hold a whole note for four beats, play two half notes, a half note and two quarter notes, eight eighth notes or any other combination that fits the instructions in the time signature. Once we can grasp that concept all kinds of really cool possibilities open up for picking patterns. We started out playing four quarter note strums in 4/4 time and then we went on to bend that quarter note strum into an alternating bass pattern. What we are going to do now is cut two of those quarter notes in half. It's not as complicated as it might sound. All we have to do to cut a quarter note in half is replace it with two eighth notes. In this case we are going to replace the quarter notes on beats "two" and "four" with a pair of eighth notes.
As you might have noticed, this changes the rhythm for each measure. It is easy to understand how the rhythm changes if we go back and take another look at how we count measures composed of quarter notes and eighth notes. In a measure of quarter notes you count out and tap our foot on each beat.
In a measure of eighth notes each beat in counted as "one and". You tap your foot on "one" and as your foot is coming back up you count the "and".
In this new picking pattern we are going to play a quarter note and two eighth notes twice in each measure. The new count is "one two and, three four and".
In order to break those quarter notes in half we are going to add an upstroke to our guitar Strum:
After the bass note strum down across the strings with your thumb. As you bring up your foot after the "two" count, pick up on the
first string with your index finger. The example below shows how the picking pattern comes together:
When you practice the Carter strum it will help you get into the rhythm if you call out the name for each part of the strum. Let's give each major part of the Carter strum a label of some sort. We'll call the bass note "bump," the thumb-strum "dit" and the index finger picking the first string "ty." Because the strum and the thumb happen right after each other we'll write it out as bump dit-ty. On the bump tap your foot. Bring your foot back up. As you tap your foot again strum down for the dit. As your foot is coming back up pick the first string for the ty.
Now, if the bump has a quarter note value and the dit and ty have eighth note values that means the dit and the ty part of the strum both have to be half as long as the bump. This is because with an eighth note value the dit and ty together equal one quarter note. If you try this with a flatpick keep in mind that the "down, down, up" pattern remains the same. Let's take a shot at using the Carter strum on a song you already know. "Skip To My Lou"
Take it slow and easy. Getting the timing of this strum down to a point where you can keep a steady rhythm may take a while. Go back through the songs you already know and try them with the Carter strum. Then give "Handsome Molly" a shot. "Handsome Molly"
While sailing on the ocean, She rode to church on Sunday, Like I said in the chapter on alternating bass, the Carter strum is way cool but it's not the be-all-end-all of guitar techniques. As you go back through the songs that you already know you will sometimes spot a tune where that picking pattern just won't fit. One of the things you have to constantly look at is whether the rhythm pattern you choose for a song is what the song really needs. Don't try to force things just because you want people to notice that you can play a fancy picking pattern. Oh yea, I guess you are wondering why it's called the Carter strum. Maybelle Carter used a lick like this in her early recordings with the Carter Family. She didn't really "invent" the lick (banjo players had been using a similar idea for a long time before Maybelle) but she was so associated with it and people loved her so much it just sort of became "her" picking pattern. The Carter Strum In 3/4 TimeThis pattern also works great for some songs in 3/4 time. The only thing that really changes is that we have to break up two consecutive quarter notes into eighth notes. In the standard 3/4 time strum we play three quarter notes in each measure.
Tabbed out that boils down to either three strums in a measure or, as in this example, a bass note followed by two strums in each measure.
When we start experimenting with playing the Carter strum in 3/4 time we can break up two of the quarter notes to get a rhythm of "1 2& 3&". This is a quarter note followed by four eighth notes.
In tab you would get something like the pattern laid out on the right. The "down up" pattern we used for the eighth notes in 4/4 time still applies, but this time we have to do it twice.
There is an easy way to remember this. Keep in mind that with eighth notes the notes played while tapping your foot are strummed down and the notes played when you are bringing your foot up for the "&" are strummed up. Let's try this pattern with "Danville Girl". It's a hobo song. You've got to know at least one hobo song if you play folk guitar. I think it's actually a law in some states. To save space (it's kind of a long song) I left the chord diagrams out of this arrangement. By now you should be pretty comfortable with the barre chords so it shouldn't cause any problems. When you play "Danville Girl" don't rush the song. This is a pretty laid back song so just let it sort of mosey along. Danville Girl 3/4
My pocket book was empty I was standing on the platform Well I got off in Danville She took me in her kitchen She wore her hair on the back of her head I pulled my cap down over my eyes Like I said, you have to know a little bit of train lore if you play folk guitar. Guitars and trains are so joined in American folklore that it's almost mandatory to know a few train and hobo songs. The good news is that a lot of the train songs out there are pretty cool. Songs like "The Wabash Cannonball", "The Wreck Of The Old 97" and a few of the others I have transcribed for you later on in the songbook section are a blast to play and people love to sing along. Sometimes it helps to know a little bit of train-related folklore to introduce a song like this. I was playing "The Wreck Of The Old 97" with my dad outside of our tipi on a camping trip a few years ago when an old guy named Steptoe (is it me, or is that just about the coolest name you've ever heard?) wandered over and started talking about how he saw the Old 97 after the wreck when he was a boy in Virginia! For a hobo song like "Danville Girl" you might want to talk to your audience about the hobo code. See, the hoboes used to leave little symbols here and there so the next guy down the road would know where to go for a handout or to watch out for a mean railroad bull. My father is convinced that his dad's hoagie shop in suburban Philadelphia had a hobo code symbol marked on it somewhere because guys would be walking by the shop, stop dead in their tracks like they just spotted something and then head inside to ask for a meal. I am proud to say that my grandfather never turned them down. Here are a few hobo code symbols to get you started. You can do some research on your own to learn more. It's not exactly guitar-related, but it is kind of cool.
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With your thumb pluck down on a bass string.
