Are these new patterns out yet
I was initially hopeful there’d be something to play with by the end of the year, but that’s basically out of the question now. Between the fixing the issues with iOS devices, getting my billing compliant with VAT/taxes, and other no-fun-but-absolutely-necessary tasks, I am already going to be scrambling to get everything done before we go out of town for Christmas.
New strumming patterns remain my #1 goal and the thing I want to work on the most. But I don’t always get to work on what I want to work on. 
Hopefully in January I can focus more-or-less exclusively on this and have something out in the first few months of 2022. [Update: Most of January got taken up by stupid-but-necessary tasks related to taxes and legal requirements… but as of the last week of January I’m finally able to focus on building these new patterns.]
Hey Luke, Thanks for all of your hard work on Strum Machine. I use it a lot, and think it’s a fantastic tool.
Was wondering if you’d consider adding the option of adding a click track to the strum, for those of us who are rhythmically challenged.
Here’s an example of something I would find very helpful:
https://twitter.com/noampikelny/status/1453190155704193029?s=21
Thanks again for this fantastic app!
Ted
Yes, a click track is definitely coming in the future!
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Please include the Arpeggiated chords: For slower songs, hymns, etc.
If possible! Great Job! Jim Jones
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Hey folks,
Thought I’d give a quick update and teaser about the new strumming patterns project. After many delays, I’ve finally got some momentum going and a decent amount of progress. I made some breakthroughs in my recording process in the past month that have resolved some long-standing issues (not roadblocks per se but detractors all the same) which is going to make the end result even better! There’s still lots and lots to do but we’re getting closer!
There are many pieces to the project, each in varying states of completion (most pretty far from completion still, to be honest), but I wanted to share a sneak peek. This is me playing mandolin along with a guitar track, generated in real time with a swung bluegrass rhythm:
Thanks for your patience… I promise it will be worth the wait!
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Sounds terrific Luke!
@LukeAbbott I’m new here and just read through this thread and watched your sneak peak video. The new strum patterns are sounding amazing and authentic. I’m really looking forward to getting to work with those! I’ll be introducing all of my friends and students to this software.
I have a couple suggestions:
For bluegrass, one thing that seems missing is the “uptown” rhythm style commonly associated with progressive bluegrass (omit 3rds, replace with fifths) and the percussive “thunk” that sets up the downbeat strums.
It would also be great if there were standard rhythms for boogie/rockabilly/blues music at some point. You’ve done a great job focusing on folk/bluegrass music rhythm, but maybe at some point when that’s finished, you could give us some blues and shuffle type rhythms. There are even the occasional bluegrass tunes that employ some of that and it would be good for older country stuff too…
Thanks so much for your awesome app and all the hard work you’ve invested into it. As a full stack web developer who sometimes works with Angular, Node, etc. I have a deep appreciation for the work that goes into what you’re building here. Cheers!
Hey @DaveMueller - welcome, and thanks! A couple responses:
For bluegrass, one thing that seems missing is the “uptown” rhythm style commonly associated with progressive bluegrass (omit 3rds, replace with fifths) and the percussive “thunk” that sets up the downbeat strums.
Could you please provide a recorded example or two of what you’re talking about? I may have this covered but I’m not sure.
It would also be great if there were standard rhythms for boogie/rockabilly/blues music at some point.
Yes! At the moment I’ve got two of these planned: a swinging strummy rhythm that alternates with a major sixth (e.g. Hank Williams in Long Gone Lonesome Blues) and a bass-heavy muffled blues shuffle (e.g. this random YouTube demo minus the fancy treble-string licks). I’ll repeat the title of this thread here: am I missing any? (I’m sure the answer is yes, so if any specific patterns/examples come to mind that you’d want to see, let me know!)
Hello Luke,
We’re You able to work the slower hymn patterns into the list?
I could greatly use the rhythms for SLOWER songs for HYMNS. I’ve started using StrumMachine to back up
Hymns and Southern Gospel for my SAXOPHONE instrumentals.
SO EXCITED ABOUT ALL OF THESE NEW PATTERNS! YOU’RE AWESOME!!!
Jim Jones
@JimJones Yes, I think there will be a couple of good options for slower songs and hymns, including strums with lots of down-and-up strokes (to fill the space) and arpeggiated chords (picked one string at a time).
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Thank you for your prompt reply!
I’M SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS REVISION AND CAN’T HARDLY WAIT……Regards, Jim
Thank you Luke for your continuing work on these Strum Patterns.
The strums for slower songs and waltzes will be greatly appreciated.
Cheers. 
Hey Luke, would he be possible to have a different strumming style for the ending? Like the last measure of Part A and B. This is pretty common in real life, basically just some simple yet pronounced strums to indicate finality.
@RobertBiggs Yeah, that’s definitely something I want to explore in the future. I’m hoping that there’s some things I can (optionally) do automatically, versus having to explicitly tell it what to do on the last measure. Of course, exactly what that is will have to vary with each strumming style as well.
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@LukeAbbott Here is video clip showing the strum pattern. I guess I think of it as commonplace because I was taught it a long time ago by a friend of mine and great rhythm player named Jeff Griffy who used to play with David Davis. He is strongly influenced by Tony Rice and I figured that’s who he got it from, but maybe not, or maybe it’s not so common? 
Anyway, it’s one of my favorite strums and a great way to add power and punch, especially when backing a banjo: Downbeat Accent Strum Example - YouTube
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@LukeAbbott Here’s Michael Cleveland doing it at the end of his er… ripping Rice-style guitar break… that guy! Cleveland Plays Rice - YouTube
Thanks! I’ve already got “strumming on beat 1” implemented, although I haven’t fine-tuned where it should go. You can hear it on the first beat of the clip I posted on the 14th but there will be an option to hear it more often. I think it’s often thought of as a Jimmy Martin thing first and foremost, but of course Tony and countless other players have used it as well.
The muting on beat 4 is also on my radar, although I’ve never heard it used on every measure – it makes me think of Dan Tyminski, who uses it sometimes just before a beat he wants to emphasize (like the first beat of a break or the chorus). I was thinking it should be part of a group of “emphasis” techniques that Strum Machine uses to emphasize certain measures (instead of randomly or all the time). Of course, knowing what measures to emphasize is a problem, but one I can put off until later.
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Would you please annotate the strum patterns. Like in Michael Schott’s post (eg D dududu) which you replied to in Nov. I appreciate the complexity of what ‘down’ refers to but us newbies need all the help we can get. Even just the 1st bar or separately with a sample. Many thanks, S
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I’m working on how the new patterns will be presented in the UI. Here’s my latest thinking.
At the top of the form there will be a dropdown menu to change the overall type of strum, based on the time signature. For example, in standard time I think I’ve landed on these strumming types:
- Simple Boom Chuck
- Bluegrass, Country, and More (boom chuck with upstrokes)
- Celtic and Beyond (i.e. reels)
- Jazz, Swing, Etc. (dampened closed chords)
- Blues
- Half-Time Feel (modern)
- Arpeggiated Patterns (slower songs and fingerpicking)
- Pop (if there’s demand)
Each overall strumming type will present a few relevant options to tweak the style. For example, the “Bluegrass, Country, and More” style (working title) will let you change the Power (lighter or heavier), Density (sparser or busier), and use of syncopation.
Below these options will be both a visual and audio preview of the strumming pattern. Changing the options will update the preview so that you can instantly see what effect each setting has. Here’s a basic bluegrass-style strumming pattern, for example, with medium power and medium density:
Turn down the power and you’ll get something like this:
Crank up both power and density and you’ll get this:
What do you all think of these charts? Helpful? Overwhelming? I’m not much of a visual designer but I’m sure I can improve the look of these over time. My guess is that they’ll be helpful to some folks and not others, but everyone will be able to use the live audio preview. Constructive feedback is most welcome!
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