Fake Strums Tutorial

The fake strum is a simple technique that I use a lot in my arrangements. So it’s about time I gave it a post of its own.

It’s used in fingerpicking pieces to play full chords. It sounds like a strum but it’s just done by picking individual strings in sequence.

Here it is played twice slowly then up to speed.

Why bother?

Instead of doing this, you could just strum the strings and get the same effect. However, doing it this way keeps your fingers in position for picking individual notes. Making for much easier and smoother playing.

Here’s a quick video combining picking and fake strums.

In Tab

There isn’t any established tab for this as far as I know. I haven’t been distinguishing between fake and real strums in the past. But from now on I’ll be representing fake strums with a wiggly line like this:

You can do fake up-strums as well (although it’s more tricky and I can’t remember ever using one). But if one crops up I’ll be tabbing it like this: