Right here at the beginning, we're going to keep things simple.
To begin strumming using your fingers, we're going to use only your index finger.
Whichever hand you're using to strum with, take your index finger and basically flick it out from your palm. As you flick your finger out, brush the fingernail of your index finger against all six of the strings.
This sounds best if you're already fretting a chord of some sort, but even against the six open strings this can sound quite nice.
In the guitar world, we call this downward flick of the finger a "downstroke."
The feeling is very much akin to flicking the finger out. Ultimately, you will want to use a little movement in your wrist and the arm as a whole to generate more speed and power from your finger strum, but in the beginning, really work on becoming comfortable with the feeling of the finger flicking out from the palm and then coming back.
As you flick out, you'll feel your finger brush against all the strings. Over time, as you do this more and more, you will grow more and more comfortable with the feeling of your finger against the strings. Don't worry if it feels strange at first.
It helps if you have a little length to your index fingernail. It's not completely necessary, however, and you'll get a decent sound even without a longer nail on your index finger.
So that's strumming down with your index finger. When you play songs, you will want to be able to do more than that. The next thing to learn is what we call the "upstroke."
In the "upstroke," you bring your index finger back up into the palm of your strumming hand. But as you bring the finger back, you brush it against the strings in the opposite direction of when you did the "downstroke."
The upstroke feels pretty weird at first. Most people experience more difficulty in attempting the upstroke.
Don't worry about it-just keep trying it slowly a little bit each day, and after a week or so, you'll forget it ever felt anything but comfortable.
Once you have the downstroke and upstroke "in hand," you can begin applying this simple finger strum to a song. At first, just play down strokes in rhythm on the beats of the measure.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5003007
