Sertanejo · Guitar
Sertanejo guitar rhythm: rasqueado (Paraguayan polka)
The sertanejo guitar rhythm in 6/8: the thumb plays the bass (B), a rasgueado roll (R) marks the accents and the strum goes down (↓) and up (↑). Beat by beat, one mark per eighth note, with · where there is no stroke: R·· B↑↓. Play the audio here in your browser, set the tempo anywhere from 50 to 200 BPM and follow the grid, which marks every subdivision.
Sound summary
The Sertanejo pattern is a rasgueado for the guitar, in 6/8 straight (even subdivisions): the rasgueado (R) leads — the fingers sweep the chord in a roll. To the ear: AR — — B A↑ A↓.
How to count it
In 6/8, each bar has 6 beats, counted in one strum per beat. Say the beats: 1 2 3 4 5 6. Foot on the beat, follow the grid above — each cell is one beat.
The rhythm grid
B = bass (thumb) · A = chord · ↓ down-stroke · ↑ up-stroke · R = rasgueado (finger roll) · — = no stroke
The ↓/↑ direction follows the bowed-string arcada convention (ᴨ down, V up; Ribeiro 2017).
How to play it
Right hand
The hallmark is the rasgueado (R): the hand fires the fingers in sequence, a fast downward roll that lands on the beat — pinky, ring, middle, index, in that order. Don’t stop the arm on the rests — it keeps moving in the air, it just doesn’t touch the strings.
Left hand
The fretting hand holds the chord firmly through the whole pattern — it owns the harmony while the right hand owns the rhythm. Change chords at the last instant of the bar, the hand already moving toward the next shape.
Example in D
Grab a D and play the full strum over it: each stroke is the same chord. To carry it into any song, change only the shape in the left hand — the right hand’s rhythm doesn’t change. Listen below.
Common mistakes
- Up-strokes as hard as down-strokes. The up-stroke (↑) is lighter and catches only the treble strings — equal force thickens and drags it.
- Stopping the arm on the rests. The hand never stops — it keeps swinging in the air and only touches the strings on the next hit. That’s what holds the time.
Guided practice
- The roll, slowly. Practice the rasgueado (R) on its own: feel each finger open the fan, one at a time.
- Fit it into the bar. Place the roll on its beat and fill the rest with the plain strokes.
- Close with the metronome. Go slow first and raise the BPM only once the pattern comes out clean.
You’ve got the theory; now the time has to enter the body. Play along with the audio, follow the count and raise the tempo bit by bit until the roll lands cleanly on the beat. The Chord and Fret Metronome is free and keeps that drill steady.
Practice in Chord and Fret →Variations & related patterns
Once the strum is steady, play the same pattern over Sertanejo progressions: rhythm and chord changes in one exercise. In Chord and Fret, Progressions by Rhythm plays progressions from many styles, with diagrams and audio, free.
See the genre’s progressions →