Ballad · Guitar
Ballad guitar rhythm: 6/8 strum
The ballad guitar rhythm in 6/8: the strum goes down (↓) and up (↑). Beat by beat, one mark per eighth note: ↓↑↓ ↓↑↓. 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 Ballad pattern is a chord strum for the guitar, in 6/8 straight (even subdivisions): the groove strums the chord (A) up and down. In practice it sounds: A↓ A↑ A↓ A↓ A↑ A↓.
How to count it
There are 6 beats per bar (6/8), split into one strum per beat. Count out loud: 1 2 3 4 5 6. Tap your foot on the strong beat and read the grid above: each cell is one beat.
The rhythm grid
A = chord · ↓ down-stroke · ↑ up-stroke
The ↓/↑ direction follows the bowed-string arcada convention (ᴨ down, V up; Ribeiro 2017).
How to play it
Right hand
Alternate down (↓) and up (↑) on the chord (A). The down-stroke is firm; the up-stroke just grazes the thin strings — that contrast gives the bounce.
Left hand
The left hand gives the harmony: hold the whole shape clean from start to finish, leaving the right hand to the rhythm. Make the change on the last beat, the hand already heading to the next chord.
Example in Em
Hold an EmEmEmEm and apply the whole pattern to it — every hit lands on the same chord. That’s how you take the groove into any song: change only the left hand, the right hand’s rhythm stays the same. Hear the example below.
Common mistakes
- Weighing down the up-stroke. The up (↑) should just graze the thin strings; matching the down-stroke’s force thickens it and drags the time.
- Losing the pulse. The time has to stay firm start to finish — count along and don’t let the pattern speed up or drag by accident.
Guided practice
- Start all down. Strum the chord down (↓) on every stroke, one direction only.
- Bring in the up-stroke. Let the arm rise (↑) lightly between hits, grazing the thin strings.
- Take it up on the metronome. Start slow, keep the pattern clean, and add a few BPM at a time.
You already get the logic of the groove. Now put it in time: hear the pattern, follow the count and practice slowly until every stroke lands in its place without rushing. In Chord and Fret, the Metronome and the Rhythm Trainer help with that drill, free.
Train with the metronome →Variations & related patterns
Once the strum is steady, play the same pattern over Ballad 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.
Apply to progressions →