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Beyond the beat, adding more to your ballad
The next idea is to give just a little more interest to the strum.
The two 16th notes help to drive the rhythm forward. Be sure to
strum down on everything except where it is marked to strum up
( ).
You should still just think like you are strumming on the beat,
just adding a quick "down up" after beats 2 and 4.
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The same strum can also be played in cut time. This is
played exactly the same as above, it is just written differently.

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The next thing to do is to basically think about strumming on
the beat, but add some extra strums here and there for variety.
There is no set pattern, so therefore I can't say "do this".
It takes a little more experimentation and experience to get the
hang of this. Start simple, and add more as you feel more comfortable.
There are not written examples of this but listen as I just play
2 chords going back and forth. I will start out just strumming
on the beat and then slowly start to add some different rhythms.
By the end you will notice that I have really over done it and
what I am playing is really not appropriate for a ballad, but
is is just an example of a technique. (chords are G to C)

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Back to the beginning of ballad basics for guitar
Other ballad accompaniment
patterns for guitar 
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