Alternating Bass Strumming

With the E Minor Chord

Each chord has two primary bass notes you can play while strumming. For the Em chord, these notes are the E and B notes. You are already familiar with the E note (6th string open) but for this lesson we're going to be adding in the B note, which is on the 2nd fret, 5th string. You are already pushing it down with the Em chord. To start, just practice playing your bass notes. Go from 6th string to 5th string and loop that while holding your Em chord. Play it slowly and focus on timing accuracy. Once you feel good about that, practice applying the bum-ditty pattern while alternating bass every bum-ditty.

The tab below demonstrates the alternating bass bum-ditty pattern. You can see that the first pattern starts with the E note on the 6th string and the 2nd pattern begins with the 2nd fret, 5th string, or B note. Loop this at a slow tempo to gain confidence and consistency.