How to physically strum up on a guitar without pick? Trying to do the song in the linked video

Question

I'm trying to play the song here in this video

I don't really have a problem strumming down, I've been using the fleshy part of my right thumb to strum down, I don't know if it's the correct way to do it but it's been producing the sound I've been looking for so far. There's much less surface area on my thumb to hit the string on the way back up though and I don't have a nail, so I'm not really sure what to do. If someone could explain to me how to position my hand in a way that makes sense it would be much appreciated.

Answer 1

Based on the fact that you want to use your thumb for the downstroke but not the upstroke the most logical thing to do is use your index finger for the upstroke. Since you like the sound of the fleshy part of your thumb you probably want to get that sound on the upstroke as well. The index finger upstroke will give you that.

You can use the strumming pattern he plays using this method.

There’s no reason you have to emulate exactly what is done in the video but you might be curious about what he does. He doesn’t specify what fingers he is using for strumming. However it looks to me like he is strumming with a phantom pick, that is, his thumb and index finger are basically together as if he were holding a pick. He uses the nail side of his index finger for the downstroke and the nail side of his thumb for the upstroke. You will notice he gets a bright sound because of the nail combining with the finger for the strum. Your method will produce a warmer darker sound.