Chord and FretJazz · Electric guitar
Four-to-the-bar comping
Sound summary
For the electric guitar, Jazz uses a chord strum, in 4/4 straight (even subdivisions): the groove drives the chord (A) with down-strokes. In practice it sounds: A↓ A↓ A↓ A↓.
How to count it
The meter is 4/4: 4 beats per bar, counted in one strum per beat. Say the beats: 1 2 3 4. Tap your foot on the strong beat and read the grid above: each cell is one beat.
The rhythm grid
A = chord · ↓ down-stroke
The ↓/↑ direction follows the bowed-string arcada convention (ᴨ down, V up; Ribeiro 2017).
How to play it
Right hand
The chord (A) is strummed down only (↓): keep the arm level, each down-stroke the same force and spacing.
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 C7
Grab a C7C7C7C7 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
- Letting the tempo drift. Without a firm pulse the strum leaks — count along and hold the same time from the first bar to the last.
Guided practice
- Start all down. Strum the chord down (↓) on every stroke, one direction only.
- Even the strokes out. Focus on keeping every down-stroke the same force and spacing.
- Close with the metronome. Go slow first and raise the BPM only once the pattern comes out clean.
You already get the logic of the groove. Putting it in time is where it enters your fingers: hear the pattern, follow the count and practice with a metronome — slow first — until every stroke lands in its place without rushing. That’s what Chord and Fret does, with guided audio and an adjustable tempo.
Train with the metronome →Variations & related patterns
Once the strum is steady, play the same pattern over real Jazz progressions. That trains rhythm, chord changes and voice-leading in one exercise — the Progressions by Rhythm feature in Chord and Fret.
Train with progressions →Understanding the groove is the first step; the full practice — repetition, metronome, audio, progressions and review — happens in Chord and Fret. There this pattern stays saved in your study, to revisit later, play offline and track your progress.
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