Exercise 3

We now have a basic rhythm pattern to play across Cooley’s Reel that works using a standard 4/4 strum pattern. We can also use the technique of Bass – Strum to emphasise the bass notes of the chords and add more variety to the 4/4 strum pattern. With this pattern the Em chord is played using the bass note E on the 6th string and the D chord is played using the D bass note on the 4th string. Practice the following example and again pay special attention to the turnaround across the split bar (Bar 8).

Since the accompaniment for the B part of this tune is the same as the A part, we play through the above chord pattern four times, giving us two A parts and two B parts (a total of 32 bars i.e. 4 x 8 = 32). This completes a full round of the tune. It is customary to play each tune three times round.

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