I'm just starting to learn and use chords. My strumming needs work. I hope this is not a riduculus question but it's all new to me. I appreciate any comments. Should one strive to hit every string when doing an upstroke? Is there a trick to this as my upstrokes never sound as good as my downstrokes. Perhaps it's the pick angle.......... I'm working on it.
I won't pretend to know all about this, but I do know that it's natural for upstrokes and downstrokes to sound different. This is the case when picking individual notes (and the reason for the debates around the "proper" pick direction for jigs), and it's amplified when playing whole chords. As for striving to hit every note, I would personally suggest the opposite. Mandolin strumming can sound a bit tedious and too full-on when all 4 notes (or 8 if you allow for some minimal differences in tuning) are hit on every stroke. Experiment with hitting just two or three courses - you'll still be in harmony because you're still within the chord.
thank you Gelsenbury I will strive for some some variety and not worry about hitting every course on the upstroke.
