Short excerpt from a Lauren Bateman YouTube video ("Keep It Simple At First", uploaded April 7, 2025) giving guitar-practice advice: focus on basic strumming (quarter, half, whole notes) in Levels one and two and defer up-strums until Level three. The speaker emphasizes progression over perfection and that up-strums are introduced only at Level three.
Level three.
Quarter notes, half notes, and whole notes.
So the first thing I want to make note of. So you told me you're in Level one, but I don't teach Upstroms until Level three. And there's a reason for that. So my recommendation right now, don't focus on the up strums. Focus on up strums when you get to Level three. Because, you know, in Level one it's all quarter notes and whole note and half note strumming. So just focus on that type of strumming for Levels one and Level two. Okay? They'll help you. It'll help you progress to Level three, where things start to pick up a little bit. And the other thing, you talk about being reasonably competent, so that's good. Yeah. I'm glad that you're not going for perfection on this, but to answer your question, because I know there's some people who are probably in Level three that have that same problem, but I just wanted to address that, that I don't do Upstroms until Level three.
