Ready for some Boom Chicha Strumming Pattern? :)

I love playing Folsom Prison Blues by Johnny Cash on the acoustic guitar. It has that Johnny Cash signature rhythm, but you can keep it simpler if you're a total beginner. That's a fun song to play, and you'll only need the E, A, and B7 Chords.

🎸 If you're following my Beginner Guitar Course, you'll be fit to play this song in Grade 2! Cool stuff, eh? :)

More advancing players can experiment with alternating the bass note, but before you even get there, make sure you've got the basics right. You should be able to change between chords while keeping a steady rhythm. Don't stop the strumming pattern when you change between chords!

Now, let's check out a few tricks on playing Folsom Prison Blues by Johnny Cash.

How to Play "Folsom Prison Blues" by Johnny Cash on the guitar!

To sound good when playing Johnny Cash songs, you have to know how the rhythm is working! The Chicka Boom Chicka strumming only needs a strum on beats 1 and 3. If you're using the JustinGuitar Beginner Songbook 1, you'll strum twice every time the chord is written!

To play the intro, you'll do two bars of E and two bars of A. Then, you'll get into the main sequence. For the verses, you'll play four bars of E, then four bars of A. You'll get back to E for the other four bars, then four bars of B7. To end the verses, you'll play the E Chord per two bars.

Writing down the chord progression is an excellent way of visualizing the structure of a song. It might help you memorize how to play it too! So, if you don't have my songbooks, you might want to write the chord sequence out. Just check out the video tutorial for tips on how to do it!

The Johnny Cash Strumming Pattern

Here's how you can play this signature Johnny Cash rhythm. You'll play the bass note on Beat 1 and strum down and up on Beat 3. Start by doing that slowly until you get it right! Don't rush your practice, or you might end up grabbing some bad habits.

When you play the bass note, in this case, it's ok if you hit one of the other notes. That's fine, but realize that you'll need some accuracy to not hitting the thickest string when playing the A Chord. A good trick here is to use your thumb over the guitar neck - it just needs a slight touch from your thumb, and you will mute your thickest string!

When playing the B7 Chord, you shouldn't hit the thickest string either! To do that, your first finger can go slightly upwards. Again, a slight touch from it will mute the thickest string.

Alternating the Bass Note

I'm sure that Johnny Cash sticks with the root note of the chords when hitting the bass note. But there's a second guitar that alternates the bass note of the chords! It's an electric one, and it does a sort of Travis Picking that sounds awesome.

That's a bit more advanced, but it sounds great to incorporate some of that Travis Picking into your acoustic guitar playing. It's a classic country thing - check out the video to learn more.

💡 My good buddy Dario Cortese has done such a great lesson on the electric part I didn't see the point of doing a lesson on it myself! Check him out. :)

I hope you dig it. See you soon!

Want chords, tabs, and lyrics to follow along with my song tutorials? Check out JustinGuitar Tabs!