Congratulations—you’ve made it to the final part of the Cuatro Strumming Techniques course! By now, you’ve built up the skills to handle a wide variety of Venezuelan strumming patterns, and it’s time to put them all together in a final performance review.
In this lesson, we’ll make sure every strum is executed correctly. You’ll be reviewing and demonstrating:
- Frenado Down
- Frenado Up
- Double Frenado
- G Major and E Minor chord progressions
Your Final Challenge: Two Rhythm Recordings
To complete the course, you’ll create two recordings so we can hear and evaluate your playing:
1. Aguinaldo Rhythm
- Play the Aguinaldo pattern in a 6-strum measure, leaving the silent space (blank strum) at the end as shown in the diagram below.
- Keep your tempo steady and make sure the frenados are clean and well-timed.
📹 Need a refresher? Revisit the Aguinaldo lesson to review the strumming sequence and chord changes.
2. Merengue Rhythm
- Play the Venezuelan Merengue pattern in a 5-strum measure, without the silent space at the end.
- Remember: the Merengue starts and ends with a downward motion, which can feel unnatural at first—focus on keeping your timing consistent.
📹 Need a refresher? Revisit the Merengue lesson for tips on breaking the standard strumming pattern.
How to Submit Your Recordings
- Record your interpretations of both rhythms—video or audio.
- Upload them to YouTube (public or unlisted).
- Share the links with us so we can review your progress and give you feedback.
✅ Goal: Demonstrate mastery of frenados, chord transitions, and rhythm control in two of the most important Cuatro strumming styles—Aguinaldo and Merengue.
