How the hell does Billie strum his guitar...

[Segan]

let me say im trying to replicate it and it just can't! how the hell does he do it!

[Moxy Crimefighter]

with his hand

[Guest]

doesn't he always say he really puts his thumb into it or something similar?

[Fuzz]

Watch some videos?

It took me a long time to get the strum for Basket Case right.

[Moxy Crimefighter]

doesn't he always say he really puts his thumb into it or something similar?

that's what she said.

[Segan]

he puts so much power into the movement in his arm, it's nuts! i can't figure it out haha

[Guest]

that's what she said.

you know it

[Valkin]

IBC? or moved, w/e

It's not very hard ... just practice and you'll get there

[Jaymee!!]

Even though I don't play guitar at all, I remember reading/hearing somewhere that he said he doesn't use his wrist as much as his full arm when playing.

[Juan]

Use your shoulder, that's it.

Use heavy tons of Palm Mute too. What else? Yeah, you're prone to break strings more often with your shoulder.

[Trina]

Put your shoulder and whole arm into it more than the wrist and he lets his thumb sttum a bit along with the plec to give it a good thwack.

[Greenday_Aussie]

He fakes it.

[Blu]

He fakes it.

If you have nothing productive to add, don't say anything at all.

That really goes for everyone.

[JakeThompson]

Yeah, he throws his entire arm and a bit of his shoulder into each of his strums. So if you are standing up while playing, you'll be able to really recreate his strum. You cant really do it at all when sitting down. Check out this vid, you'll see what I mean.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8INePXvD87Q

[Modern Zero.]

Well...I know that when he holds his guitar pick, he places his thumb all the way over the front of it, and kind of uses just the front corner of the pick more so than the whole thing when he strums.

Also...to get that muted kind of sound to the guitar, my dad taught me that you have to place your hand more on the bottom end of the strings, rather than in the middle, and place your wrist lightly on the strings as you strum, but not enough that's it's going to mute the whole sound out. And also, you will want to kind of "jump off" the strings with your wrist as you play, kind of like the strings are a sort of trampoline in a way, and when you "jump off" of the strings, you would want to do this in the tempo and the rhythm of the song you're trying to play. Like for example, I think Basket Case it's like, "strum, mute, strum, strum, mute, strum, strum, mute, strum, strum, mute" This is kind of how I think Billie plays it, but of course you can add your own twists to the songs too. And also, like JakeThompson said, he throws his shoulder and his entire arm into each of his strums as well. It's kinda hard to explain it without showing you physically, and it's a little hard to get the strumming right at first, but you'll get the hang of it!

Oh, and you could also try watching various Green Day videos and pay attention to how Billie strums the guitar.

[JakeThompson]

If you look at the bottom of Billie's section (didn't mean for that to sound dirty) you'll see his quotes on his strumming technique.

http://www.greendayauthority.com/TheBand/equip.php

[CarmenPunkGirl]

he puts so much power into the movement in his arm, it's nuts! i can't figure it out haha

sometimes he use his shoulder not his wrist.

Billie: "I use my thumb. It's that half-pick and half-thumb that gives it that thwack. Also, I don't play with my wrist; I play with my shoulder and hit it really hard."

[Jaymee!!]

He must have the world's most insane callous on his thumb.

[SpiffyGiffy]

Whenever I play Green Day songs I strum differently. I didn't even realise until quite recently. You really do have to use your arm more than your wrist to play the way Billie Joe does.

Sounds good though xD

Whenever I play Green Day songs I strum differently. I didn't even realise until quite recently. You really do have to use your arm more than your wrist to play the way Billie Joe does.

Sounds good though xD

[Segan]

i can do the motion, but i barely ever hit the strings well haha.

[Kryssi.]

Just watch a bunch of live videos and you'll be able to work it out.

[Eirik]

I don't think he means he actually hits the strings with his thumb, he probably just means that his thumb is placed in a way that both the thumb and pick hit the strings, not just the pick. If that makes sense... He also uses his entire arm, and all the force is from the shoulder and upperarm.

[spark in the night]

he strums more with his whole arm than just his wrist

which is kind of hard to do

[Sanity Loan]

But using your thumb and pick causes pinch harmonics.... (if anyone knows what that means - guitar players will)

[Nobody_Likes_You]

^Not always.