strum

thumb|right|350px|Guitar strum : base pattern on open G tuning. Strumming is used to create a chord. Many patterns are created through subtracting beats from this base. thumb|right|350px|Guitar strum : pattern created by subtracting the second and fifth (of eight) eighth notes from the base, above. thumb|right|350px|Ska stroke : features dampened staccato upbeat downstrokes.

In music, strumming is a way of playing a stringed instrument such as a guitar, ukulele, or mandolin. A strum or stroke is a sweeping action where a finger or plectrum brushes over several strings to generate sound. On most stringed instruments, strums are typically executed by a musician's designated strum hand (typically the musician's dominant hand, which is often responsible for generating the majority of sound on a stringed instrument), while the remaining hand (referred to as the fret hand on most instruments with a fingerboard) often supports the strum hand by altering the tones and pitches of any given strum.