In
music,
strumming is a way of playing a
stringed instrument such as a
guitar. A
strum or
stroke is a sweeping action where a
fingernail or
plectrum brushes past several
strings in order to set them all into motion and thereby play a
chord. Strums are executed by the
dominant hand, while the other hand holds down notes on the
fretboard. Strums are contrasted with
plucking, as a means of activating strings into audible vibration, because in plucking, only one string is activated by a surface at a time. A hand-held pick or plectrum can only be used to pluck one string at a time, but multiple strings can be strummed by one. Plucking multiple strings simultaneously requires a
fingerstyle or
fingerpick technique.