Plucking all four strings- try it you'll like it

I've started moving beyond straight strumming and one of the techniques I am really enjoying is where all four strings are plucked simultaneously, followed by strums for the remaining beats. The song Today While the Blossoms Still Cling to the Vine is slow 3/4 time, has very easy chording but sounds great. It's a great motivator to extend practice beyond Boot Camp and the dozen strumming songs I'm working on. I highly recommend it for those at this stage.

The knack seems to be plucking all with same force (my A sting always rings quieter). Just more practice I guess.

Is there a term for the four string pluck (besides four string pluck)?

Jim B

This particular song lends itself well to the arpeggio style instead of a more chordlike pluck or strum. Also the T m T i on the 4th and 1st then 3rd and 2nd strings are an alternative. Also I like T on 4th i on 2nd T on 3rd and m on 1st. There are lots of variations and this song really sounds nice with fingerpicking.

I tend to pluck on 3/4 time songs (particularly on banjolele), but doing G and A simultaneously on the first beat and then C second beat E third beat. I will have to try all four at once!

Great one Kayak Jim! I like that "four string pluck" on 'Moonglow', and 'Fly Me To The Moon', makes um sound jazzy.
Also it makes your playing more dynamic. Thanks for the tip
Another way to give a song more dynamics is using finger picking patterns. Have you got into that? I learned a four note pluck, for 4/4 tunes and a six note pluck for 3/4 songs. Like 1931jim said;

There are lots of variations and this song really sounds nice with fingerpicking.

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'Today While the Blossoms Still Cling to the Vine' Is a beautiful song, do you sing it too?
Thanks again for the tip on a great technique,
Don

Don

Thanks for the other ideas. I tried them briefly and am amazed how differently the same song can sound. As I said, increasing the variety of practices keeps it interesting for me. And I'm glad to have found a song that has a simple enough left hand that I can experiment with my right. Uncle Rod's Boot Camp and SET-UP are every day drills, then I like to have some fun.