When strumming, I think it's best to use a light pick. Thin, rather. This gives you a more "flowing" sound. If you strum with a hard pick, you will find that you here a pluck as the pick lightly touches the string. I drives me crazy doin' it without an amp, let alone, if you crank it up Full-Blast!!! In order to strum the way I do is to practice. Practice even when you don't have a guitar. The most important thing about strumming is timing. In order to become an excellent guitarist, you HAVE TO HAVE RHYTHM. I don't mean to be rude, but it's true. You may think that some metal guitarist don't have any sense of timing when they do those blazing solos. Your wrong! They do. If you take the same bass and drum track, and add a slower tempo guitar solo in the same key, do you think you'd have 3,000 people cheering you on? I don't think so. Have you noticed several rock bands will turn around and watch the drummer while they play? This is probably because they need to "feel" the beat. If you can't feel the beat, you won't play well. That's why I don't crank it up, unless I really feel the beat, and can predict when the tempo changes, if it does. Now, back to strumming. Take the chords in the previous sections, and try to give your self a 4/4 timing beat. Say to yourself as you read the notes. "1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and" tapping your foot at each number. If you don't have any rhythm at all, then keep rhythm vocally for a while. Keep sayin' that phrase over and over until you can time it without sayin' anything. Now, if you want to get really tricky, I suggest havin' someone else (Who does have good timing) to say "1, 2, 3, 4" without the "and"'s. Tap your foot on the floor at each number. then try to do it and keep a rhythm without any words. Then, when you got that down, practice tapping anywhere (maybe on your stomach :) while listening to the radio. This will allow you to learn different rhythms. Now, get back on your guitar, and strum. Down means strum from the low E to the high E. Up means strum from the high E to the low E. Ready? Get ready to strum to the G chord.

1 down 1 down 1 down

and (pause) and up and down

2 down 2 down 2 up

and (pause) and up and down

3 down 3 down 3 up

and (pause) and up and up

4 down 4 down 4 down

and (pause) and up and up