Not all strumming patterns are created equal. We will discuss a few that are very effective for brand-new players and one that is a little more advanced. The down strum is as simple as you can get. Just move your fingers downwards on the strings to produce a beautiful noise.
You can practice doing this to a beat or counting out a rhythm yourself. The down strum is meant to get you acquainted with the feeling of strumming the ukulele. It might feel strange to your fingers at first, but they will get accustomed to the sensation over time. One of the items that can help you keep a beat in the music world is the metronome. This small device counts out a beat and can be set to a variety of different tempos. They come in variations that are electric or traditional.
The metronome is an excellent guide if you need help keeping a beat. They will help you become accustomed to the various tempos that exist within the music. Strumming becomes more purposeful with the guidance of a metronome. If you use this basic strum and it hurts your fingers, there are a few options that you can take. You might:. Your fingers are ready. This will follow a pattern which goes:. As with the basic down strum, using a metronome will help you to get the hang of this.
Do it over and over again until you feel like you have it down. Practice makes perfect in the case of strumming. This method follows the following beat:. Essentially, this is a 1,2, and, and 4 rhythm. The best way to understand it is to repeat it over and over again, though getting started might be a trick. This is perhaps the easiest of the hard strums. With several strumming patterns in your back pocket, you are now ready to attempt some basic chords.
These are the roots of the sound for every song played on the ukulele, so it is crucial to becoming familiar with them as you continue on your ukulele journey. Four basic chords will serve you well to become familiar with. The G major chord is one of the most familiar chords across all genres of music. It is made up of three simple notes:.
The G major chord is incredibly versatile, so it is critical to know it to increase your ability to play other songs. It will help to stretch your musical ability much farther than you ever might have thought possible. The G major chord is played with certain finger placement on the strings and the frets of the ukulele. By following these steps, you can produce the G major chord with a simple strum.
Place your fingers as such on each of the strings:. Once you have your fingers in place, you can practice strumming and replacing them to master this ability.
It can be tricky to keep your fingers in the right positions at first, but with time it will come. The C chord is a staple of playing that everyone in every instrument needs to understand. The C major chord is the easiest of these to learn and use. It will help you a lot as you go about learning and understanding brand-new songs.
The C major chord operates a little differently than its counterparts. All you need to do is handle the:. Of course, there are variations of this chord that are a little more involved. This version is the best and easiest chord for beginners to become familiar with, so you should practice your C major chord with this one until you feel advanced enough to try an alternative. The name of the chord is at the top. The diagram shows the nut across the top, the strings going down and the frets going across.
The dots are where you place your fingers. Some diagrams suggest what fingers to use using numbers , while others only use dots. Chord diagrams with open circles above the nut indicate open strings. An open string is a string that is played without placing your fingers on any frets. The chord that most emergent ukulele players learn first is the C chord. Locate the dot and the string where the dot is placed.
Note, some diagrams have indicated a suggested finger to use. You always set yourself up for success with an in-tune ukulele. For the fastest tuning, I always recommend using a chromatic tuner like the Snark SN-6 ukulele tuner I use in the video.
If you have a baritone ukulele or have more questions about the notes you tune to or about alternate tunings, get the full ukulele tuning guide here. To hold the ukulele, cradle the body of the ukulele in your right arm, while the part of your forearm, closest to the elbow, applies a little pressure to the top of the ukulele, so it is held snug against your body. Then, support the neck of the ukulele in the crevice of your left hand where your thumb meets your index finger. Learn to play a C chord where you place the ring finger of your fretting hand on the 3rd fret of the bottom A-string and let the top three strings ring open.
To play a C chord, place the ring finger of your fretting hand on the 3rd fret of the bottom A-string. Let the top three strings ring open. Once your fingers are in position, go ahead and strum down across the strings. We look at that together in the next step.
At this point, make sure every string rings out nice and clear. Keep in mind you might experience some soreness of the fingertips in the first weeks of playing ukulele. To remedy this, give yourself adequate breaks for your fingers to heal up between practice sessions. Eventually the tips of your fingers will build calluses making chords easier to fret.
To play this essential and important strumming pattern, strum down strums while counting out loud to a count of four. Note: The above notation indicates to strum down to a count of four. Repeat this strumming pattern as you count out loud.
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