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Everyone seems to know the unofficial international ukulele strum, D DU UDU, but there is so much more than yous can do with the correct hand. 5 ukulele bloggers weigh-in on their favorite 'go to' strums . . .

Modified Clawhammer Strum

One of my favorite strums goes like this:

  1. Thumb plucks "c" string.
  2. Down strum all four strings.
  3. Index finger pluck "a" string.
  4. Pollex plucks "1000" cord.
  5. Down strum all four strings.

A variation of this blueprint (and a song tutorial) can exist constitute here:
 http://circuitsandstrings.wordpress.com/2013/01/eighteen/lafayette-lilt-tutorial/

~Daniel Hulbert of circuitsandstrings.wordpress.com

Daniel will exist educational activity at this years Utah Uke Fest.

SKA Patterns

This video will (hopefully) supply yous the foundation you need to start jamming with some ska tunes.

Before I had a family and a real chore, I spent my days touring with a couple dissimilar ska bands. For some reason this genre of music, with it's happy upbeats and carefree attitude has always appealed to me and the style transfers quite well to the ukulele. I guess that it makes sense…the ukulele originates from a sunny island (Hawaii) and ska music comes from a like, albeit dissimilar isle (Jamaica).

This style of music is all about timing – your strumming hand and fretting hand really accept to exist in sync and know what each other is doing. Like riding a bike, it might be frustrating and seem incommunicable at outset, but with plenty patience it volition eventually click.

~Miles Ramsay of UKEonomics.com

The 'Easy' Divide Stroke

This video demonstrates a simplified version of the split stroke with the song, The Old Ark's a Moverin' that I teach in my Level 2 ukulele classes:

This 'easier' version of Divide Stroke splits 2 'triplet strums' and a down-up evenly across iv beats to create a syncopated, driving foundation for singing. Here's ii ways to look at it:

  • D t u D  tu D u
  • Dtu Dtu Du

D = accented downward strum with the index finger
t = strumming downwardly with the fleshy part of the pollex
u = upward strum with the fleshy office of the alphabetize finger

If you're merely getting started with dissever/syncopated rhythms, have it slowly at showtime and work your speed upwards fiddling past trivial.

~Chiliad. Ryan Taylor of UkulelePlay.com

Bossa Nova Strumming

Chords:

Chords

Tuning: G C East A ( high G ),Vanquish: iv/4, Tempo: 118 bpm

Strumming Design:

Bossa Nova

This is one fashion to play Bossa Nova style on your ukulele:

  • Offset learn the strumming pattern ( 2 bars long ).
  • In the beginning mute the strings with the left hand as shown in the the video.
  • Mind the change from downbeat ( downstroke ) to offbeat ( upstroke ). This is called Partido Alto and brings some Latin impact in the strumming.
  • Start with one chord and then add together the others.
  • Mute the strings betwixt the strokes with your left manus.

~FriendlyFred ofuke4u.com

Vaudeville and Diversity-Style Strumming

I tend to play jazz and pop from the beginning four decades of the 20th Century, music that calls for strums that provide the ability to create syncopated rhythmic combinations, including triplets, 16th notes and 32nd notes.

The four strums I use most ofttimes are known as the "fan stroke", the "triple", the "double-time", and the "split stroke" – as George Formby chosen it – or "syncopated stroke" – as Roy Smeck referred to information technology. All 4 are used liberally in this video of the 1931 tune "Lady of Espana", which has forever been associated with the squeeze box.

I play the poesy and refrain through twice using a combination of fingerpicking and various strokes and rolls, including flamenco-style finger rolls in refrain at 0:15, 1:fifteen and one:24.

Then, at one:32, I selection upward the pace and run through the refrain using ii strokes primarily: the triple and the double-time.

Permit'southward start with the simplest: the double-time. This is just a "downwardly-up" every beat. It's useful for creating a double-fourth dimension feel if you increment speed and play it "down-up – down-up" every beat.

Now, the triple. This is ofttimes mistakenly referred to as a "triplet" stroke. It is and information technology isn't. The triple stroke is actually a quarter-notation triplet followed by an additional quarter note downstroke – "da-da-da – daa". This is achieved past doing a downstroke across all iv strings with the index, followed by a downstroke with the thumb, followed by an upstroke with the alphabetize and thumb together, followed by a downstroke with the alphabetize and thumb together – "down-downward-up – downwardly".

I use the fan stroke several times in this arrangement. At ane:56 and again at 3:11, I play the classic triplet fan stroke. Its made up of three strokes – a downstroke with the nails of the pinky and ring finger, followed by a downstroke with the pad of the pollex, followed by an upstroke with the nail of the pollex. The effect is a straightforward "da-da-da". You tin see that I interruption my wrist when I do it, moving my hand in a circular fashion. On the downstroke with the pinky and ring fingers, the manus fans out – hence the name of the stroke. This stroke tin be immediately and infinitely repeated, with the effect of an almost infinite triplet.

Finally – there's the separate stroke – I play a version of the refrain based on the split stroke starting at ii:28. It was the hardest of the higher up strokes to larn and – unfortunately – information technology's the hardest for me to explain. The basic stroke is accomplished with the thumb and forefinger held together as for a bones downstroke strum. The stroke is "downwards-up-Downwardly, down-upward–Down, down-upwardly" and the rhythm is ii 8th notes followed by ii syncopated triplets. The proper name "split" comes from the fact that on the initial downstoke, you but hit the botton 2 strings of the uke; then on the upstroke, you simply this the op 2 strings of the uke. Then, on the tertiary downstroke, you strike all iv strings. This arroyo gives you lot the right accents. You hitting the accents on the full four-string downstrokes of the figure, then the effect is "ba-da-DA, ba-da-DA, ba-da". I learned how to play this stroke from watching videos made by fellow George Formby Guild members Matt Richards http://www.youtube.com/watch?5=qhjy9_3rusc Peter C. Nixon and Mike Warren http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8cnPP3SU5s . I too highly recommend their tutorials of the boosted Formby strokes – the Fan, the Triple, and the Milkshake, which I am notwithstanding struggling with.

Those four strokes are "go-to" for me, with the Triple and Double being most unremarkably used to bulldoze the tempo, merely the fan and dissever stroke are often used in the way that a tenor banjo role player might use a tremolo – every bit a means of holding a note or injecting involvement in a solo or accompaniment.

~ John Bianchi oftheukaholic.blogspot.com

Thanks to all the guest bloggers for sharing some awesome info!!!

Ukulele Bootcamp three.0

Visit Ukulele Bootcamp 3.0 to larn how to set Southward.M.A.R.T ukulele goals, all virtually ukuleles, how to larn a song, stretches and warmups, tuning, property the ukulele, how to read chords, strumming, tablature, the C scale, seven chords and a dozen songs plus bonuses.

Songs include: Feelin' Groovy, Surfin' U.S.A., Rock Effectually the Clock, Ode to Joy, Row Row Row Your Boat, Swing Low, He's Got the Whole Earth, Uncomplicated Gifts, Twist and Shout and more ...

Free Ukulele Christmas eBook with Tutorials

Hark! the "2-Chord Christmas Songbook," full of lesser-known holiday gems in a free PDF with access to separate video tutorials for each vocal (roofing chords/strumming/fingerpicking).