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Learning Ukulele Strums - A Recipe for Success
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Learning to Strum, A Recipe for Success
After you can successfully switch between chords. The next step is to learn a few strums.
The beat is what we typically respond to in music. We tap our foot or clap our hands to the beat while listening to music. If you have ever danced, you are responding to the beat and the harmonic rhythm of the song.
Level I - Basic “Four” Strum
Chords and music are organized into bars or measures. For the Basic “Four” Beat Strum, the number of beats per bar or measure is four. This is the most common number of beats per bar used in songs.
Counting evenly, count the down beats using 1 2 3 4.
All strums in Level I are played using ALL down strokes (▼).
Level II - Four Famous 8th Note Strum Styles
For level II eight notes strums every beat has two parts, a down part and an up part. If you are tapping our foot evenly, you hear the down part of the beat when your foot strikes the floor, the up part of the beat is when you’re resetting our foot for the next down beat.
Counting evenly, count the down beats using 1 2 3 4 and the up beats with “and”, Indicated with a plus sign below.
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +
You can strum down on the down beat (▼), the numbers and down or up on the up beat (▲), the “and” (+). For a lighter should strum up on the “and”. For a heavier sound strum down on the up. BUT – Always down on the down beat.
Remember to count evenly. This ensures you’ll be playing in tempo. It’s critical to be always be playing in time, at any tempo.
View or download the PDF file for the complete lesson.
Learning Ukulele Strums - A Recipe for Success
Printable Lesson PDF: FREE
Quarter Note Strum
Famous Eight Notes Strums
All Down Strokes
Alternating Down, Up Strokes
Related Lessons for: Strums
Here a few lesson suggestions that might be of interest to the topics and principles covered in this lesson.
2 Lesson(s)
Lesson content icons: | |||
  | Learning Ukulele Strums - A Recipe for SuccessLearning Strums, A Receipe for Success covers how to go about learning the various rhythmic patters that are strums. A strum is the execution of a rhythmic pattern - in a specific style at ..... UL11: Published: November 4, 2011, 11:30 pm | Updated: December 16, 2011, 11:29 am | Author: Curt Sheller | ||
 | Ukulele Strums - Getting StartedA Strum is the execution of a specific rhythmic pattern, at tempo in a particular style. Strumming requires a specific set of skills. They are: 1) Memorization of chords 2) The ability to switch ..... UL126: Published: January 6, 2011, 11:00 am | Updated: January 4, 2012, 2:32 pm | Author: Curt Sheller | ||
Lesson Info
I constantly read online and hear. "Is, where, what site, what software is there for this or that chord or all the chord voicings." Well camper! It's not here. Chord dictionaries, software, web sites are not the answer. Even chord theory does not offer any insight into unraveling the complexity of chord voicings.
Learning basic open position chords and the basic movable form chords presented in the Chord of the Week Lessons I presented in 2007 will set you up for the more advanced chords, typically called “jazz” chords.
These Movable Form Chords lessons have been updated, enhanced and now reside in the Members Subscription area for all basic and Members.
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UL11_LEARNING_STRUMS.PHP | Updated: Wednesday, 09th November, 2011 @ 08:31am