Confused about strumming pattern

Jessmn

Jessmn

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I am working my way through my "Dummies" book, but decided to try to play a few chords while listening to my "IZ" CD.

I came across this tutorial: http://uke4u.com/somewhere-over-the-rainbow-by-iz-ukulele-tutorial/

He has the beginning strum pattern as: D DU UDU however, it sounds to me like it is actually: D UD UDU.

Which is correct? If I'm hearing it wrong, then I guess there's no hope for me learning to play!! It's got me worried.
Denise
 
Whichever sounds better to you is "correct"
 
Jessmn - If you do a forum search or Youtube search on Iz's strum you will find many opinions. I use the following two links for my strum.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnR9nY8i_Ik

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAGOWxtxXfI

Are they exactly the way Iz strummed? Maybe, maybe not but it close enough for me. I prefer chunking with my palm as in the first video instead of my finger as in the second video.

Don't worry - let your troubles melt like lemon drops.
 
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Yeah, that's one thing a lot of beginners books and tutorials fail to get across. They often make it sound like you have to strum a tune just the way they say. I think there is value in learning a variety of strums, and value in learning how to strum the same pattern consistently though a tune. But beyond that, you can and should experiment and use your own judgment to spice things up. The whole point of strumming is to have fun! Aloha!
 
VegasGeorge, I sorta disagree with strumming "the same pattern consistently through a tune". Admittedly, the tunes I play are easy wheezy and always will be, but I think the plunka plunka plunka gets real old quickly. I frequently add in "grace" strums and maybe even a little syncopation. I know the old Hawaiian songs were plunka plunka, but most of us aren't singing Hawaiian songs (yet). If I'm wrong -- my bad. Does everyone sing to plunka plunka plunka all the way through a tune? :eek:ld:
 
Sorry to hijack this thread but I am really struggling with a strumming pattern for Take a Picture by Filter. Suggestions anyone?
 
This helps me -

When thinking about the D's and U's, remember that each beat has two parts, a downbeat and an upbeat. The D's usually happen on the downbeat and the U's usually happen on the upbeat. In a standard four measure, you have four Downs and four Ups. D-U-D-U-D-U-D-U can be counted by saying 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &. In a standard measure in three, it would be 1 & 2 & 3 &, which is three beats per measure.

When doing a certain strum, some of the Downs/Ups can be left out, to give the strum a different feel. So, D DU UDU is one way to do that. Once you kind of get the feel of the beats, you can listen and feel your way through a song. You can get it as close to Iz as you possibly can, or do what feels best for you.

He has the beginning strum pattern as: D DU UDU however, it sounds to me like it is actually: D UD UDU.
Click to expand...
Both of these patterns are counted as 1 2& &4& My guess is D DU UDU is a more natural feeling strum because your wrist is keeping a steady "beat" as you strum.
 
Strum patterns are the bane of ukulele existence. No other corner of the musical world is quite so obsessed by the mechanics of up and down.

You should be thinking of these in the context of rhythm patterns. Clap your hands to the rhythm that you want to play… then strum the strings to that same rhythm. Up and down are just an extra layer of crap.

You might want to check out the documentary series “How Music Works” with Howard Goodall. (You can find it on YouTube.) There is an entire episode about rhythm.
 
I sorta disagree with strumming "the same pattern consistently through a tune".
Click to expand...

I sorta agree with you, lol! To me it isn't so much boredom as making a song sound the way it's supposed to sound (or as close as you can make it...). I'm a big believer in using every tool in your musical toolbox. Mines pretty limited yet, but I'm working on it. Since I'm a singer/strummer, I rely pretty heavily on rhythm. A variety of strum patterns is an amazing tool for me. I've used up to 3 different strum patterns in songs, because that's what the songs really needed to sound right(ish).

Whether it's picking or strumming; sometimes a song calls for the same pattern throughout. If that's how the song goes; play the song that way and "Good on ya", says I.

Sometimes songs are a little more complex. There is an awful lot of music that changes completely for choruses, bridges, and refrains. A lot of times it's just key change or a different chord rotation (or in the case of refrains an extra gratuitous strum or two at the end of a line), and if that's all there is to a song.... GREAT! Some songs are incredibly complex when all you have is yourself and a ukulele, though. When you're trying to play a song that took 4 or 5 guys to sound good, "plunka, plunka" just doesn't always cut it.
 
Down Up Dick said:
VegasGeorge, I sorta disagree with strumming "the same pattern consistently through a tune"
Click to expand...

OK, I kinda thought that remark was too ambiguous. I didn't mean that strumming the same pattern throughout an entire tune was a good thing. I only meant that being able to was a good thing. It's a good discipline to practice. As a beginner, I found that after a few bars, my strumming pattern would start to falter and fall apart. So, I concentrated on being able to hold on to that pattern all the way through. Now, I can strum the same pattern as long as I want without really having to concentrate on it. I would rarely, if ever, keep the same pattern for performance purposes.
 
Regarding ukulele, or folk/country/blues/jazz music:

Play whatever feels/sounds right to you. There is no right or wrong.

Personally, I think trying to make something sound exactly the same as what someone else has done is not the goal. Making it yours, is.

I don't even think that I play anything the same twice, unless it is by accident.

There are people who are great at reproducing a style or sound, and I applaud them for the ability. But no cover band is note-for-note perfect every time, and classical music differs, based on who the arranger is. Tommy Emmanuel can play like Chet Atkins, but there are differences. A lot of banjo players learned the Scruggs style and arrangements, but when you put 15 banjo players in a room, all playing Foggy Mountain Breakdown, in the final analysis there are 15 different versions of Foggy Mountain Breakdown - probably more, since most banjo players improvise at the drop of a thumb.

Don't worry about the strum pattern - think about the style, and make it yours.


-Kurt​
 
Since I've played for my own amazement for most of my adult life, I've been guilty of keeping time however the heck I felt like counting it. When it came to cut time, I usually counted it like 4/4 and just played it faster. It seemed to work for me, but now I'm trying to teach myself to play it correctly again. And, wow!, am I having a case of the yips! Of course, I know how to count it but doing it and singing the tune and the words (or even whistling) is giving me more gray hair and a much more colorful vocabulary than usual. Ye gods, it's just one darned thing after another isn't it? :eek:ld:
 
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Phluffy the Destroyer said:
I sorta agree with you, lol! To me it isn't so much boredom as making a song sound the way it's supposed to sound (or as close as you can make it...).
Click to expand...
I'm not trying to be a smart aleck, but who determines what a song is supposed to sound like? I've heard many renditions of the same song not only by different groups, but by the same musician. So I just throw that out for discussion.
 
Down Up Dick said:
Since I've played for my own amazement for most of my adult life, I've been guilty of keeping time however the heck I felt like counting it. When it came to cut time, I usually counted it like 4/4 and just played it faster. It seemed to work for me, but now I'm trying to teach myself to play it correctly again. And, wow!, am I having a case of the yips! Of course, I know how to count it but doing it and singing the tune and the words (or even whistling) is giving me more gray hair and a much more colorful vocabulary than usual. Ye gods, it's just one darned thing after another isn't it? :eek:ld:
Click to expand...
Haha, it is one thing after the other. Since I've started this journey I've noticed that there are two schools of ukulele, one the purist, the other the impure. I don't want to bad mouth the purists. I truly believe that one can wander too far away from the beaten path and get lost. But I myself am a bit of an explorer, and staying the course is not fun to me. So I try real hard to keep the road in sight at least, but I tend to stumble around in the brush quite often and when I do I'm not above calling out those who are keeping the high road and telling them how much fun I'm having getting dirty.
 
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Okay ...at the risk of a ban .....this thread is just what is needed .....strumming a ukulele is the reason for a ukulele in my book .......that is playing the ukulele ....suddenly and fairly recently the instrument is hijacked by Claassicaal Gyuitarrists who want to play it in a manner similar to Classical Guitar.....well fine ....expand it a little...but keep the strum.....and don't sneer at those who strum.......strumming is pretty bloody clever as well you know ....Fingerpicking is great as well and so are those mondo Earl Scruggs and Clawhammer styles ...ALL of which I try and can do ....strumming is the ukes best ability ...melodic or rythmic or reggae or blues or whatever .....I get a bit hacked off at the contempt that seems to flow through these forums and threads at those who don't play or do a particular style of yooking...I love em all , but my go to is the strum ...and whatever you strum is fine in my book .....it's yodelling that I get cheesed off with ....unless of course you are playing Tiroler Uke ....



I predict :

this will not be well received,

be fully read.

:D
 
Down Up Dick wrote :
Since I've played for my own amazement for most of my adult life,
Click to expand...
... just love it :biglaugh:

I've never been a good-enough musician to even consider trying to emulate a professional artist, but I've had a professional artist come over to me after a set in a folk-club and ask me to show how I played a particular song ... 'cos it was "different" to the usual cover versions :cool:

I was just playing it as best I could. as usual, but I was regularly invited back, so it can't have been all bad ;)
 
kypfer said:
Down Up Dick wrote : ... just love it :biglaugh:

I've never been a good-enough musician to even consider trying to emulate a professional artist, but I've had a professional artist come over to me after a set in a folk-club and ask me to show how I played a particular song ... 'cos it was "different" to the usual cover versions :cool:

I was just playing it as best I could. as usual, but I was regularly invited back, so it can't have been all bad ;)
Click to expand...

..and that's why you should always be yourself when playing an instrument ...your own light shines through ...you want Eric Clapton ...put on a CD...you want kypfer ....pick up your uke .......great story btw..

CJ
 
"Musick has Charms to sooth a savage Breast,
To soften Rocks, or bend a knotted Oak.
I've read, that things inanimate have mov'd,
And, as with living Souls, have been inform'd,
By Magick Numbers and persuasive Sound."

William Congreve, in The Mourning Bride, 1697
 
CeeJay said:
..and that's why you should always be yourself when playing an instrument ...your own light shines through ...you want Eric Clapton ...put on a CD...you want kypfer ....pick up your uke .......CJ
Click to expand...
Guess we've come full circle because that is exactly what Bruddah Iz did. He picked up his 'uke and played Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World the way he wanted to - not the way Judy or Louie had done it. And that is what Jessmn should do.
 
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One thing I try to remember is that people new to ukulele and perhaps new to music can be benefited by learning some of the basic strum patterns. My husband, for example, can't listen to a song a few times and pick up the feel of the strum pattern, nor can he come up with his own groove at the present time. So, it helps him to have a pattern to follow to help him get the general feel of the song. Once he is comfortable, then he can do his own thing. There is a big difference in someone strumming a year to someone strumming two years, much less five years...

I had been a musician for 30 years before taking up ukulele. I still think learning the strums and trying to emulate Iz and others helped me a great deal. It gave me the foundation to branch out and do "my own thing" when I was ready. You have to learn the alphabet before you start spelling words. In the same way, the foundational strumming technique in ukulele helps me come up with my own groove.
 
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