Proper Strumming

JumpingPulgas

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I started learning how to play the uke since October, and I use my index finger to strum. Recently, I started noticing pain near the knuckle of my index finger. Is this normal or am I not strumming properly?
 

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Jake did a great strumming tutorial for us on iamhawaii.com. It should still be up. He talks about how he strums using both his pointer finger nail and thumb nail to get the cleanest sound.

He turns his wrist like he's pointing to himself then holds his thumb and pointer finger like he's holding a guitar pick.
 

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oh ya! that was a really great video tutorial.

a lot of people that i see kinda hold their finger like a pencil sometimes, it hurts me personally.

but loose and relaxed, shouldnt hurt at all
 

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i had this problem at first as well. your finger may be too loose. and you may be striking your strings too hard. its should be more rigid, but not to the point that youre beating on your strings when you strum. recently my brother pointed out to me that i was beating on my strings too much trying to get more volume out of the uke. but there is only so far you can strum volume out of it. when i eased off trying to power out my music, i noticed a HUGE difference in how clean everything sounded... and my fingers stopped hurting.

also reposition your whole hand so that when your finger comes down on the strings, its just your nail that is hitting it. if your knuckle is hitting the strings, your hand is too close. float it just a little bit more away from the instrument.

basically, if you are strumming from the wrist, your index finger should be just about perpendicular to the instrument. if you are doing a reggae type strum by just moving your index finger, flex your wrist back just a little. enough to where only your nail is contacting the strings. this will take some practice, but eventually you will be able to feel where your hand should be positioned to strum correctly.

if you are incorporating your thumb into your strum, use the tutorial that jake did on iamhawaii dot com and apply the same concepts.

hope this works as well for you as it did for me.
 
Thanks for the tips braddahs! I've seen Jake's tutorial on strumming. I tried it, but it took some getting use to, so I kinda gave up on it and just continued strumming with my index finger. But lately, my index finger has really been bothering me to the point that I can't even strum my uke. I'll practice Jake's way until I get used to it. My index finger doesn't hurt when I do it that way. Thanks again!
 

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if you have a digital camera or a camcorder, video tape how you strum so we can see exactly how and maybe then we can help you even more. :)

and i hope your finger get better in the mean time.
 
Thanks for the tips braddahs! I've seen Jake's tutorial on strumming. I tried it, but it took some getting use to, so I kinda gave up on it and just continued strumming with my index finger. But lately, my index finger has really been bothering me to the point that I can't even strum my uke. I'll practice Jake's way until I get used to it. My index finger doesn't hurt when I do it that way. Thanks again!

haha our bodies have a way of MAKING us do things differently when we need to the most.
 

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i tend to mix strums in the middle of songs...

i do the technique shown by jake.

just use my index finger.

and the other technique is use the opposite side of the nail between the index and the thumb to get a really warm feeling from the strum.


I'm trying to pick up new techniques also though.
 
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