Is finger style uke a distraction from real uk'ing?

GreyPoupon

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 20, 2008
Messages
189
Reaction score
4
Location
Westchester, NY
I wanted to share with the community a realization I've had lately that may be unpleasant to some.

I started off really interested in playing fingerstyle uke. And I actually became somewhat accomplished at a number of songs - especially the simple tabs by Rob for Baroque Uke and Ken for Bluegrass Uke and the Jaime's stuff for Lute music on Uke. Some great songs that are a joy to play.

Now this stuff is great - but whenever I played it I was always left with the sensation that I was trying to mimic another instrument on the uke. And while this was admitedly part of the charm, it is also engaging in an activity that is in the artistic shadow of something else. (A real classical guitar, or a real banjo, or a real lute...)

But with strumming and singing - something I just fell into recently but now with a vengance - I feel like I at last stumbled upon the uke's real calling. As a strumming instrument the uke brings its own truly unique sound that no other instrument has. Yes, it's a string instrument, but there is a certain up beat jump and skip that is classically ukulele and only ukulele. And I feel like just now am I really breathing in this small instrument's real charm.

In short, I am raising the possibility that perhaps the growing fashion of finger style uke is actually just a distraction from the uke's true calling - as a back up strummer for simple down to earth folk singing.

Am I onto something or am I creating division where none need be?

(Also, wanted to re-share something that probably has been posted 1,000 + times here: Robert G's Ukulele songbook is real genius and a great fit for early strummers like me. I think, but am not sure, that he has shamelessly opted for the easier chord to hold whenver possible... In any case, I had a lot of fun with it this past week.) (Link below)

http://www.scorpex.net/uke.htm
 
Last edited:
hmm, interesting but i wouldn't feel like finger style playing is any less appropriate on a uke as on any other instrument.

some might say that strumming and singing is playing the uke like an acoustic guitar. i say just play what makes you feel good. that's what i would call the uke's true calling.
 
The uke is particularly suitable for singers to provide their own accompaniment. I think it is what the uke does best, but as with all musical instruments, there are no hard and fast rules. Express yourself - have fun - do yore thang.

John Colter.
 
If you're having fun, you're doing it right.

Now I'll be off over there doing it right in a different way. :D
 
Why limit yourself?

Maybe the uke is for strumming primarily, but that isn't where the fun is for me.

The fun for me is trying out all these different styles, techniques and songs that you wouldn't normally try on a uke.

I think you aren't really onto anything, but if it is strumming you enjoy than continue that. To each their own.
 
I'm new to this forum, so apologies if I'm telling you what you probably already know.

Herb Ohta spends plenty of time playing melodic lines. I would hate to tell Herb Ohta that he's not playing it "the way it's meant to be played." If Herb Ohta wanted to use his ukulele to dig ditches, I would assume that the function of a ukulele was to dig ditches.

:)

That being said, Jake Simabukuro spends a lot of time strumming the ukulele, but in a fairly un-ukulele-like fashion, with all his rasqueados and flamenco flourishes.

Horses for courses, I think.

I understand what you mean, and I actually didn't buy a tenor because it seemed less "ukulele"-like. But I'm starting to think that my initial snobbery will run its course. It's just a fantastic instrument, and what makes it fantastic is a combination of all sorts of things (tuning, size, wood, string tension, to name a few).

It's a bit like saying why you fancy a particular girl... God forbid we ever all liked the same girl for the same reason. That would surely spell the end of the human race.
 
When playing out I've found most identify with just strumming- Ho Hum but they do respond to finger style too. Just play what you like and enjoy.:agree:

Doug
 
There may be "traditional" style...strumming along to fun songs and Hawaiian tunes...but I don't think there's such a thing as "real" uking!

The ukulele is showing itself to be so much more versatile than I think people even 20 years ago would have believed. Don't put it in a box by labeling styles as "real".

(and I'm a strummer only...so far...but I get lost in the beauty of any great uke performances - no matter the style!)
 
I thought the whole point of UU was to grow the next generation of ukulele players, who, while embracing the roots of the ukulele, take it into new territory. I've seen amazing finger picking that, while done in classical guitar style, sounds unique on the uke, and I've seen claw hammer done with tone a banjo can't produce. Also, I just realized I use overly-complex sentences. :eek:
 
There may be "traditional" style...strumming along to fun songs and Hawaiian tunes...but I don't think there's such a thing as "real" uking!

The ukulele is showing itself to be so much more versatile than I think people even 20 years ago would have believed. Don't put it in a box by labeling styles as "real".

(and I'm a strummer only...so far...but I get lost in the beauty of any great uke performances - no matter the style!)
Testify! Amen brotha!!!
 
Yeah, but...

Yeah, of course, if you're having a good time please proceed. I didn't mean to imply the creation of a Ukulele Purity Patrol that would snap the ukes out of the hands of degenerate finger style pickers out there. And I don't mean to look down my nose on those picking away... by all mean if it feels good do it...

BUT I do argue now that the unique sound of the uke really comes across in strumming - and there is special value in using a tool for its unique purpose.

And, yes, you can name many great players who pick out melodies, but that is really ornamentation on the cake. Traditional uke playing is, as far as I can tell, 90% strummimg. And it might be real fancy strumming at times, but it's still strumming.

Deach, interesting that you bring up the word 'evolve.' For me the finger style seems less of an advancement than an odd distraction. Evolution creates changes that advances a species which gets transformed into something new. But sometimes there is a genetic change that looks really good for a generation and then later proves useless - leading to branches on evolutionary trees that die out. I suspect finger style for the uke is an awfull lot like one of these dead-end mutations.

Here is the crux of the issue: when I hear strumming on a uke I say to myself: "What an awesome, charming, precious sound!" And when I hear finger style I say "Wow! What a cool toy guitar / lute / banjo!"
 
I don't see it as an "either-or" kinda thing. Certainly ukulele is great when strummed, no doubt. When someone throws down a righteous picking solo, SWEET! Put the two together, magic!
 
Well, GreyPoupon, I guess it's strumming for you then.

I fingerpick mainly. I don't sing. Why torture people with my shi**y singing and less than Aldrine-type playing? I personally think that just strumming is B-O-R-I-N-G. See? It's whatever you want it to be.

And, deach is right!:D
 
For some examples of finger-style ukulele that sounds like an ukulele, check out John King. His classical arrangements make extensive use of the re-entrant tuning that is unique to the ukulele. It allowed Mr. King to sustain adjacent notes. Refer to Carol of the Bells.

Who knows what the ukulele was meant to do? Some of Jake Shimabukuro's best stuff comes from when he is trying to mimic other instruments. In his amazing interpretation of Sakura, Sakura, he actually makes his 4 string ukulele sound like a 13 string Japanese koto.
 
I can see the argument that the uke's true calling is to be strummed. It's probably true. But I have more fun playing it fingerstyle. Maybe because I can't really sing.

I do enjoy the sound of the ukulele strummed or picked equally when it's in the hands of a skilled player. Maybe the strummed sound is more traditional and more true to the instrument, but I think it sounds great played fingerstyle as well.
 
BTW, I think it would be fun to hear someone play a guitar and think "wow, what a great sounding giant ukulele!" I wonder if it can be pulled off. I'd pay to watch that.
 
Top Bottom