Strumming fingers

Wiles

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I was wondering if the way I tought myself to strum would impede my progression of playing the ukulele. When I recieved my uke I didn't really read the method book I got with it. I just ran off and locked myself in a room and noodled around with it. When I thought I got strumming down I picked up my book, and looked at some beginner strumming tutorials on youtube and they all show how to strum with your thumb or index finger. When I strum I use my middle and ring finger together (sometimes the pinky likes to get in on the action too). Is this bad form? Should I try and retrain my hands?
 
it's it sound good, just do whatever works

I started with my thumb, now started using index finger a bit more to make it easier to mute it. but whatever works.
 
I was wondering if the way I tought myself to strum would impede my progression of playing the ukulele. When I recieved my uke I didn't really read the method book I got with it. I just ran off and locked myself in a room and noodled around with it. When I thought I got strumming down I picked up my book, and looked at some beginner strumming tutorials on youtube and they all show how to strum with your thumb or index finger. When I strum I use my middle and ring finger together (sometimes the pinky likes to get in on the action too). Is this bad form? Should I try and retrain my hands?


I strum in lots of different ways, including using my pinky finger. It is certainly OK.
 
Thanks for the encouragement! My previous experience was with the classical guitar where a lot of emphasis was put on the correct hand positions. It is nice to know it is not so with the ukulele.
 
Thanks for the encouragement! My previous experience was with the classical guitar where a lot of emphasis was put on the correct hand positions. It is nice to know it is not so with the ukulele.

No, correct hand position certainly is important. There are lots of ways and techniques for strumming, using different combinations of fingers, etc. But correct hand postition is vital. This particularly applies to the right hand. Lots of people move their arm to much. Most techniques involve the moving of the fingers and the wrist. Also positioning relative to the soundhole is important for tone. The way the strings are actually plucked is so important too for good tone. The instrument or strings are not the most important factor for getting good tone. It's the way you play.
 
"Strum in different ways" is not the same as "correct hand position" is "not so with the uke."

Your style: middle finger/ring sometimes pinky. Will it impede for strumming? No. But how's your chucking? Fingerstyle? Big maybe leaning towards yes. People like Chet Atkins, James Burton on guitar used some ref to thumb/index finger pick WITH middle/ring to great effect. The uke has "only" 4 strings but based on tunings different relationships...you could lose more on uke that way than even on guitar.

People develop habits early on that can sometimes hinder fluidity, to be specific, and phrasing.

The "move their arm too much" approach may seem "relaxed" (or in some people's minds "controlled") but like a person at a job interview trying to be too casual too soon it belies a certain high degree of tension...where in practice rhythms get jumped on rather than flow. We're talking "arm" here not relationship to soundhole. I played years ago with a guitarist like that and it was also a grotesquerie to watch...and be around.

The basis for my learning fingerstyle on guitar was long ago placing my pinky on the guitar top, and now years later I'm still grateful for that stability that made variatiions possible...including using that pinky.

If someone like Jake S. had to relearn certain things even while at levels of accomplishment, I find it somewhat bogus to simply advise "anything goes" to you or myself.

The fact that YOU raise the question should tell you something. You're the one that's on to something.

BTW, strumming is not easy. Too many guitarists and yes, uke players think that strumming is easy.

An Ohta-San cover is ultimately more elusive than a Jake S. cover. Are there many Ohta-San covers on YouTube? Is it just a generational thing?
 
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Using different combination's of your fingers and or the thumb can be put to use to produce different nuances of sound. You might try re-visiting the tunes you know well with different strumming fingers, or use your thumb as well and see how you play the tune.
I tend to use different combination's in a tune. I might for instance use my forefinger nail to go brighter and louder during a song, or play with my other 3 fingers for more rapid strumming, my thumb for quieter bits. I think the most important bit is what feels right, and if a tune doesn't go right in one bit with one technique, them maybe another technique might be better.
 
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