Okay... Count the beats in a song like this: 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
To put this in perspective, during the chorus of "I'm Yours," the words fall mainly on beats 1 and 3. Like this:
Code:
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1...
Now I won't he - si - tate no more no more...
Now, strum your uke on beats "2" and the "4". That's your basic reggae strum. 2 and 4. Nothing to it! I don't care if you play them as "down" or "up", as long as you play them on beats 2 and 4.
Check out Bob Marley's "One Love" or "Satisfy My Soul" to hear good examples of a simple 2 - 4 reggae strum. You might consider "chunking" these strums, by quickly muting them with either your right or left hand.
If you want to get fancy, you can do two things. First, you can "touch" the fourth (or fourth and third) strings only on beat 1. This is like a strum, but you don't hit every string. Just the one or two strings closest to your chin.
So the result is like this: Touch - Strum - (rest) - Strum Touch - Strum - (rest) - Strum
Fancy thing number two is to play the "and" of the beats 2 and 4. What's an "and," you might ask? Well, that's the beat
in-between the main beats. Like this:
Code:
1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 1...
Now I won't he si tate no more no more...
If you're playing the 2 and 4 with a downstrum, then the "and" will probably be a quick upstrum right after. Like this:
Code:
T D U D U T D U D U T D U D U T D U D U
1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 1...
Now I won't he si tate no more no more...
Iz uses a strum kinda like that on "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." If you don't play the touches, then you have a strum like on Bob Marley's "Stir It Up."
If you want, you can just play the "and" after beat 4. Beat 2 just gets a single downstroke. So insead of (rest) spank-a (rest) spank-a, it's (rest) spank (rest) spank-a. That give a song a nice rhythmic momentum, IMHO.
JJ