What's your preferred way to strum?

B

Bao

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 2, 2011
Messages
546
Reaction score
2
Location
sydney, australia
My way of strumming, I usually hold my thumb and index finger like I'm holding a pick and I just strum away. If I want a less trebly tone then I would use the flesh of the index/thumb.

Is this the same with everyone or do some people have a different way?
 
I typically just use my index finger. Bassically point it towards myself and move it up and down. Some times I use my thumb. I have not felt comfotable with the pick style you discribed. I think I learned mine from a video Aldrine did, maybe one of the old IamHawaii videos.
 
I generally strum with my thumb nail (up stroke) and either index (down) or a combo of pinky & index (down) for more of a roll effect. let me clarify that I have purposely let my thumb, index, & pinky fingernails grow out a bit and I trim the middle and ring fingernails of my strumming hand.

keep uke'in',
 
Ummm.. .Multiple ways.

Sometimes it is just the index finger, sometimes index & thumb, sometimes, I use the entire hand and roll with it, and sometimes I couldn't even begin to describe what I'm doing - I just try to sound reasonable.


-Kurt​
 
Man, thats wide open. It all depends on the song, tempo, rhythem and sound I am looking for. Tip of index finger, pad of finger, back of the finger nail, it all depends on what I am playing. I actually rarely use a pick. never liked them really. I always felt I have better control with my fingers, with struming, and especialy picking, and more with combinations of that. Even when I played guitar, and electric guitar I rarely used a pick.
 
I am a simple chord strummer and have fallen into the habit of using my thumb on both the up and down strokes.
This technique may be self limiting, but it does cut down on the volume in a pleasant way.
Not so obtrusive for my wife in the other room.
 
 
Last edited:
I strum like this to.

Bao said:
My way of strumming, I usually hold my thumb and index finger like I'm holding a pick and I just strum away. If I want a less trebly tone then I would use the flesh of the index/thumb.

Is this the same with everyone or do some people have a different way?
Click to expand...
 
most of the time, just index finger up and down, no thumb.
 
Last edited:
I used to strum with a pointed index finger (with my other fingers curled into my palm). When I broke the middle finger of my strumming hand, I couldn't curl my other fingers into my palm, so I learned to strum with my thumb, using the fleshy part just to the left of my thunbnail for both up and down strokes. My finger's better now, although it still doesn't curl that much, and I've been having trouble retraining my brain to use my index finger again. I'm glad to have added my thumb to my strumming arsenal, but I'd like to get back to using my index finger again because using my indiex finger offers options for adding strokes to the strum with my thumb or other fingers.
 
As Tudorp said, it depends on what it depends on. Gentle stuff gets my thumb, generally. Rapid triplet stuff may get the index down, thumb down, index up routine, or a three-finger fan roll starting with an up stroke for really fast triplets. My generic all-purpose strum is with three fingers together so I can slip in the roll easily. It's nothing I ever thought about, really, it just sort of happened that way. Plus, it's great for chunking. The hand is sort of curled into a fist, then it opens up over the strings and gets dampened with the open palm, if that makes sense. For hard rockin' numbers, I hold my thumb and index like I'm holding a pick, and downstroke the index nail while the heel of my hand dampens the bridge slightly. Old habits die hard. Don't even get me started on whether it's "proper" to play over the 12 fret... :}
 
Last edited:
Usually I use thumb down, index finger up. I don't like having long nails, but obviously a little bit of a nail will help catch the string a bit.

I sort of painted myself into a "needing a pick" corner though. I'm recording tracks for a song, and I'm at a repeating line that's doubled in the bass. Without a fingernail, it just sounds like mud. Acoustic it's fine, but recorded, not so much. The frustrating thing is I had a set of thumb picks that I liked, and do you think I can find them anywhere? Nope!

It's just that, given a certain set of conditions, sometimes picks are useful. I was mulling over that as the subject of a blog post. Gettin' all controversial in the uke world!

(And when I saw controversial, not really.)
 
I strum down with my middle and ring finger(pointer finger sometimes replaces the ring finger,) and up with the nail of my thumb. If I want to play softly I just downstrum with the flesh of my thumb and upstrumb with the flesh of the pointer.
 
Bao said:
My way of strumming, I usually hold my thumb and index finger like I'm holding a pick and I just strum away. If I want a less trebly tone then I would use the flesh of the index/thumb.

Is this the same with everyone or do some people have a different way?
Click to expand...

i do the same most of the time but am forcing myself to try other ways
 
Maxjunk said:
I strum down with my middle and ring finger(pointer finger sometimes replaces the ring finger,) and up with the nail of my thumb. If I want to play softly I just downstrum with the flesh of my thumb and upstrumb with the flesh of the pointer.
Click to expand...

Me too........
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

K
  • Poll
Your preferred number Frets before joining body
Replies
17
Views
616
UkeOkay
UkeOkay
Three Tenors
Preferred Capo
2
Replies
21
Views
2K
rustydusty
rustydusty
Hochapeafarm
  • Locked
WTB: Tenor Resonator (Mya-Moe preferred)
Replies
2
Views
273
Hochapeafarm
Hochapeafarm
A
Preferred bridge material and why
Replies
4
Views
479
bazuku
B
J
Preferred strings for an Outdoor Soprano?
Replies
2
Views
225
Spicysteve
Spicysteve
Top Bottom