Strum Patterns

freedive135

freedive135

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I've seen alot of people asking for strum pattrens...

Here is something I put together from my lessons so far.
I dont think I listed any twice.

t=triplet
r=rest
c=carry ((like the notes have the little curve above them) it's called a tie))

add chunk's, pinkie mutes,turn the rests into mutes, rolls and that slow thumb stroke Aldrine does from Waiting In Vain as you see fit!!!




D DUc UDU

DU DDU DU DDU

D UD UD UD U

r U r U r U r U

r DU r DU r DU r DU

D DU r DUD DU r DU

D D DU

U D D D

D DU DU

DU r U DU

U DUDt U D

U DU DD

U DD U DD

D U DUDU D U D U

DDUD DUDD DDUD DUDD

r D r D r D r D

r DU r DU r DU r DU

r DU r D r DU r D

r DU r DU r

r U DU r U DU

D D D UDU

D D UDU

D D DUDU

now if only I could use them!!!!
 
Last edited:
good stuff ++
 
Hey Freedive.....it looks like the Rosetta Stone brah!! I get it but she sure looks bananas. Long after we're gone some future people will be trying to decode this sacred script....only to find out it's all up's and down's.
 
Very cool, thank you for posting this!
 
Learning new strumming patterns for songs

Hi,
How do people learn a new strumming pattern for a song? For example. If you have the chords for the song, how do you figure out what the actual strumming pattern is so that when you play it, it actually sounds like the song and not random up down up etc. Do you just listen to the original and try to play along until you get it? I've been using youtube to find the song and try then follow their strumming patterns. All tips and help is appreciated. Cheers
 
Absinth said:
Hi,
How do people learn a new strumming pattern for a song? For example. If you have the chords for the song, how do you figure out what the actual strumming pattern is so that when you play it, it actually sounds like the song and not random up down up etc. Do you just listen to the original and try to play along until you get it?
Click to expand...

The first thing to realize is that, in many cases, there is no "actual strumming pattern".

Sure, if you're trying to play an Iz tune, for example, and you want to sound just like Iz, then you have to play the same pattern he is. No getting around that.

But most of the time, you're playing a song on the ukulele that was not originally done on the ukulele. So you're blazing a new trail! You're essentially making a brand-new, all-your-own arrangement of the song. So the strum pattern is whatever you want it to be.

That said, there are certain ways to strum that are more suggestive of the various rhythms and accents of the original song. But even with that, there are variations and lots of leeway. Two expert uke players could easily come up with two different ways to strum any given song.

So, to answer your question: Use your ears as best as you can to come up with a strum pattern that sounds good to you and that you're able to play. Strum away, don't stress about it, have fun, and spread the ukulele love!
:shaka:

JJ
 
Ukulele JJ said:
The first thing to realize is that, in many cases, there is no "actual strumming pattern".

Sure, if you're trying to play an Iz tune, for example, and you want to sound just like Iz, then you have to play the same pattern he is. No getting around that.

But most of the time, you're playing a song on the ukulele that was not originally done on the ukulele. So you're blazing a new trail! You're essentially making a brand-new, all-your-own arrangement of the song. So the strum pattern is whatever you want it to be.

That said, there are certain ways to strum that are more suggestive of the various rhythms and accents of the original song. But even with that, there are variations and lots of leeway. Two expert uke players could easily come up with two different ways to strum any given song.

So, to answer your question: Use your ears as best as you can to come up with a strum pattern that sounds good to you and that you're able to play. Strum away, don't stress about it, have fun, and spread the ukulele love!
:shaka:

JJ
Click to expand...

Totally agree.
 
Thanks for posting this :D
 
One of the advantages of having a "vocabulary" of strumming patterns such as the OP posted is that you can draw from it when trying to espress the essence of a new song. (A good artist in any medium has a similar vocabulary of techniques, not to imitate with but to create from.)
 
c=carry (like the notes have the little curve above them)

don't get what you mean ><
 
On correct music notation means you hold a note for its duration plus the duration of the next note (which in notation are connected with a curve). Happens when you connecting 2 notes that are on different measures.
But no one is using notation here.

You just need to understand what the poster meant.
Look at his first strum
D DUc UDU

what he means is
|D |DU| U|DU|

At the start of the 3rd measure you dont hit any note.
You are carring the sound of the first upstroke until you upstroke again.
 
The technical term is a "tie". If the tie wasn't there you would mute the notes at the beginning of the 3rd measure.
 
MysticRatboy said:
On correct music notation means you hold a note for its duration plus the duration of the next note (which in notation are connected with a curve). Happens when you connecting 2 notes that are on different measures.
But no one is using notation here.

You just need to understand what the poster meant.
Look at his first strum
D DUc UDU

what he means is
|D |DU| U|DU|

At the start of the 3rd measure you dont hit any note.
You are carring the sound of the first upstroke until you upstroke again.
Click to expand...

I'm not an english speaker to start with. Is measure the same as beat or bar as in four beats per bar?
 
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