Number of Strums Per Bar in Songs with Lyrics...?

Hello, all! I am still a struggling newbie learning my first 8 chords, but I got a Uke Leash, so hopefully that will help chord changes become a little easier for me. With college going on, I keep losing my calluses, so I have to make sure I plunk around every day, no matter what.

Anyway, this seems like an odd question, but I am a music newbie in general.

In songs with lyrics, I have found that I have a REALLY rough time keeping the strum pattern going, making sure I have, say, 4 strums per bar in 4/4 time, AND sing the lyrics. I have found that my mind can't sing the song and focus on the right number of strums at the same time.

My question is, do I HAVE to strum so many times a bar, or can I keep a good strum and tempo going and change chords at the right times (such as when a certain lyric comes around)?

I feel like I'm not describing my issue well. I sing the song, then worry that I've strummed 5 or 6 times per bar and I wondered if that was really that important, and if so, how I'm supposed to keep singing at the right speed AND strumming correctly at the same time.

I am frustrated.

The best piece of advice I ever got is: Strumming is drumming.

One of the things I did to train myself to strum properly is to tap out the beat on my leg, when I listen to music.
I then learned that if i tap with my thumb (do a 'thumbs up', then turn it on its side and tap the beat on your knee or thigh) I'm doing pretty much the same motion as strumming! Just drop your index finger down and let it strum!

As for how many in a bar, don't worry about it. Do as few as you need to be able to get through. Once your brain clicks and you "get" it, more strums will come. Do one per bar if you need, or one per chord change if that,s what it takes. It,s one of those things that is the hardest thing in the world to do... Until it's not. Then you'll smile and say "how the heck did I not get it?"

Just keep at it.

You know what the old joke: How do you get to Carnegie Hall?

Go up sixth and turn left on 57th...

This is something I thought I'd never get when I started out. I'd think I had the chords and strumming sorted, but as soon as I started to sing, my hand would start moving up and down with the words, before giving up completely. Then a week later, it just happened, I found I was singing, strumming and changing chords.

It really is a practice, practice, practice thing.

You need to be able to do the chord changes and strumming without really thinking about it, then you'll (hopefully) find you just can start singing. Knowing the song off by heart will help too.


I still crumble when trying new songs, but practice, practice, practice, and I get it back.


It's also worth trying different strum patterns. If you really can't get it working with one, try another, try a simpler one, or one which fits better with the words (so down or up strums coincide more with the words).


Also, I find the two most useful strums are d-dud-du (down, down-up, down, down-up) and d-du-udu (down-down, up-up, down-up). One or other (or a combination, like |d-dud-du|d-du-udu|) of these seems to fit just about any song going, so I practice these strums most, with various different chord progressions, to get the muscle memory for the chord changes and strums set it. Then, when I try a new song, I first see which of these fits best, and then go with that while I practice the chord changes, and then try singing.


The final trick seems to be to not think about it to much. As soon as I start thinking about it too much, it goes all wobbly. It's like when you're walking along and try to think about the mechanics of how you walk, and suddenly walking becomes a much more complicated task, and you feel your walking has gone all weird.


(Oh, and with the calluses, I keep digging my thumb nail into my fingertips throughout the day, to keep my calluses nice and fresh)

Yes, the brain is menacing necessity. But rest assured, it learns. Keep trying. One day you'll suddenly wonder how this was ever a problem.

If you can play in proper time when just playing and sing properly when not playing, then you've got what it takes inside of you somewhere. It's just a matter of figuring out how to mash them together.

Try playing and just humming the lyrics. Maybe thinking of and saying the words is tripping you up. If you can get to the point of playing properly and humming the lyrics then the next step would be trying it with the words.

Maybe recording yourself would help. I think hearing yourself recorded is different than hearing yourself as you are playing or singing the sounds. Record yourself just playing the song on your ukulele and on the playback, sing along with it. Next, record yourself just singing the song and on the playback, play along with your ukulele. Maybe breaking things down in this manner will help you to put the two together in your mind.

Keep us posted on if you've worked it out and what helped you clear that hurdle.

Hi Imaj, I too have the same problem and have had to train like Mike said, I play, and then hum along, and then add the words. That is what I find helped me the most. It's amazing how hard it is to sing and play, I know I took that for granted when I first began playing the guitar and now added the uke, like Dire Straits said "money for nothing..." it's hard work actually.

Happy strumming and keep at it, it's frustrating but then all of a sudden it comes and by then you're ready for a new tune.

UncleElvis said:

The best piece of advice I ever got is: Strumming is drumming.

Just keep at

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Not one, but two great pieces of advice from Uncle Elvis!

Lots of great advice in this thread!

UncleElvis said:

Strumming is drumming.

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Try strumming/drumming on your ukulele with the strings muted like in this Uke Minutes video. Just strum and sing along--forget about chord changes for a while, just strum and sing the song until you feel comfortable. Then try adding in the chord changes.

Thank you all so much! I love the idea about strumming, then humming, then singing. And also, knowing others have/had this same issue is VERY encouraging! I will keep at it and when things finally click, I will feel very accomplished. I love the idea of tapping on my leg first too, but it is such a relief to know it's okay to not have the # of strums totally exact.

Thank you all for the great tips and encouragement!

The most confused newbie I ever knew,used to strum along with
whatever the words of the song were.It didn't work.A lot of songs
if not most of them,you are aiming to play a steady rhythm as a
backing to what you sing.So as had already been said,think of your
hands and your ukulele in terms of what the drummer would be doing
in a band.Keep a steady pace,start slowly and you will soon speed up!

cantsing said:

Try strumming/drumming on your ukulele with the strings muted like in this Uke Minutes video. Just strum and sing along--forget about chord changes for a while, just strum and sing the song until you feel comfortable. Then try adding in the chord changes.

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You can also try just flipping your uke over and tapping on the back as if it really were a drum! This takes both the chords and the strings out of the equation and makes it about pure rhythm. (Incidentally, I recommend this approach for figuring out new strum patterns too.)

JJ

imajical said:

it is such a relief to know it's okay to not have the # of strums totally exact.

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Well, sort of. Yes and no. IMHO.

The idea is to have the number of beats correct in each measure. The "beat" is sort of an abstract thing, so it's hard to discuss in words. But it's the underlying pulse of the song. When you cram more beats into a measure that you should, or leave some out by mistake, it does sound weird. (It's okay to sound weird when you're learning though... that's what learning is all about.)

Where it gets tricky is that you might play a strum on each beat, or you might not. All depends on the strumming rhythm you're using. Usually the basic "down-down-down-down" strum is playing on every beat. So if that's the strum you're using, then I think you really should aspire to have those strums match the pulse (beat) of the song, including having the intended number of beats per measure.

And yeah, it does get complicated when you try to do something like singing while strumming. Sometimes you're strumming and singing a note at the same time. But sometimes you're strumming and not singing or singing and not strumming! It's just a matter of coordinating it all and practicing.

You will find that, with practice, strums wind up going on a sort of "automatic pilot", freeing you up to focus on other things (like singing).

JJ