Catching fingers on up-strum

Joe90

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Right after getting my uke and trying to play without a plec, i found my fingers got caught under the bottom string alot on the upward strum, with made me use a plec to get going. Now ive realised ill be missing a fair few strumming techniques in the future if i continue to use a plec, so my question is have any if you encountered this and did you get round it? All being said, my action does seem rather high at the bridge end so maybe this is a contributing factor?
 
Maybe try up-strumming with your thumbnail? It's slippery, so it should catch the strings.

But I understand if you want to use the fatty part of your fingers to get sort of a "mellower" strum. You should be using only one finger to strum upwards.

And I don't think the action is an issue, since most people (including myself) strum near or on top of the neck.
 
Hi Joe

As a fellow complete novice I too was using a plectrum but decided to try finger strumming. I am finding it very difficult partly for a medical reason and also, I think, mostly because of lack of experience. Strumming is a skill that takes practice to acquire. It sure looks easy when you see an experienced player doing it but then they had to learn at some point......

I think the trick is to keep practising and it will go right in the end.
 
Hi Joe

As a fellow complete novice I too was using a plectrum but decided to try finger strumming. I am finding it very difficult partly for a medical reason and also, I think, mostly because of lack of experience. Strumming is a skill that takes practice to acquire. It sure looks easy when you see an experienced player doing it but then they had to learn at some point......

I think the trick is to keep practising and it will go right in the end.

:agree: Bid humongous AMEN to this advice. Biggest mistake noobies make is trying to use techniques they haven't "mastered" yet. I did it too.....trying to learn new strums while strumming too quickly. Gotta master it slowly first. I got a lot of great strumming practice in front of the TV while muting the strings so as not to disturb anyone else or drown out the tv, often doing it during commercials. I am also coming along with my fingerpicking practice using the same strategy. Good luck

Oh, and maybe the strings are a little too high.....couldn't help. May make other aspects of fingering your chords more difficult. Measure them, lower action if need be.
 
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Right after getting my uke and trying to play without a plec, i found my fingers got caught under the bottom string alot on the upward strum, with made me use a plec to get going. Now ive realised ill be missing a fair few strumming techniques in the future if i continue to use a plec, so my question is have any if you encountered this and did you get round it? All being said, my action does seem rather high at the bridge end so maybe this is a contributing factor?

Hi Joe

I've only had my Uke a few days and this is something I have experienced now and again whilst strumming.

The bridge being a bit too high could be a factor, as my Uke is a very cheap one and suffers from this - I guess the experts here can throw some light on this.

I'm planning on visiting the local music store in the next week or so to make a £60 ish purchase (maybe the Ohana PK10S - I like the pineapple style) that I can actually try out for myself. (cheap one was mail order and TBH is quite poor in overall construction).

I will then look into adjusting the bridge height etc. on the cheapo - add some Aquila strings and pass it on to my daughter who is quite interested in learning to play.

I also think I still have some tension in my strumming hand that may be a factor too, but this will disappear with time and practice I guess.

**Edit ** I also found this video clip very helpful.




Regards


Spizz / Jim
 
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If your fingers are getting caught under the strings, that suggests an angle-of-attack problem. On the upstroke, they're actually jamming against the strings from underneath?

If that's so, it's possible you're holding your hand too low. This is common. Put a bit more of a bend in your wrist so that the hand is actually a bit further away from the strings. You should find it much less prone to getting jammed. Also, the centre point of your 'swing' should be the middle of the strings. (But this depends on how you do the strum, and there are different ways).

Other than that, as others have said here, slow it all the way down until you can control it, practice practice practice, and the problem will sort itself out in due course.
 
Hmm, just trying to help - your strumming action should come from the wrist, ie turning your wrist as you strum down, and flicking it back round as you strum up - you shouldn't be holding your wrist still and moving your whole arm... think of it as flicking water drops off your fingers for the down stroke - not vigorously though! That's just to explain the movement.... I hope that helps! You'll soon get it - :D
 
I initially had the same issue so I changed a couple of things. I concentrated on the mechanics of my strum so it was more parallel with plane of the strings. I also noticed that on my strumming finger, the nail was trimmed so there was a "corner" on the edge of the nail that would strike the strings on the up stroke. I trimmed the edge of my nail so it was more rounded making it much less likely to catch on the strings.
 
Thanks for the good advice, my nails are not at all long so strumming with those arent an option lol, ill slow things down a bit and try a more levelled strum, as many of you say practice is key in all this so ill invest some time in without a plec. Maybe think about lowering the bridge too as this would suit me more, i beleive as its rather high compared to the nut, say another 40mm between the two.
 
Newbie myself on a cheapie Mahalo and get this, i find i do it after strumming for a while and my hands in the original starting point but i've rotated the uke towards me.

Not sure if it's the correct positioning but i tend to angle the top of the uke away from me and i'll not catch my finger on the up strum.
 
I had another little go today and although its not as bad as it was in terms of catching, im creating bum notes in comparison to the plec. Seems normal though and is probably down to practice and technique building. The strings on the last fret are around 60mm high at a guess?
 
I had another little go today and although its not as bad as it was in terms of catching, im creating bum notes in comparison to the plec. Seems normal though and is probably down to practice and technique building. The strings on the last fret are around 60mm high at a guess?
At 6mm above the last fret it could be about 1mm higher than optimum - whether that's enough to call it too high I'm not sure.... it's not much.... as you say, probably down to practice. :)
 
60mm was a typo lol, im finding it better now to be fair. So my action doesnt need lowering at the bridge out of interest would any of you lower it if yours was around 7-8mm from the fret board at the last fret?
 
Joe, what brand strings are you using ? I sometimes find the Aquilas to be a bit "grabby" or "catchy" when I am strumming. No such problem with flourocarbon strings.
 
Joe, what brand strings are you using ? I sometimes find the Aquilas to be a bit "grabby" or "catchy" when I am strumming. No such problem with flourocarbon strings.

Just the standard ones that come with a makala mk-s, black ones. Would you reccomend something other than aquilla if i were to swap out then?
 
I think just try go very slowly but with a fluid motion (the hand shouldn't pause after a up or down strum). Think about the angle your finger(s) is lightly brushing the strings. It should be like dragging a limp finger(s) and wrist over the strings (relax your finger and wrist). On the way up, your finger will not catch if the finger is pointed down a little on the way up and pointing up a little on the way down. Just the finger tip should be grazing the strings. Any more and you will catch too much string. Relax the strumming hand totally and try play as gently and quietly as possible. As with any technique, play as slowly and consistently as possible until your muscle memory starts to kick in. Practicing with all the strings muted by the left hand is a good way or with a simple chord progression. If your feeling a bit more adventurous and want to get a bit more experimental with the strum patterns, listen to the start of Voodoo Chile by Jimi Hendrix. Listen to how the notes sound depending on where you strum and which part of your finger makes contact or how many fingers. Experiment to find what works for you and what sounds best for you. Everyone has their own technique in a way which can lead to their own sound. I think starting out gently and slowly should help you learn to walk before you can run. If all else fails, learn finger picking :p
 
Hullo,

Absolutely brand spanking new 'player' here too and I have the same problem, especially when strumming upwards holding a chord - like on G7 the 2nd string is minutely lower than the 3rd so to "hit" it my finger is minutely closer to the ukulele and tends to catch the third string.

It's okay when I'm playing very very lightly but that produces no volume. I changed "angle of attack" a bit so my fingernail is facing pretty much straight up the fret board which seems to stop the catching a bit. I assume its just gonna be practice.

I'm using a cheap Stagg ukulele from amazon (impulse buy - i didnt expect to like sitting in front of the tv playing with it as much as I do) and I cant lower the strings, although I did replace them with better ones so I didnt have to tune the thing every 3 minutes.
 
60mm was a typo lol, im finding it better now to be fair. So my action doesnt need lowering at the bridge out of interest would any of you lower it if yours was around 7-8mm from the fret board at the last fret?
Absolutely- I set mine at 2.5-3 per Music Guy Mikes recommendations. My wife's new uke is higher and I snag like crazy on it, action height is a total contributing factor.
Here are the recommendations I used when I was learning how to set my ukes up
Straight from the best set up money can buy (I have two he did- they are stupendous)
 
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