Pretty Songs for Strumming

Most popular beginner songs on youtube are the same 3 or 4 chords using the same d-du-udu pattern. Anyone have any suggestions or links to tutorials that are for beginners, but don't sound like the same thing that you find over and over on youtube?

I don't mind if the song is old or obscure....I just want to practice something that is beginner moving into intermediate level, and that isn't the same 3 chords repeating over and over.

Try arpeggiating the chords - i.e. picking one string at a time with your fingers.

Try some of the easier tin pan alley songs with compelling melodies...a few recommendations are:

April Showers
Button Up Your Overcoat
Halfway to Heaven
My Blue Heaven

Try looking up "everybodys talking at me"

https://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/tab/harry_nilsson/everybodys_talking_chords_768106

It is basically D, E7 and A7 over and over.
But the D chord is played going between D, Dmaj7, D7 and D6. Really easy, you just lift some fingers, but it adds a lot.

D Dmaj7 D7 D6
5 4. 3. 2
2 2. 2. 2
2. 2. 2. 2
2 2. 2. 2

UkingViking said:

Try looking up "everybodys talking at me" . . . the D chord is played going between D, Dmaj7, D7 and D6. Really easy, you just lift some fingers, but it adds a lot.

Click to expand...

I second UkingViking's recommendation; that type of movement on a home chord is common in the American songbook. Two immediate examples that spring to mind are "Vincent" and "Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter".

the way I learned 'my strumming patterns' was to simply experiment by trying to
mimic the rhythm and cadence I was hearing. this was back in the 6th grade many,
many years ago when Rock-n-Roll songs pretty much sounded the same.

then Christmas came and I tried playing carols and Holiday songs with slightly different
cadence and rhythm. but I simply kept trying to mimic the sound I heard.

this is also what I pass along to my students, that rhythm and strumming patterns come
last (after learning chords and practicing changing chords smoothly without interrupting
the tempo of the song), and really simply mean mimicking what you are hearing.

anyway it works for me so that I have about 3-5 strumming patterns I regularly use when
strumming most songs

keep uke'in',

Chad and Jeremy's "A Summer Song" is absolutely lovely to play, and quite easy. The chord progression is F-Am-Bb-C and the strumming rhythm reveals itself the minute you sing the lyrics. I wouldn't call it "beginner" level, but maybe just above beginner. Enjoy!

As Uncle Rod said use the strumming pattern to suite the song. Further more learn a number of strumming patterns. One of the most useful things I learned at a ukulele festive workshop was using different strum patterns. The story went "remember when you were first learning songs on uke and all 5 or 6 songs sounded the same", we all laughed. Then he played the same song with 3 different strum patterns and it transformed that song. Also learn about the space or silence in music. The big problem with ukulele is we go dudududud incessantly and it can sound monotonous.

DownUpDave said:

As Uncle Rod said use the strumming pattern to suite the song. Further more learn a number of strumming patterns. One of the most useful things I learned at a ukulele festive workshop was using different strum patterns. The story went "remember when you were first learning songs on uke and all 5 or 6 songs sounded the same", we all laughed. Then he played the same song with 3 different strum patterns and it transformed that song. Also learn about the space or silence in music. The big problem with ukulele is we go dudududud incessantly and it can sound monotonous.

Click to expand...

Can you go dudududu?
I thought that ukulele can only be strummed d-du-udu.
With different timing and occasional chucking in stead of strums...
Or perhaps that is just what I do 80% of the time.

UkingViking said:

Can you go dudududu?
I thought that ukulele can only be strummed d-du-udu.
With different timing and occasional chucking in stead of strums...
Or perhaps that is just what I do 80% of the time.

Click to expand...

Early on I googled ukulele strum patterns and found a site with probably 10 or 12. I typically use 4 or 5 as my favorites but will explore something different if it helps. It does make learning the song a much longer process. If you think of ukulele in terms of a small 4 string rhythm guitar you can use guitar strum patterns.

UkingViking said:

Can you go dudududu?
I thought that ukulele can only be strummed d-du-udu.
With different timing and occasional chucking in stead of strums...
Or perhaps that is just what I do 80% of the time.

Click to expand...

You can use whatever strum pattern you like. DDUUDU is just the beginner strum that most people learn because not only is it easy, but it sounds great with a lot of songs. If you go on youtube and look up "beginner ukulele", most people either suggest all down strums, dududu, or dduudu.

I'd suggest moving away from "set strum patterns" and just experiment with what feels good with what you're playing. The more you venture away from DDUUDU, the more you create yourself. When my gf asks me what strum pattern I'm using for a song, I literally can't even explain what I'm doing because I'd have to slow it down so much to even pick out what I'm doing.

Kyle23 said:

You can use whatever strum pattern you like. DDUUDU is just the beginner strum that most people learn because not only is it easy, but it sounds great with a lot of songs. If you go on youtube and look up "beginner ukulele", most people either suggest all down strums, dududu, or dduudu.

I'd suggest moving away from "set strum patterns" and just experiment with what feels good with what you're playing. The more you venture away from DDUUDU, the more you create yourself. When my gf asks me what strum pattern I'm using for a song, I literally can't even explain what I'm doing because I'd have to slow it down so much to even pick out what I'm doing.

Click to expand...

I was kind of joking, I am aware there are more strum patterns, and often I dont think of what I am doing.
Often for jazzy tunes with lots of chord changes I just play DDDD, with different emphasis on the chords.

I just kind if had two points:
- It would seem more likely to play dduudud to every song than dudududu as suggested in the post I was commenting
- When I picked up ukulele four years ago, the dduudud got so well embedded in my right hand, that it is often what I go to when I dont think about what I am doing. Often with a chuck on the second beat, but still.

I just finished learning the “Moon River” instructed by Cynthia Lin on YouTube. Her videos are great for beginners (like me) as they’re clear and concise. I can’t remember how many chords were involved but I think it was at least 8 chords.

If you take a basic DUDUDUDU for a measure of 4/4 time, you can make up your own strumming patterns by leaving out one or more of the "D"s and "U"s. Leaving out a "D" gives a more syncopated effect. Your D-DU-UDU strum leaves out an up strum, but the syncopation comes from the missing down stroke.

DU-UD-D- or DUDUDU-U or D-DU-UD-

You can mix 'em up too. Don't feel that you have to keep the same strumming pattern all the way through a song.

Croaky Keith's suggestion to arpeggiate the chords is a good one. You could assign one finger to each string:

TIMRTIMR or TIMIRIMI or TIMR-MIM

Try playing two strings together with your M and R fingers for Peggy Seeger's "lullaby lick". I'll indicate this double stop with a "2": TI2ITI2I

For a waltz, you could play TIMRMI or TI2I2I

You could also try Travis or Cotton pickin' with your thumb on the bottom 2 strings and your index on the 2nd string and middle on the 1st,

TMTITMTI or T-TITMT-

Alternate the thumb between the 4th string on beats 1 and 3 and the 3rd string on beats 2 and 4. You can also introduce some pinches into this style by playing a thumb and finger together. This sounds best on a low G instrument, but can be effective on a high G too.

No need to restrict yourself to D-DU-UDU.

I just learned Home On The Range out of The Daily Ukulele book, and think it is exceptionally pretty for a more lazy strum at the end of the day. Some good variety in chord qualities to keep it interesting to the ear.

Since it is in 3/4 and in the key of D (at least in Jim’s arrangement) it helps me break the monotony of songs in 4/4 and key of C. For strumming it, I like:

D- -uDu
Or
1- -&3&

It feels both lazy and driving, kind of like a drunken waltz.

Edit: I would highly recommend The Daily Ukulele book if you like having hard copies of the music you’re playing. I picked it up for exactly the reason you started this thread. I wanted more easy to moderate songs to play, and it felt like a great challenge to try to do one song per day (the book has 365 songs). YUMV (your uking may vary)