Correct fretting hand techique

CliveyG

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Is it:
1. classical fingers fairly perpendicular when fretting with thumb directly behind using a sort of pinch grip.

2. neck resting between index finger and palm at the knuckle taking weight of neck, with fingers angled more towards the bridge, thumb towards the top at the back of the neck, not necessarily directly behind fingers.

To me, with the first option you have to be careful not to squeeze to hard and you have to work around supporting the neck.
The second option you have to be careful not to mute the A string when moving up the neck changing chords. Less room to stretch.

Im not talking about barre chords here,

What do you guys do?
 
Option 1. Thumb pad on back of neck, fingers coming down onto fretboard more or less in a vertical attack.
Supporting the uke is done either by balancing it on my lap when seated, or by using a strap.

Any arguments against using straps on ukuleles fall on deaf ears with me. I want maximum freedom with my fretting hand and this is something I can’t do while holding the uke in position with that hand. Clutching a soprano to my side with my elbow just seems to muffle the voice of an instrument that is often already challenged in that respect due to its size.
 
1
But you can vary your technique depending upon chords and their progression.

You will need to use the thumb when you start to get into barre chords.
 
Is it:
1. classical fingers fairly perpendicular when fretting with thumb directly behind using a sort of pinch grip.

2. neck resting between index finger and palm at the knuckle taking weight of neck, with fingers angled more towards the bridge, thumb towards the top at the back of the neck, not necessarily directly behind fingers.

To me, with the first option you have to be careful not to squeeze to hard and you have to work around supporting the neck.
The second option you have to be careful not to mute the A string when moving up the neck changing chords. Less room to stretch.

Im not talking about barre chords here,

What do you guys do?

Hi, CliveyG!

Ohta-san the master of the ukulele opens his side in order to support the neck. Pinch grip in your first option is wrong (see the right figure). I think your second option is similar to his right example (left figure).

 
Hi, CliveyG!

Ohta-san the master of the ukulele opens his side in order to support the neck. Pinch grip in your first option is wrong (see the right figure). I think your second option is similar to his right example (left figure).


Thanks for posting the Ohta-San example. It clearly states that one is wrong and the other is correct. I always thought it to be the other way around.

The wrong example is what I have used from the start in the main. Although I do use the correct example resting the Uke at bottom of index with fretting fingers angled, but i am resting my index just past the nut on the headstock for chords I can reach from there. If I move up the neck resting the neck, the A string will be to close to my index and the string won't have room to ring clear.

I am not talking about using a strap here, because the online course I have just enrolled into, clearly states that people would benefit from holding the Uke without a strap initially. They are using no straps in teaching the lessons either.

It was enrolling on this course that got me thinking about the left hand more. They advocate the correct version in the Ohta-San sample, with fingers more into a claw, as if hanging from the edge of a cliff, fingers angled towards bridge with tips of fingers fretting.
 
1
But you can vary your technique depending upon chords and their progression.

You will need to use the thumb when you start to get into barre chords.

I mainly have the thumb pad pretty much directly behind the fingers I'm using to fret, but I am going to see if I can get down what I am now being taught.

I don't think it's possible to use just one way exclusively through. This new way seems to be good for the first positions and keeps the neck well supported, but I don't find it so good up the fretboard.
 
Option 1. Thumb pad on back of neck, fingers coming down onto fretboard more or less in a vertical attack.
Supporting the uke is done either by balancing it on my lap when seated, or by using a strap.

Any arguments against using straps on ukuleles fall on deaf ears with me. I want maximum freedom with my fretting hand and this is something I can’t do while holding the uke in position with that hand. Clutching a soprano to my side with my elbow just seems to muffle the voice of an instrument that is often already challenged in that respect due to its size.

Thanks for your comment

I totally agree that a strap takes away having to support the neck with the fretting hand. To me, it takes away tension and allows easier more efficient chord transitions, without danger of the Uke slipping into your palm, generally everything is more free.

I get the impression that this school would prefer us to learn to play and support the Uke without a strap, so as we don't need to rely on it.

It amazes me when I see great players such as in the Uke demos on the Ukulele site. They don't need a strap for the majority of the time whilst playing some complicated looking arrangements.
 
I think my hand just fell into 2 because it helped keep the uke in place better for me while changing chords. The thumb straight behind was kind of pushing while I transitioned.
I use strap while standing, but not sitting.
 
For something like Dm7, 2213, it feels most natural for me rest the neck totally so that my thumb points out like a dick, from side of the neck. I understand that a strap would change things and even behind the neck all time would work. I just don't care, I play chords how I want and what suits me best without a strap. I like a safety of a strap though.

Just these persons telling you should do things only one way are mostly all strap guys.

Learning to play without a strap takes definitely some time. It is not that easy. If it is worth is another matter.
 
I was just doing the best I could for all these years without thinking about it. Now you got me all confused and feeling insecure. Thanks alot. :cool:
 
Thanks for your comment Jarmo. I think learning to play anything well without a strap is worth it for me personally. Just need to tinker with the technique a little by having the neck supported between the thumb resting at top side of Uke in the main and somewhere at the bottom of index near the knuckle. There should be a gap between the index and thumb looking side on. So the neck is not cradled.
The fretting fingers are angled towards the bridge, wrist not bent to reach over. I have a tendency to reach around and over the fretboard with straighter fingers than this new to me method.

I had been playing without a strap until recently, but the more I move away from thumb picking the harder it is. I found myself playing with the neck up fairly high while sitting. I wanted to see how it felt with a strap. The strap is great for standing, but i am not yet comfortable using one myself. It would be great not to have to rely on one.
 
I was just doing the best I could for all these years without thinking about it. Now you got me all confused and feeling insecure. Thanks alot. :cool:

Sorry, I seem to have drawn you into my confusion and insecurity :D
 
Just need to tinker with the technique a little by having the neck supported between the thumb resting at top side of Uke in the main and somewhere at the bottom of index near the knuckle. There should be a gap between the index and thumb looking side on. So the neck is not cradled.

When usually playing Dm7, as I described, "cradling" is very much what I do. The other way is thumb behind the neck same as in barre chords that I do too, a few times, depends of a situation. You can't have index finger knuckle contact with it, in my opinion.
 
I guess I just don’t see any point to devoting lots of time learning to play without a strap while standing. I even use them while sitting, especially with sopranos, so I don’t put my back out “hunching” over such a little thing balanced on my lap.

Seems to me the arguments I’ve read against straps seem to boil down to “because it’s tradition” or “because this famous player or that doesn’t use one.”

Those are not on my list of considerations ;)
 
I guess I just don’t see any point to devoting lots of time learning to play without a strap while standing. I even use them while sitting, especially with sopranos, so I don’t put my back out “hunching” over such a little thing balanced on my lap.

Seems to me the arguments I’ve read against straps seem to boil down to “because it’s tradition” or “because this famous player or that doesn’t use one.”

Those are not on my list of considerations ;)

Exactly me :)

Never having been a "follower of fashion", one of the first things I did when I acquired my first ukulele was to fit a strap button and strap. Simply can't manage comfortably without it ;)

YMMV :music:
 
Usually chords like Am, Em, B7 3 finger one are played cradled. Meaning my thumb points out when playing without a strap. G allows the index finger knuckle support too. Main thing is to have the enough support.

Using a strap takes away those problems and then you can always keep your thumb behind the neck if wanting. It is in my mind too difficult do that without strap all the times.
 
I recommend looking at Ohta San's elbows, not just his hands. Its about the position of the entire arm from he shoulder down. Your tendons and muscles just wont work if you hold your arm the wrong way, you need to hold the entire arm so you can get maximum benefit in your fretting hand.
Also a strap wont magically make your fretting hand more flexible all by itself, you still need to hold the uke in a way that allows all your muscles and tendons maximum agility. If you have a uke which you had to save up for, even it is not considered expensive, using a strap when you are a beginner is the best idea if you want to look after your investment. When you are new, you are at the most risk of dropping your new uke onto hard concrete or floorboards.
There is no such thing as a bad way of playing a ukulele, you can do what ever works for you. However, if you have started lessons to learn a genre or technique, you need to follow the teachers instructions and realise that when the teacher calls something "bad technique" it is a barrier to you learning the genre or technique you are studying, it is not a universal comment, it is about learning a particular technique or genre. So if you want to get the most out of a series of lessons, just listen to the teachers and follow the directions and ask them the questions when you have a question.

I understand and appreciate your observations but I am still left wondering why a player should strive to learn a style of playing that involves so many nuances, in both fretting and strumming techniques, all of which are necessary because the player is forced to support the ukulele without a strap. I genuinely see no actual benefit to it from a practical standpoint... in fact, I see a lot of good reasons not to.

I agree that using a strap will not make your fretting hand more agile on its own ... and many players that use straps seem not to update their fretting hand technique at all even though their fretting hand is now freed from the job of supporting the uke. But I firmly believe that using a strap allows the player to more easily develop an agile fretting hand. And I suspect that denying themself the use of a strap might prevent a player from attaining a level of proficiency they might achieve by slinging the dang thing.

Of course if a player is striving to learn to play just like Otha San, then by all means do so. But who is to say that the strapless luminaries of ukedom that we emulate might not be even better players if they learned to use a strap. Sacrilege... I know :rolleyes:
 
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I never play strapless.
Except when wearing a dress like this...

a fave of mine.jpg
 
This Ohta guy seems mostly a thumb strummer and uses it also in melody play. He supports many times uke with his other right hand fingers.
 
I appreciate all of your responses here. I can play with a strap and I think for standing up, they are great if you are performing. I’m fairly new to straps though and I’m not totally comfortable with one personally, I don’t know why.

I will follow the advice of these teachers who are well respected in the ukulele world. They don’t have a problem from what I can see to play anything comfortably without a strap. I will give it a chance and stick with it for a while. They are not against straps at all, but they like us to be able to learn without one so as we don’t have to rely on it too much.
 
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