Correct fretting hand techique

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:

I can manage to play without a strap, but not always comfortably as my technique has been more along the lines of classical guitar style and you have to be careful, as it’s hard not to pinch to hard while fretting as you are also trying to support the Uke as well at times, which also creates tension and your fingers can tire after a short while. We are being told that the ukulele is not a classical guitar. It doesn’t have such a wide fingerboard and they feel this technique is well suited to the Ukulele. I will see how it goes. It will take some time to adapt.
 
Just remove your straps and see the change. Strap doesn't change our grips, if you can hold ukulele.



We need good support of our left hands with or without strap. Holding a ukulele is very basic. Swamp Yankee prove us that he can not hold ukulele because his right hand is same as Ohta-san's wrong example.
 
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I had a revealing thought about how difficult it is to play a solo like Van Morrison's Brown eyed girl, with the exact double stops, up and down the fingerboard.

The instrument is light, so it needs full support. Guitar style strap is only one one way, and won't work. Sound hole strap is much better, but still won't really work.

That solo needs lap connection, same as I think the original solo guitarist used too. Despite the heavier box.
 
Hi, Jarmo!

I had a revealing thought about how difficult it is to play a solo like Van Morrison's Brown eyed girl, with the exact double stops, up and down the fingerboard.

The instrument is light, so it needs full support. Guitar style strap is only one one way, and won't work. Sound hole strap is much better, but still won't really work.

That solo needs lap connection, same as I think the original solo guitarist used too. Despite the heavier box.

That is the point of my post. I do not say that strap is bad. Strap may help our play. I just say holding ukulele is very basic. Correct left hand technique is same with or without strap.
 
Hi, Jarmo!

Correct left hand technique is same with or without strap.

No it is not the same at all. Of course the support brings a great freedom that you can't have without a strap. But have a freedom be and able play without a strap is one too.
 
https://youtu.be/wPQK5XOZVdI

This makes a lot of sense to me. A kind of hybrid not totally one way version. He does use the word cradle though which I suppose you would have to do for some stretch chords. It would be difficult to always keep that gap between thumb and bottom of index finger for some stretches.
 
No it is not the same at all. Of course the support brings a great freedom that you can't have without a strap. But have a freedom be and able play without a strap is one too.

I agree totally Jarmo. If you can learn to play with freedom from the start without a strap, then the transition to using a strap should be a lot easier than trying to do it the other way around imo.
 
Just to add another point. I don’t go out and perform, but I may well do one day. If I wasn’t totally confident with my technique to support the Uke comfortably and if I was performing regularly standing up, i think it would have to be a strap. I would also do most of my practice standing up with a strap to keep the consistency.

What these teachers are advising is to learn to play comfortably without a strap first. You may want to go out and perform even while at the beginners stage though and here again I think you have to rely on a strap. At least until you can get comfortable playing what you want to play without one.
 
Herb Ohta senior is one great ukulele player Bill1. I love his playing too.
 
Also with this new approach for me, i feel that i am feeling the bigger muscles of the arm more. You don’t get the tension of just using the small muscles in your thumb and fingers while fretting, which should lead to being able to play for longer. My wrist is also straighter and not contorted anywhere near as much. So this possibly could also help prevent strain injury.

It is sort of a cradle grip without cupping it completely. You are more holding the neck, not squeezing it. If you start by resting the neck on the index finger knuckle near the palm, place it at the crook of the headstock and then just drop your thumb pretty much on the side of the Uke at the top, you will see a gap between your thumb and index. Angle your fingers towards the bridge, like a violin. Between the 1st joint and the 2nd joint from your fingertip it should be fairly flat. You then have a good hold with no tension. You can reach a lot of chords in the first few frets just by moving your fingers. I have tried all types of chords up and down the neck and I have deliberately tried to see how my fretting hand is moving. On some chords that require a stretch I can see the neck wants to move more in the crook of my hand momentarily, but you can revert to the default position.

The main problem I have found with this is that occasionally i am muting the A string with some part of my index finger, depending on what chord i am playing further up the neck. I can adjust slightly and get it to ring clear with either a slightly different angle or by just lifting the neck ever so slightly, just enough to get it away for a split second. The elbow does come out more as well. I have seen it said that it should be close to the body. I’m sure this will just come more naturally after spending some time with this.
 
Just remove your straps and see the change. Strap doesn't change our grips, if you can hold ukulele.

We need good support of our left hands with or without strap. Holding a ukulele is very basic. Swamp Yankee prove us that he can not hold ukulele because his right hand is same as Ohta-san's wrong example.

Huh? Wait, let me rephrase that....
Huh??
 
With both my baritone and my tenor I played without a strap for a few months. Then I added buttons and a strap. Right or wrong I now use a strap on both of them all the time. With a strap your hands are free to move around more without worrying about dropping the instrument. To place my thumb directly behind the fingers on the neck of the ukulele is to cause pain that puts tears into my eyes. Some times my thumb is on the back of the ukulele sticking up above the neck and sometimes my thumb is point towards the tuning pegs. Getting old is not always fun.
 
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 the photo. After following this thread, I’ve decided to try to practice playing Ohta-san’s way, opening up my fretting hand side, and after a few days of making a conscious effort, here are my observations:

-My grip with the fretting hand, keeping the thumb behind the neck, is much more comfortable to maintain. I think my poor technique previously has been due to comfort of my hand when playing with the elbow closer to my body.

-Both proper arm position and grip have made holding the ukulele with the top facing directly away from me infinitely easier and more comfortable. With the “wrong” posture, I frequently was frustrated by how difficult it was to keep the top from pivoting up towards me while playing. With the “right” posture, I have to strain to make that happen; the top wants to face out towards the audience, period.

-What were once difficult chords for me to fret are becoming easier to hit cleanly, largely due to the different attack angle my fingers have when using the right posture. This means my fingers don’t feel crowded on chords like Dm7 as they once did, AND are less likely to be accidentally muting an adjacent string.

So again, thanks for sharing. The one thing I’ll add is that practicing correctly now, after years of doing what was comfortable and wrong, is a serious effort. Thankfully I know from experience that practicing with intention and with repetition can overcome even the most ingrained muscle memory.
 
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:

Good one. I try not to over think it. Same with straps, I can play with them or without. I also try not to get into a "got to" habits, like I got to have a strap or I can't play, or I got to hold my uke exactly like this or I can't play.
 
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