Hello. I have been playing for about a month now. Very much a newbie. I am looking for a book or website that shows songs with chords and strumming pattern, how many strums for each note.Any help would be appreciated. I know there is a post here with an entire list of books but I have no idea which ones apply to me. Thanks
Book
- Thread starter Mdog25
- Start date
Gary52
Well-known member
It would be helpful to know what type of music you are interested in playing. There are so many options for beginner-level books.
I started with "Jumpin' Jim's Ukulele Tips 'n' Tunes" by Jim Beloff. Mostly old campfire-type songs with some suggested strumming patterns.
Rather that worry about strumming patterns, it's better to work on keeping a steady beat and changing chords in time.
I started with "Jumpin' Jim's Ukulele Tips 'n' Tunes" by Jim Beloff. Mostly old campfire-type songs with some suggested strumming patterns.
Rather that worry about strumming patterns, it's better to work on keeping a steady beat and changing chords in time.
Arcy
Strummin' in the Rain
For books hit up your local library and check out everything ukulele related to see what ticks your boxes. I think the Hal Leonard songbooks mostly have strum patterns, but you really need to peek inside to see which ones are just chords and lyrics, which have tab, and which have notation. The 50 first songs... series is generally pretty good, but make sure you get one that has the format you want. If you're not looking at tab then you may find more variety in guitar books - you'll need to look up the chords separately, but other than the fingering the chords used are the same regardless of instrument (caveat: the easy chords on a guitar and the easy chords on a uke are different)
YouTube tutorials generally will go over a suggested strum pattern, but most chord and lyric sites don't make muich of an attempt at them. The http://UkeSociety.com sheets are the only ones I look at that I know regularly do, and David's been adding tutorials to a lot of his arrangements.
Unless you're trying to match a group, strum patterns are personal preference. You can get away with as simple as a strum per measure, and you can work up to complex ornamentation. The best thing to do is to listen to the song and to experiment to see what sounds right to you. Some songs have a very distinctive beat you'll want to follow. Others can work with just about anything so long as you get the number of beats right (it's rather awkward to throw that fourth beat into a waltz
).
Personally, I find most chord & lyric sheets to be good crib notes but not enough to play the song on their own. You still need to know the song to understand the rhythms and where to (and where not to!) strum
When I'm trying to learn a song I'll loop it in the car and in my office, then try to play along with it at home (and occasionally in the car, but only when parked). Apps that can slow down and repeat sections are very useful, as are ones that can pitch shift the key. I use the Amazing Slow Downer on iOS since it can pull in songs from Spotify. There are oodles of free alternatives if you don't need the specific features of the paid ones.
YouTube tutorials generally will go over a suggested strum pattern, but most chord and lyric sites don't make muich of an attempt at them. The http://UkeSociety.com sheets are the only ones I look at that I know regularly do, and David's been adding tutorials to a lot of his arrangements.
Unless you're trying to match a group, strum patterns are personal preference. You can get away with as simple as a strum per measure, and you can work up to complex ornamentation. The best thing to do is to listen to the song and to experiment to see what sounds right to you. Some songs have a very distinctive beat you'll want to follow. Others can work with just about anything so long as you get the number of beats right (it's rather awkward to throw that fourth beat into a waltz
).Personally, I find most chord & lyric sheets to be good crib notes but not enough to play the song on their own. You still need to know the song to understand the rhythms and where to (and where not to!) strum
When I'm trying to learn a song I'll loop it in the car and in my office, then try to play along with it at home (and occasionally in the car, but only when parked). Apps that can slow down and repeat sections are very useful, as are ones that can pitch shift the key. I use the Amazing Slow Downer on iOS since it can pull in songs from Spotify. There are oodles of free alternatives if you don't need the specific features of the paid ones.
One of the best resources I have found for learning strums is the Ukulele Hunt e-book "How to Play Ukulele Strums". I bought my copy by using the link on Baz' Gotaukulele.com website.
Inexpensive and he shows videos on how to do it and has links to several song videos for each pattern.
Inexpensive and he shows videos on how to do it and has links to several song videos for each pattern.
Hm.. I think having a good book to learn rudiments of musical theory is beneficial for a good guitar player but it's not mandatory. You'd rather find something more interesting . I'd rather order an article to learn firgue out something that bothers me.
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