How many thumbers

plunker

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I have notice that some of the members on posted videos use only or mostly their thumb for picking strings, I play like tha, I have tried to learn using all the fingers, but I get frustrated and lazy and revert to thumbing it. I never played guitar, Maybe that has something to do with it. Just curious, how many play like this. Thanks.
 
As I recall, there's a video clip out there, of James Hill doing a very cool slow jazzy tune, using just his thumb. A great example of how effective that approach can be!
 
Yeah, I definitely use mostly my thumb these days and I play mainly fingerstyle stuff.
 
I noticed that many of the professional uke players use the thumb to play leads, so this definitely seems to be preferred technique. I have played guitar for many years and my thumb just wants to do bass and fingers go for the melody, so I find it very tough to switch to pure uke technique. In particular I find upstrokes with the thumb difficult, even for strumming it sounds terrible.
 
I was curious, how many "thumbers" are strickly uke players. Seems like the all the fingers guys started on guitar.
 
I was a PIMA person (I did come from guitar) until I learned a load of tunes out of James Hill's Duets for One book. That totally converted me to thumbing, I am capable of a much wider expressive range using my thumb now I've practised it a lot as well.
 
Depends on the song or even the part of the song. If there's a lot of sequential strings or focusing on a single string, then it's easy to go for the thumb. Also, Jerry's technique and sometimes full PIMA.
 
I was a PIMA person (I did come from guitar) until I learned a load of tunes out of James Hill's Duets for One book. That totally converted me to thumbing, I am capable of a much wider expressive range using my thumb now I've practised it a lot as well.

Just ordered one. Thanks.
 
My first and only string instrument is ukulele. I started in May 2018 and I started strumming with my index and thumb back together (as if holding a pick). Then I started to add thumb strumming and PIMA picking for arpeggios and similar patterns. I have been learning some of Matt Dahlberg's arrangements from RC 101 and Matt's own channel and he likes to play chord melody with his thumb, and I like the sound and expression. It is also easier than to do fingerstyle a la guitar. For Tony Mizen's From Lute to Uke arrangements I do use several fingers for some pieces, but sometimes I still stick with a thumb or index strum. It all depends on the piece and how challenging I find it.

For me they are just different techniques, so I try to learn and use as many as I can.
 
I found PIMA frustrating and couldn't stick with it the couple times I tried starting it. I am better using just the thumb as well as you folks. I have other instruments but the uke is the only one with a fretboard. My first instrument was a clarinet, then I failed at learning guitar, and now I play the uke but lately been spending most of my time on my toy piano. I am looking to get a clarinet again after gifting mine to my niece.
 
I've been learning 3-finger (P, I, M) style mostly. Mostly picking patterns right now. But trying to incorporate the Ring finger at times.

Slowly expanding to finger picking TABs. Using both.
 
Had three years of piano 2 - 4 grade. class had a recital, one girl was a real prodigy. I stuff my music down my pants and told teacher I lost it. After that i pkayed trombone from 5th grade to 1st year college. I had very bad asthma as a kid, doc said it was an excellent breathing exercise. I have the horn, but can't find the lip.
 
I'm in the minority here, but I find the thumb to be extremely awkward. You have to move your arm a lot to get it to move whereas the other fingers can manage their tasks with only a little bit of wrist movement. The ukulele was my first stringed instrument. When I strum I mainly use my middle finger for downstrokes and my thumb for upstrokes. When I finger pick and play scales, I mainly use my index and middle fingers (a sort of modified picado style--without the finesse or erudition). If I play patterns, I usually play PPIM, using the clumsy thumb for the nearby bass strings and allowing the more dexterous fingers to deal with the interior strings.
 
I'm a dulcimer player first, then uke. I first learned to strum the uke with the pad of my index finger, which is still good for a soft and consistent sound. My recollection is that the few uke instruction books I could find at the time (80s) recommended this as the "correct" strumming method. Does anyone else remember that or am I hallucinating? Then I learned a fan stroke with four fingers. I figured out thumb-only strums on my own, but I reserve them for times when I need max volume.

Most of the time these days I default to thumb down (often picking only the G and/or C string) and index up. Which I learned from a reformed guitarist who plays uke now. I pick with three fingers: thumb on G and C strings, index on E and middle on A. I can't get a decent clawhammer going but I learned Pete Seeger's banjo strum: up with the index finger (bum), down with index or middle (did-), and catch the top string with the thumb (-dy). It took a long time to get the hang of travis picking (thumb alternates on the two lowest strings) but I'm glad I did and it does work in re-entrant tuning though obviously you get the more traditional sound with low-G.

Do whatever works for you and enjoy the journey :)
 
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