Fingerpicking + Singing

I recently picked up the ukulele and I love playing while singing.
I'm also interested in learning some more complicated stuff like fingerpicking but everything I find is for fingerpicking the melody, whereas I want to sing the melody and use the ukulele to accompany myself.

Are there any resources for songs I can sing while playing the ukulele in a more interesting way than just strumming?
Or is this something that isn't really written down anywhere and people figure out themselves from chord songbooks? :/

Some songs come with picking pattern tablature others just have a description of what strings to pick, for example I like this one for Halleluja
https://qcukes.com/music2/music.php?action=Song&song=Hallelujah

The pattern then just repeats over and over. It's also handy to memorize a few patterns and then use them as you like. Sometimes I just noodle around and make up my own on the fly.

Look up "Travis Picking" - at a high level you play the song's chords but arpeggiate them to pick each string of the chord separately with a pattern.
https://www.bing.com/search?q=ukulele+travis+picking

Arcy said:

Look up "Travis Picking" - at a high level you play the song's chords but arpeggiate them to pick each string of the chord separately with a pattern.
https://www.bing.com/search?q=ukulele+travis+picking

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^ This was also what first came to my mind.

merlin666 said:

Some songs come with picking pattern tablature others just have a description of what strings to pick, for example I like this one for Halleluja
https://qcukes.com/music2/music.php?action=Song&song=Hallelujah

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Thanks for the link! I've just been trying it out and it sounds really good, although I think I'll have to try it with a capo because it gets so low.

Thanks Arcy and jer!
I hadn't heard of travis picking before but it looks perfect for what I want to do.

A whole bunch of patterns posted on this site. I think he is also a member here :
https://liveukulele.com/lessons/picking-patterns/

Mike $ said:

Finger picking can be pretty easy when you get the hang of it. Do a little research on Banjo Rolls to see how they are all played. The TITM roll is very useful for accompanying many songs. you pick alternating your thumb (T) between the 3rd and 4th strings while picking the 1st string with your middle finger (M) and the second string with your index finger (I). Some others worth looking into are the forward/reverse rolls, the forward roll and the backward roll. These are all very common and used in banjo and guitar picking. I don't know what Uke players call them because I have heard strum patterns referred to as rolls. Travis picking is a wonderful way to pick melody and harmony at the same time. Freight Train is the classic beginner introduction to Travis picking. It's easy and fun to sing. If you want a tab and/or standard notation for that, I can make a beginner one for you to sink your teeth into. Good luck.

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Hey, thanks so much. You've given me lots of things to look up. I'm not really familiar with a lot of traditional songs so I really appreciate being told a good beginner's song. I've had a look on youtube for Freight Train and it looks like I should be able to figure it out myself but thanks anyway^^

You may want to check out Sarah Maisel and Craig Chee's website, YouTube postings and their online classes. Another person to check out is Diane Nalini. In each case, their ukulele play supports their vocals beautifully.

http://craigandsarah.com/

https://www.dianenalini.com/

All three are outstanding instructors.

Bluesy.

Here is a short tutorial from the Ukulele Underground website: https://ukuleleunderground.com/courses/fingerpicking-basics/singing-and-fingerpicking/

Fingerpicking isn't that unlike strumming in as much as its about patterns.
You pick a strumming pattern for a song. You pick a fingerpicking pattern for a song. It does/can get far more complicated than that but it doesn't have to.

There are two basic ways to pick. You can alternate pick, ie, thumb ,fingers, thumb, fingers, or you can pinch pick, thumb +fingers, thumb + fingers. When your getting serious, you do both at the same time.
Sometimes/often alternate picking gets given the name Travis picking. If your being serious (and I'm kind of a serious fellow), Travis picking is more than just alternate picking and it has its own specific characteristics which you could look into if you wanted to. For my money, RIGHT hand damping (picking hand) of the strings is fundamental to Travis picking. If your not right hand damping, then your not Travis picking, just alternate picking.
A lot of famous old black country blues guys were doing what's called "Piedmont picking". Piedmont picking rings out and isn't dampened the way that Travis picking is.

Anyway, alternate picking is a good place to start.
It's thumb, fingers, thumb, fingers and first up you need to decide just how many fingers you are going to use.
Merle Travis only used thumb + one finger, more or less. Using thumb and two fingers is common and this works on a ukulele as the thumb plays the two bass strings and one finger each for the high strings.
For some songs I play a thumb and three fingers pattern. Usually for a 3/4 time song.

TO start with try this. (for gCEA) Play the g string with your thumb, then pluck both the E and A with your fingers together, then play the C string with your thumb, then play both E and A strings with your fingers.
You will be playing an 8 measures/notes to the bar pattern. The thumb plays the 1,3,5 and 7. Your fingers play the 2,4,6 and 8.
This is just the start.

Mike $ said:

Finger picking can be pretty easy when you get the hang of it. Do a little research on Banjo Rolls to see how they are all played. The TITM roll is very useful for accompanying many songs. you pick alternating your thumb (T) between the 3rd and 4th strings while picking the 1st string with your middle finger (M) and the second string with your index finger (I). Some others worth looking into are the forward/reverse rolls, the forward roll and the backward roll. These are all very common and used in banjo and guitar picking. I don't know what Uke players call them because I have heard strum patterns referred to as rolls. Travis picking is a wonderful way to pick melody and harmony at the same time. Freight Train is the classic beginner introduction to Travis picking. It's easy and fun to sing. If you want a tab and/or standard notation for that, I can make a beginner one for you to sink your teeth into. Good luck.

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Freight Train as in Elizabeth Cotten?! Beginner?! Her fingerpicking sounds so intricate to me. I'm a beginner and imagined it taking years to get to that level. I'd be very interested in a beginner tab/notation.

Try doing arpeggios on the strings instead of strumming the same chords. Cant Help falling in Love with You is a good placde to start.

Mike $ said:

. Freight Train is the classic beginner introduction to Travis picking. It's easy and fun to sing. If you want a tab and/or standard notation for that, I can make a beginner one for you to sink your teeth into. Good luck.

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DLB said:

Freight Train as in Elizabeth Cotten?! Beginner?! Her fingerpicking sounds so intricate to me. I'm a beginner and imagined it taking years to get to that level. I'd be very interested in a beginner tab/notation.

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Yes. There's nothing beginner about Freight Train and it's most definitely not an introduction song for Travis picking because its not even Travis picking to begin with.
It's Piedmont picking.

Elizabeth Cotten is displaying quite a degree of hand independence in being able to alternate pick plus pinch pick at will.
This is advanced picking and claiming that its easy is just the kind of bum steer some people find amusing to give.

First up you learn to alternate pick, then you learn to do some pinch picking here and there, then you learn to do both alternate and pinch picking simultaneously on the fly.

It is always a case of semantics, but to me finger picking is a pattern played over chords and plucking notes is melody. Pickin' and a grinnin' is much more than plucking out a melody.

My apologies if I'm repeating others since I haven't read the whole thread.

Here are a couple of thumb-style (Cotten Pickin' or Travis Pickin') patterns. Mix 'em up so it doesn't get boring. As long as you keep the thumb going on the beat, make up some of your own variations.
____M_______M______ _M________M___
_________I_______I__ _______I________
______T_______T____ _____T________T_
__T________T_______ __T______T______

Here are some banjo rolls:
___M____M_____M_ ___M___M_____M____
_T_____I_____I____ _I___T______I______
_________________ ___________________
_____T_____T_____ __________T_____T__

some arpeggios:
__________R________ ______R_______R__This one's called the "Lullaby Lick" by Peggy Seeger, shown below in waltz time (the middle one)
______M_______M___ ______M_______M____
____I____I___I____I_ ____I____I___I____I__
__T________________ __T_______T________

In waltz time:
_______R______ ______R__R____ ___R_________
_____M___M___ ______M__M___ ______M___M___
___I________I__ ____I___I___I__ ________I____I_
_T____________ __T___________ __T____________

Mike $ said:

Hi DLB, I see you have been playing a few years. I have a relatively simple arrangement for someone interested in Travis Style. It is not really intended for people just starting to learn an instrument, it is for beginners to Travis picking. I don't really want to get into an argument about what style Libby Cotton is picking because i'm not offering a transcription of her playing. I will send you a Tab that I arranged for Ukulele using basic Travis techniques (alternating bass line for your thumb with a melody line for your index finger). The pdf is too large to add to this post, but if you can PM me with your email, I will be happy to send it. I think you're going to like it. Good luck and have fun,
Mike

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Hi Mike, could you please send me your Travis picking tab of Freight Train? I wonder what key is it in.

Thanks
Mirek
drpatek@centrum.cz

Using thumb and two fingers is common and this works on a ukulele as the thumb plays the two bass strings and one finger each for the high strings.

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Thank you for detailed description of picking approaches. Though I would not call any ukulele strings "bass". Even the lowest G note on a linear tenor uke is where the trebles of a guitar start. Any bassy notes will need to be supplied by a different instrument. Nonetheless fingerpicking uke is a lot of fun and it's characteristics as instrument really shine when re-entrant tuning is used.