Can anyone help me understand the "beat" pattern hear?

Elysium82

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Hey guys,

I don't even know what the term is. I use "beat pattern" in the title, but that might be far from what it is.

Basically, I am trying to understand is that using the 4/4 beat measures, what each strum represents.

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Here is the video (starts at 00:26): https://youtu.be/jR7FAlyJvJc

NOTE. No, I am not trying to make her popular. She is already popular and wouldn't need my help. I am just a newbie who is seriously committed to this "learn the ukulele while the virus is raging outside" idea.

I'd say:

1-D 2-DU 3-D 4-UD= 4/4, right?

1-U 2-UDU 3-UDU, but then there isn't a 4th here.

It feels like I know what I am doing, but I would like to understand the theory behind it.

Thanks.
 
In 4/4 the 18th notes are most often counted using the word "and" between the 1/4 note beats.
So eight 1/8th notes would be thought of as 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and. or 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &.

The pattern (at least in the first section) has 1/8 notes that are tied across the beats. This moves the accented or notes played with emphasis to the "ands".

notes01.jpg

Written in notation it would look like this.

The G7 chord is played on the last (4th) and of the first bar, and held over to the and of beat 1 in bar 2.
 
4/4 or C (common time) means four beats per measure. 4 quarter notes. One measure is between the vertical lines: |1, 2, 3, 4| Strum: D, D, D, D
But you can have 1/8th notes as well. It takes the same total time to play: |1&, 2&, 3&, 4&| Strum: DU, DU, DU, DU
You can have variations of this: D DU DU DU; D D DU DU; D D D DU; U D DU DU; D DU U DU; etc. ALL of these take the same amount of time, 4 beats, to play.

In some, you drop the down stroke and play the up: D-, -U, DU, D-. (I stuck a dash in where you don't play the stroke.) You still move your hand up and down at a constant 4/4 time, but play the strings only when indicated. Play the Down lift for the Up; Lift for the Down Play the Up; Play both Down & Up; Play the Down lift for the Up; Repeat.

So, if you tap your foot: One, two, three, four. When you raise your foot it's the equivalent of the "and". Tap and, tap and, tap and, tap and. (1&, 2&, 3&, 4&) Some teachers suggest that you "ALWAYS" tap your foot to the beat as you play. That way you don't get confused and lose your way during the more complex strums.

Notice Bernadette's hand is always moving up and down in a steady way. It never changes. La Bamba:

|D- DU DU DU|-U DU -U DU|D- DU DU DU|-U DU -U DU|

All of the chord changes are taking place in the first & third measures. (I can't indicate them in the above They all collapse to the left.)
Play "C" at the first Down; Change to "F" at the third beat Down (it's a DU); Change to the "G7" at the last Up in the first measure. (it's in the last DU); continue "G7" for the entire second measure. Change back to "C" at the beginning D in the third measure and repeat.

The real lesson is that your chord changes can occur anywhere, but you still maintain the beat as you play.
 
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Hey Elysium, let me tell you what I was told. I was told that a standard bar has 8 strums in it:

1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and

The numbers are the down strokes and the "ands' are the upstroke.

Now, the trick is to robotically move the hand up and down without ever changing. You need to practice this, until your hand is a never changing up-down machine.

Once you have that perfected, then you just have to realize that, although your arm is always moving, sometimes you don't engage the strings.

For example, consider the uud (up, up, down strum pattern). In this instance, you strum down (but don't touch any strings), upstrum, downstrum (but don't touch any strings), upstrum, downstrum.

So, your arm is always moving in 1/8 notes, but sometimes you engage the strings, sometimes you don't.
 
Simplest way to deal with this is to mute your strings, i.e. cover them with your left hand, and strum along with the video. Forget about the chords for the time being, and just get your hand moving with hers, and your rhythm corresponding to hers. It's like a picture being worth a thousand words. Your eyes and ears will guide you. That's much easier than trying to understand some written out explanation of what to do.

PS: And when you've "got it" using this method, then you can write it down for yourself if you wish. Looking back on your own written description will make much more sense to you later on than re-reading someone else's.
 
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