Struming question

Good morning everyone... or afternoon.

There is something in my uke method book that I don't understand. They, in the book, are showing me how to strum with my finger and my thumb. The pattern is quite simple. I just have to repeat : down, down, down, down, down, up, down. The time signature is 4/4 . There is also a graphic to explain how to do it.

F F F T F F
1 2 a 3 & 4

Here is my question: What the %@#$ is the "a" stand for ?

The graphic is used to illustrate the timing. The time signature being 4/4, you will count 1 2 3 4 / 1 2 3 4 etc. The (a and & ) /both mean the same thing, the up beat or off beat of the count. If you tap your foot to that beat, your foot goes down on the number, and up on the off beat. For example 1& 2& 3& 4& / dn-up dn-up dn-up dn-up. Your pattern shows the up beat of 1 and the up beat of 4 to be silent (not strummed).
I will try to show it using red for the silent parts of the beat. 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & / 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & .
As for why the use of "a", maybe there is something in your book about it, of maybe just a typo ???

Thanks for the information. I understand how the timing works. But like you said, the "a" must be the same thing as the "&". Because there is no other information about it. Thank you for your time. I appreciate it.


Josh

Does the same thing show up in other songs, too ?

No it doesn't. And there is no explanations in the other pages of the book...

The a is for a sixteenth note. Basically you have your 4 beats in a measure: 1 2 3 4 You can subdivide that to 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &. Still following me? Good!

You can further subdivide it to 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a. So essentially what your book is telling you to do is this rhythm: quarter note, double dotted quarter note, sixteenth note, eighth note, eighth note, eighth note. That probably doesn't make much sense, but I'll see if I can't get a sound file up.

EDIT: Here's a link to me clapping the rhythm: http://bit.ly/cfX0HU