Pop Rock Ukulele Volume I

Pop & Rock Ukulele Volume I: Strumming Credit Note: ©2014 by Elisabeth Pfeiffer Pfeiffer ISBN-13: 978-1505774825 / ISBN-10: 1505774829 Title: Pop & Rock Ukulele Author: Elisabeth Pfeiffer Layout, Score and Photo-Illustrations: Photo-Illustrations: Elisabeth Pfeiffer Pfeiffer Editing: Kathleen Logan-Taylor Cover-Design: Cover-Design: Sorin Radulescu Font: Gafata by Lautaro Hourcade Picture 17, “Right Hand“ by Freepik licensed by CC BY 3.0, edited by Elisabeth Pfeiffer Pfeiffer Publisher: Elisabeth Pfeiffer Ablestr.23 84508 Burgkirchen, Germany Audio Recordings and Mastering: Elisabeth Pfeiffer Pfeiffer Ukulele: by Susing’s Guitars, Abuno, Pajac Lapulapu City 6015, Cebu Philippines Recorded December 2014 Printed by CreateSpac CreateSpacee

Pop & Rock Ukulele Volume I: Strumming Credit Note: ©2014 by Elisabeth Pfeiffer Pfeiffer ISBN-13: 978-1505774825 / ISBN-10: 1505774829 Title: Pop & Rock Ukulele Author: Elisabeth Pfeiffer Layout, Score and Photo-Illustrations: Photo-Illustrations: Elisabeth Pfeiffer Pfeiffer Editing: Kathleen Logan-Taylor Cover-Design: Cover-Design: Sorin Radulescu Font: Gafata by Lautaro Hourcade Picture 17, “Right Hand“ by Freepik licensed by CC BY 3.0, edited by Elisabeth Pfeiffer Pfeiffer Publisher: Elisabeth Pfeiffer Ablestr.23 84508 Burgkirchen, Germany Audio Recordings and Mastering: Elisabeth Pfeiffer Pfeiffer Ukulele: by Susing’s Guitars, Abuno, Pajac Lapulapu City 6015, Cebu Philippines Recorded December 2014 Printed by CreateSpac CreateSpacee

Pop Po p & R ock ock Ukulele Volume I: Strumming Strumming Download Download More than 100 free audio-tracks free audio-tracks for Practicing Basic Basic and Advanced Advanced Strumming in 4/4, 3/4 and 6/8 Easy and Easy and Basic Chords Chords How to How to Apply Strumming to popular Songs About the author Elisabeth Elisabeth Pfeiffer majored in classical in  classical guitar,  guitar, both at Lawrence University, Appleton, WI, USA and Hochschule für Musik, Musik, Würzburg, Germany, where Germany, where she graduated in 2007. On a trip around the world, which lasted over 10 months, she got to know to know and love the Ukulele. Elisabeth Elisabeth spent more than ten years teaching guitar playing and thanks to that experience experience she is now now able to spend her time exploring innovative aspects of the ukulele. She plays arrangements from Renaissance Renaissance music to Jazz and is working on expanding the solo repertoire for the ukulele with her own arrangements and compositions.

Acknowledgement It would have been impossible to finish this first publication without the help of a few people. I want to thank these people from the bottom of my heart: Joseph, without your encouragement and inspiration I would never have started. Jessy, Jessy, without your willingness to be a model, no one would know how to hold the ukulele. Konrad, for your all your suggestions and your uncompromising friendship. Marcus, for everything. PREFACE 7 INTRODUCTION 9 CHAPTER 1 - FRETTING HAND BASICS  10 1.1 HOLDING THE UKULELE 10 1.2 EXERCISES FOR YOUR FRETTING HAND  11 1.3 CHORDS IN 1ST POSITION 16 CHAPTER 2 - BASIC STRUMMING  19 2.1 STRUMMING IN 4/4 23 2.2 STRUMMING IN 3/4 38 2.3 STRUMMING IN 6/8 44 CHAPTER 3 - ADVANCED ADVANCED STRUMMING  47 3.1 STRUMMING ON 16TH-NOTES 47 3.2 FLAMENCO TECHNIQUES 53 3.3 STRUMMING WITH “SPECIAL EFFECTS” 66 3.4 STRUMMING IN SONGS 72 APPENDIX 76 P ARTS OF THE UKULELE 76 HOLDING THE UKULELE 78 WHICH UKULELE? 81

DIFFERENT WAYS OF TUNING 83 PRACTICING WITH A  METRONOME 87

USEFUL ACCESSORIES 90 DOWNLOAD THE AUDIO-TRACKS  96

Preface The Ukulele has gained enormous popularity during the last few years. The Hawaiian Jake Shimabukuro exposed the Ukulele with his Arrangement of George Harrisons “While my guitar gently weeps”, which went viral on YouTube. Ever since then he has become very successful and has inspired others to dedicate time to the instrument. George Harrison himself said the following about the Ukulele decades ago: “Everyone should have a UKE. It’s so simple to carry with you and its one instrument that you can’t play and not laugh. “

Introduction It is fun to play the Ukulele; for ourselves and our audience alike. We forget everything around us, when we practice and find ourselves completely absorbed in the sound of the instrument. The word ukulele means, “Jumping flee” and is today most known for its defining part in Hawaiian music. Listening to it, you immediately picture palm trees and white beaches. The ukulele originates from a version of the Portuguese guitar, called Braguinha. This Portuguese guitar is still prominently used in the Portuguese Fado. Back in the day the Braguinha, which employed steelstrings, was brought to the new world by Portuguese sailors and modified, so that it could be stringed with gut strings made from cat gut. Of course, today we play it with nylon strings, but there are a few companies, such as Aquila, who try to imitate the sound of gut strings, these are still widely used in socalled “early music“, using synthetic materials. Over time, different tunings and various models of the ukulele have evolved. You can find more information on that in the appendix. This book-series Rocking Ukuleleis about different aspects of pop- and rock-music and how they can be applied to the ukulele. Therefore I have divided the series into different parts that deal with different topics: Volume I: Strumming Volume II: Picking Volume III: Chords & Chord-Voicing’s Volume IV: Solo& Improvisation

The first two volumes concentrate on techniques for the picking hand and use mostly easy and basic chords for the fretting hand. Volume III and IV then cast a broader light on different aspects of the fretting hand. The ukulele is an instrument we often connect with limitations. These need to be broadened and opened. Apart from unusual keys, bar chords and altered chords, we’ll look at chord structures in higher positions, different voicing’s and concepts for improvisation. The appendices of the different volumes give crucial clues and tools for learning, playing and holding the ukulele, recommendations to for further reading and listening, as well as advice for practicing difficult techniques. In addition you will learn what you should take into consideration when buying a ukulele. You can download the audio-tracks for every volume online. You will find instructions and the link for the Dropbox folder in the appendix. Well, then, all that’s left to say is; Have Fun! Elisabeth

Chapter 1 - Fretting Hand Basics Before we dive into the main topic of this book, let’s look at some basics for your fretting hand. The photos will help you to master the different aspects and you might want to consider practicing in front of a mirror to better control your technique. 1.1 Holding the Ukulele Holding the Ukulele is not as simple, as it may at first seem. Its size and the guitar-like shape are crucial factors in finding one’s personal playing position. Sitting or standing makes a big difference. In the appendix, you can find information on different aids and tools that can help you find a good and, above all, relaxed playing position. In a good playing position both hands have the maximum of freedom and range of movement. When playing the ukulele one hand must always be on the instrument, which can lead to destabilization when you want to perform complex movements. The focus in this book, however, is on strumming patterns for the strumming hand. So, keep looking for a position where the main weight or the center of the ukulele can stay mainly on your legs, when you’re sitting, or will be held by a strap, when you’re standing. Your fretting hand should not contribute much to stabilization and under no circumstances “grab” or “carry” the ukulele. Look at the picture and experiment with finding your own position. In the appendix you’ll find more detailed information.

 Image 1 -Sitting Image2- Standing

1.2 Exercises for your fretting hand At first, it can be difficult to place your fingers on all the notes that are needed. This can result in unpleasant sounds like buzzes and scratches. Sometimes that’s only because you’re not pressing the best spot (look at the pictures and imagine yourself placing “from above”, rather than “parallel to the strings”.

 Image3 –“parallel“

Image 5 – “parallel“

 Image4–“from above“

Image 6 – “from above“

Each hand-position can be quite different, depending on the particular situation. Sometimes “parallel” is better than “from above”. Try to find the appropriate position for every chord and don’t be afraid to change your approach after a while, when you realize, that a different position would be more comfortable. When you’re not very experienced yet in how forcefully you have to press on the string, the result can also be buzzes or other sounds. You’ll need a little bit of patience and it’s best to test every chord note systematically for problems. Before we’ll try your first chords, I recommend doing an exercise that has been very helpful to me, not only in my years teaching the guitar, but also during my time in college. It may appear really simple at first, but it has a wonderful relaxing effect on the fingers of the fretting hand, which learn right from the start, to move on their own, without having to

produce a perfect sound immediately. The exercise is “silent”: Place your fingers in the so-called “Four-Finger-Position”. That means, place the four fingers of your fretting hand on the same string, one fret of the ukulele at a time, next to each other. It doesn’t really matter on which fret your index finger is placed.

 Image 8 Image 7 & 8 – Four-Finger-Position

Start to tap each finger on its own on its fret. You should imagine the finger “falling” against the fret board. You may hear a sound, but in the beginning this will most likely be silent. The exercise is about leading the finger in as relaxed a manner as possible back to its position on the fret board. That way it’ll learn to move on its own. Count to eight while tapping, so you’re tapping each finger the same amount of repetitions. You can see that the thumb is placed between the index finger and the middle finger. The thumb is placed on this spot for orientation. It fixates your hand in a certain position, but the thumb is never pressing against the fingers. The fingers are rather “hanging” from the neck of the ukulele, by the weight of the arm.

 Image 10

 Image

 Image 12 Image 9 – 12 – Tapping exercise for the fretting hand

This exercise can be quite difficult at first. Just try to pick up the ukulele again and again in a rather casual way and you’ll see that it’ll get easier and easier. This exercise is most efficient if you’re doing it several times a day then you can put in just one repetition. If you’re only doing the exercise before and after practice, you should do at least two repetitions each time. You’ll see that the fingers of your hand will have an easier time every day to move and hit the frets on the right spot. You’ll see in the next chapter that I haven’t used full chords for learning the strumming patterns. Especially in the beginning I’ve used easy chords, so you’ll just have to place one or two fingers of your fretting hand at a time. Try to place your fingers accurately and don’t mute empty strings. Place your fingertips rather straight on the fret board and don’t use the flat part of the first phalanx. Try to practice that also in the tapping exercise.

1.3 Chords in 1st position This is only a collection of the most important chords in 1st position. I’ve incorporated the most common keys, so you can play lots of popular songs. I’m using the standard tuning of the ukulele: G-C-E-A. The appendix contains information on different ways of tuning the ukulele. The fingering of the chords can change, depending on the musical context. For some chords I’ve included common fingering alternatives. The fingers of the fretting hand are called: 1. Finger index finger 2. Finger middle finger 3. Finger ring finger 4. Finger pinky The circle in the chord diagrams indicates an open string that is sounding in the chord. The thumb is not named. Place it in as relaxed a manner as possible, across from the

middle finger, on the neck of the ukulele. Note how the position of the thumb can change slightly with each chord, depending on what is necessary for it. Take time to find a good position for the thumb and practice it for some time. This will rule out lots of problems with the fretting hand from the start and will enable you to play for longer periods of time.

Or

Or

Chapter 2 - Basic Strumming The ukulele is mostly used to accompany songs. Very often you’ll sing yourself or you will be playing with another singer or musician. You’ll need strumming patterns for that. Today, we know those patterns mostly from rock- and pop-guitar, but they actually have been used on string instruments since their invention. The lute was “strummed” 600 years ago and the ukulele is a close relative of the lute (closer actually than the guitar). We’ll look at strumming patterns that are among the most common patterns used today. You can use them basically in every song you’ll ever hear in Rock or Pop. Of course, sometimes the original strumming patterns are more complicated. We’ll look at those kinds of patterns and the concepts behind them in Chapter 3, but generally, those first patterns are all you’ll ever need. CCENTS IN DIFFERENTMETERS

Before we get to the strumming patterns, we should briefly explore the different meters or measures. Meter is the time structure of music, organized in bars with “strong” (accented) and “weak” (not accented) beats. There are different ways to play those beats on the ukulele. For now, we will do it like this: Strong beats are stroked downwards with the fingernail of the index finger (think “away from your body”). Weak beats are played with the nail of the thumb upwards (think “towards your body”). On the weak beats it’s not necessary to hit all strings. It is sufficient to play just two or three strings. In the strumming patterns you’ll see when you play “away from yourself” and when you play       “towards your body”. This sounds a bit complicated but take a look at the pictures below to help you understand. Note that both strumming moves happen with the nail side of the fingers. If you use your fingertip to strum the strings, you’ll have a very different sound. At the end of Chapter 3 we’ll look at strumming patterns that employ different tone colours. Of course, you can try out different ways of strumming now and take note of the different colours you can produce.

 Image 13– “away“

 Image14– “away“

 Image15– “towardsme“

 Image16– “towardsme“  ACCENTS

IN DIFFERENTMETERS

Before we get to the strumming patterns, we should briefly explore the different meters. We’ve seen that the strong beats are played with a down stroke and the weak beats are played with an up stroke. Each meter has accents on top of that, that show the character of that particular meter. The musical sign for accent is >>. I’ve used it in the following examples to mark the actual natural accents of a meter in a bar. Each type of meter and notation is explained briefly in the corresponding parts of the book. If you’re interested in the basics of music theory, you’ll find lots of explanations on note lengths and how to read music online.

You can see an accent on “one” and “three” in the 4/4 bar above. Naturally the 4/4-bar has two accents. If you’ve been to a Bierfest or some other German party, you will have noticed people (especially in Germany) clap in a 4/4-meter on One and Three.

The 3/4 meter has only one accent, on the 1. This accent produces the characteristic waltz sound.

The 6/8-meter has two accents. That makes for the special kind of swing in this type of meter. As you can see, every meter is accented on the 1. That is always the strongest accent in the bar. If there are two accents in a bar, the second one is always weaker than the first. When you listen to the audio-tracks and play along with them, listen for the different “feels”. These accents are “natural”. They are usually not indicated, but rather taken for granted. Therefore I will write accents only, when the accent is on a beat, which is normally not stressed.

2.1 Strumming in 4/4 The notes with the solid black head and a stem are called “quarter note”. In a 4/4-meter, four of them fit into a bar. One bar is separated from the other by a bar line and you can see the meter indicated at the beginning of each piece. In the first strumming pattern you can see this basic structure of the 4/4 bar. We only play

strong beats. There are four down strokes (one on each beat) in each bar. Count 1 – 2 – 3 –  4.  In Strumming 1.a you can see two bars in a 4/4 meter, filled with four quarter notes each.

In the first line you can see the musical notes that sound. The second line is a so-called tablature. “0” stands for open strings. That means that in this example, you don’t have to do anything with your fretting hand (Later “1” indicates “pressing the 1st fret”, “3” pressing the 3rd fret, etc.). The line below shows how to count. Then you can see the rhythm of the strumming in rhythm notation (this rhythm is, of course, identical with the rhythm in the first line, but doesn’t have defined pitches). And on the bottom, you see the actual strumming. In this case all the arrows indicate a direction from the G-string to the A-string and appear “up”. You strum with the nail of you index finger “away from yourself”. Play SStrumming 2.1a and count aloud. In the audio-track you’ll hear the example played two times. The colon at the end of the row indicates “repetition”.

If you’d like to use your fretting hand right away, check out Strumming 2.1a 1.

Here the 1st finger is placed on the 1st fret of the E-string and the 2nd finger is placed later on the 2nd fret of the C-string. The 1st finger stays on its spot for the whole example. If it’s still too hard for you to play with both hands at the same time, you can skip Strumming 2.1a 1and Strumming 2.1b 1for now and come back to it later on.

The next strumming pattern is the basis of all other patterns. Instead of just playing down strokes, like in Strumming 1.a, we’ll play alternate down and up strokes. Remember to use the nail of the index finger for down strokes and the nail of the thumb for up strokes. If that’s too hard for you, you can use the tip of your index finger for the up stroke (but you’ll get two different tone colours). You can see two bars of that pattern in SStrumming 2.1b: (Count “1and 2 and 3 and 4 and“)

If you like using your fretting hand, you can play S Strumming 2.1b 1.

Strumming 2.1c combines this pattern with an easy job for the fretting hand. Take a look at the tablature and the music.

The last examples had eight eighth notes in each bar. Almost all basic strumming patterns are constructed from a combination of quarter notes and eighth notes. It’s important to keep moving and your strumming hand going the whole time. Basically, we take Strumming 2.1band “miss” the strings sometimes. This is all about rhythms therefore I’ve not written music and tabs for most patterns. If no chords are indicated above the pattern, I’m using the C major chord on the audio-tracks. Strumming 2.1d shows you one way:

Now, count aloud with the audio-track before attempting to play along with the ukulele. Place your fretting hand across the strings to mute them complete and play the strumming pattern without a ringing sound. That way you can hear the rhythm more clearly and completely concentrate on the strumming hand. Of course you can practice every strumming pattern muted, before playing chords with your fretting hand. When you feel, you’ve mastered the strumming you can add the chords from Strumming 2.1c You’ll notice that those strumming patterns can be repeated indefinitely. Don’t be discouraged if you’re losing the rhythm at first. Play along with the audio-tracks. Strumming 2.1e shows the most important strumming pattern, if you want to play popular

songs for friends, on beaches or at parties:

You don’t play on beat 3. But your hand still has to perform a strumming movement, a down stroke, so you can accomplish two up strokes in a row (beat 2+ and 3+). The italic arrow indicates this “silent” movement. Of course, we could indicate all “silent” movements (i.e. also on 1+ and 4+) like that. But that would quickly be quite confusing. I’m indicating the movement in this case, because being aware of the movement on this spot is very important and will help you master the strumming pattern in no time. Listen to the rhythm. I’m sure you’ve heard it played before by guitarists. SStrumming 2.1f is basically the same. The only difference is that on beat 4+ there is an additional stroke.

The last two strumming patterns are absolutely interchangeable and lots of players change very freely, but also unconsciously between them. It often depends on whether or not a chord change is happening in the next bar. Lots of players skip the last eight note of a bar, if there’s a chord change for the fretting hand coming up. That way, they can create more time for an unnoticeable change. Do you remember the basic chords from the last chapter? Now we combine the strumming patterns with different chords. One chord is played until the next one is coming up. You can see that in the music and the tabs of Strumming 2.1f. If you’re having trouble with the notated chords, you can practice the chords first with a different strumming pattern, i.e  . Strumming 2.1dor even Strumming 2.1a. There’s a short and a long version to try playing along to.

Strumming 2.1f-1 (8 bars)

Strumming 2.1f – 2 (16 bars)

Lots of songs use a combination between Strumming 2.1f/eand Strumming2.1d. This happens most often, when a chord change is happening in the middle of a bar. SStrumming 2.1g shows you how it works:

In the second bar you can see a change from Am(7) to G on beat 3. Find more information on chord denominations in  Rock- and Pop-Ukulele- Volume III: Chords and Chord-Voicing’s. Here, all I want to say is that the G-string of the ukulele is reflected as “7” in Am7. I’ve chosen this chord, because it gives you a chance to prepare for the G chord that is coming up. Try to place the three notes of the G chord as exactly and as simultaneously, as possible. This can be hard at first. Take your time and be patient while practicing! The following strumming patterns will enable you to practice the chords C, Am, F and G in different combinations. You can repeat the examples as often as you like, or you can just play along with the audio-tracks. Strumming 2.1h is very similar to Strumming 2.1g. Try to play smoothly without pauses:

The Am chord is played normally here. Go back to chapter 1.3 and have a look at the chord fingerings once more. In most cases the 4th Finger is ideal for C major. For Am the 1st finger is the best option. That way you can use all the fingers of your fretting hand effectively and just jump from one string to another in order to approach G major.

The following chord progressions are used quite often in pop music. The first one, which you can see in Strumming 2.1i,is called “1645”. This name is all about music theory. If you’re interested in details, you will find them in Volume III . Later I’ve included a List of Songs that you can play with this chord progression. In  Strumming 2.1jyou can see a second chord progression that is used often used. It’s called “1564” and you’ll find lots of material online, if you enter the keyword “Four Chord Songs”. I have included a list of songs for this progression later in this book. The great thing about these four chords is that you can play almost every pop song with a combination of those four. Try to find your favourite song’s chord progression by listening and trying different chords. If the song is in a key other than C major, you won’t be able to play along to the original recording. Volume III offers you different ways of changing a key (transposing) and concepts of how

to move chords across the fret board, so you can change them or construct them from scratch. Strumming 2.1i

Strumming 2.1j

In this case the 2nd finger is best for the Am chord, because then you can just place the 1st finger for the F chord without changing the 2nd. Strumming 2.1k speeds things up:

And here’s an example of the “1645” chord progression in a faster harmonic rhythm: Strumming 2.1l

 Famous songs listed by chordprogressions: 1645 – C Am F G (in the key of G: G Em C D) Bruno Mars – Just the way you are Dj Ötzi – Hey Baby Elton John – Crocodile Rock Ronald & Ruby- Lollipop Ben E. King – Stand by me The Marcels – Blue Moon The Marvelettes – Please Mr. Postman Chubby Checker – Let’s Twist again 1564 - „Four Chord Songs“ – C G Am F Bob Marley – No Woman No Cry Jason Mraz – I’m Yours Green Day – When I come around James Blunt – You’re beautiful Akon – Don’t matter John Denver – Take me home, country roads Alphville – Forever Young Elton John – Can you feel the love tonight Of course, there are many more songs! You can look for other examples online, but if you listen to the radio carefully, you’ll be able to hear these chord progressions over and over again. Just pay attention! In most songs there’s a second part that has a different chord progression. Try to find out what they are, just by listening and playing. Now you can build the two bar strumming used by the Four Non Blondes in “What’s Up” from the patterns you already know. In Strumming 2.1m I play the original chord progression twice in G major. Look at SStrumming 2.1m:

The chord progression of the song is repeated throughout. |: G – Am – C – G:||. One chord is held over the course of the two bars/one whole strumming pattern, like in Strumming2.1m. The original recording of the song is in G# major, one half-step up. Volume III gives you information on how to transpose chords. You can see a popular variation of the second bar in SStrumming 2.1n:

Listen to the audio-tracks and listen for the difference. By skipping or filling the bar you can find lots of different variations. Some of these options are shown in the following example. Each bar is played twice in the audio-track. But keep trying other options and find strumming patterns that you like. Strumming 2.1o

The patterns are numbered. You see the number in the lower left corner of the pattern. I’ve recorded all of them in a medium tempo. Up till now, we’ve played all strumming patterns in a “straight” feel. That means that all eighth notes were the same length. But you can also play eighth notes in a so-called “Shuffle“or “ Swing feel“. A quarter note is then not divided into four equal parts, but into a triplet, meaning in three equal parts. If you notate all triplet-eighth a bar looks like this:

When you play shuffle, the first two eighth are tied together and you get this rhythm:

You can also notate it like this:

. The bracket indicates the triplet. In SStrumming 2.1p the eighth notes are notated in a normal way once again, but they’re played like triplets. I’m playing G major for four bars in the audio-track.

Last but not least, a “straight” strumming pattern, that I like to use for slow ballads. Its rhythm is very slow in the beginning, but it takes on more movement shortly before the end of the bar: Strumming 2.1q

When you listen to the audio-tracks provided, you’ll find the drum patterns of the audiotracks are also available in longer versions without the ukulele. That way you can practice your own strumming patterns by yourself, but with a virtual drummer.

2.2 Strumming in 3/4 Three quarter notes can be notated in a bar of a 3/4 meter. The strumming patters are basically constructed exactly the same way, as we did it in 4/4 meter. But the feel of your playing will be totally different. Strumming 2.2a

Just like in the last chapter, we can replace every quarter note with two eighth notes and create new strumming patterns that way. Strumming 2.2b

Here you can see the pattern I use the most in a 3/4 meter in S Strumming 2.2c:

Strumming 2.2d shows you other options for dividing up a 3/4-bar. I’m playing in C major on the audio-tracks.

On the next page you can find a piece that you can play without singing or other instruments. You can play it ““solo”. You can play this piece solo and with the other strumming patterns, that work in 3/4. Strumming 2.2e

2.3 Strumming in 6/8 In theory you’ll find the exact same amount of eighth notes in a bar in the 6/8 meter, as you do in a bar in the 3/4 meter. However, it is stressed differently and the music has a very different feel, because of that. I’ve recorded the audio-tracks rather fast. If they’re too fast for you, go to the appendix, read the chapter on “Practicing with a Metronome” and go look for a tempo, that is right for you. Strumming Strumming 2.3a (C chord)

One eighth note can be divided up into two sixteenth notes: +

  





That results in the different patterns you can see below. If you look at just one half of the bar you may notice, that the different patterns are very similar to the patterns in 3/4. The only difference is that now you have sixteenth notes and eighth notes, instead of eighth notes and quarter notes. Now, the danger lies in dividing the bar in your head and playing it “cut in two pieces”. But the big difference to a 3/4 meter is that the 6/8 meter feels like it has a “longer breath”. It never stands still and some people feel that it is flowing around. At the beginning of the book we talked about natural accents in different kinds of meter. The 6/8 meter has two accents per bar, on the 1 and the 4. The accent on beat 4 is weaker than the one on the 1, which produces a flowing feel. Play the whole bar in one piece and also listen to the audio-tracks. I have used the C major chord. Strumming 2.3b

“We are the Champions” by Queen and “House of the Rising Sun” by the Animals are among the most famous rock songs in a 6/8 meter. Listen to different versions of the songs and try to count along with them “1 2 3 4 5 6”. You’ll find many different versions, especially of “House of the Rising Sun”. They all have different tempos. We’ll take a closer look at the 6/8 meter in Volume II, when we’ll learn different pickings and we’ll also explore the chord progressions of Queen’s “We are the Champions”.

Chapter 3 - Advanced Strumming This chapter is about advanced strumming techniques. Of course, the strumming hand, which is playing the patterns, is very important, but the fretting hand has a huge influence on percussive elements in your strumming patterns. It can mute the strings and add to the rhythm of the pattern with this sound. For this, a bar chord is really ideal. You can read detailed advice about bar chords and their technique in Volume III: Chords and Chord Voicing’s.

3.1 Strumming on 16th-notes To keep it simple, we’ll work with the 4/4 meter but you can apply these concepts on any other kind of meter, as well. The eighth note was the smallest rhythmical unit in the 4/4 meter. Go back and look at the basic eight note pattern. Maybe you’ll notice that one eighth note is played with a down stroke, while the next eighth note is played with an up stroke. We’ll apply this alternate strumming to sixteenth notes now. It looks like this: Strumming 3.1a

Each quarter note is divided into four sixteenth notes, which together form a so-called “group of sixteenth”. We’ll look at just one of those groups each. The concepts for one group can easily be applied to all other groups. That way you can end up with highly complex strumming patterns. In our first example of a group of sixteenths, the first sixteenth sounds, while the others are muted. I use this bar chord on the audio-tracks:

At first, practice to place your fingers on the strings, without pressing and without shifting around. So, in SStrumming 3.1b the first sixteenth of the group is sounding. The other three notes are mute.

These muted notes are called “Deadnotes“. These notes are created by relaxing the fretting hand just enough to have the fingers on the strings, but without applying pressure, no actual pitches are sounding. Listen to the audio-track and repeat the group as often, as you need, to get a feeling for when to “press” and when to relax. Can you remember the tapping-exercise in the beginning of the book? You can use the tappingexercise for this chord: Tap each finger while holding the rest of the notes relaxed and muted. After that, tap the whole chord and try to get back to the initial spots on the fret board. As always, it’s important to practice calmly and patiently. It is best to practice in short intervals, instead of practicing for a long time without a break. Volume III has more advice on how to practice difficult chords. You can play the next option SStrumming 3.1c slower, in a “Reggae-Feeling“.

Combine the two groups in one bar and play each group twice. You can see the result in SStrumming 3.1d:

On the audio-track you’ll hear the bar 4 times. Of course, the sounding chords can also be placed on unaccented sixteenth notes. You can see that in the next strumming patterns. Strumming 3.1e Strumming 3.1f

Naturally some notes are more accented than others within one group (especially the first one and the sounding one), but it is important to be able to place them rhythmically, Strumming 3.1g is a good exercise to develop that. Concentrate on how the sounding notes are distributed on up and down strokes and form a “frame” for the other notes. Strumming 3.1g

Now we can incorporate this element in a strumming in 4/4: Strumming 3.1h

You could also present the pattern like this, to make the rhythmical grouping more visible:

You can see two groups of 3 and one group of 2. Listen carefully to the audio-track. You’ll learn this rhythm fastest by speaking it loudly. When you say “PPa-na-ma, PPa-na-ma, CCu-ba, PPa-nama, PPa-na-ma, CCu-ba“ without a break, you create the same rhythm. Try to speak along with the audio-track.

Look at the collection of modules below. They give you different options on how to divide up a group of sixteenth. Create different combinations and practice them slowly at first and then faster and faster. Modules

Strumming 3.1i is a Funk-Riff that works with some of these combinations:

Strumming 3.1j is quite similar, yet a very different pattern. You can just shift the bar chord with your fretting hand. Here, you’ll need a good position for yourself and your ukulele, so that your fretting hand will have an easier time to lift off and move. The appendix offers more advice on how to hold the ukulele. Strumming 3.1e

3.2 Flamenco Techniques Spanish Flamenco is famous for its complex strumming techniques that are performed not only with the index finger and the thumb, like we did up till now, but the whole hand. I use the classical terms for the finger of the strumming hand:

 Image 17 

p stands for thumb. i stands for index finger. m stands for middle finger.

a stands for ring finger. c stands for pinky. These labels derive from the Spanish words for the single fingers (  pulgar indice medio anular and chico If you’re new to flamenco techniques, I suggest that you start first practice without the ukulele. Look at the pictures carefully:

 Image 18 - First PositionThenar

 Image 19 – First PositionThumb

The images 18 and 19 show, how all four fingers are “squeezed” in the palm of your hand. You can either squeeze them behind your thenar (that’s how you do it in most flamenco patterns) or you can squeeze them behind your thumb first to get a feel for the technique.

Let your fingers “spurt out” one by one. This movement of the single fingers is fast and with a lot of impulse. You’ll use the muscles of the back of your hand (you’ll have to train those muscles at first). When you succeed at the fast movement, you can even hear the sound of your finger nail scraping over your skin.

 Image 20 -“c”

 Image 21 -“a”

 Image 22 -“m”

 Image 23-“i”

You can also practice this exercise with certain objects, like a pen, a flexible ruler or something similar. Try to hit the object with each finger. This can be painful at first. Try to hit the object more indirectly. It works best with a piece of cardboard, like you can see on the images.

 Image 24 -“c”

 Image 25-“a”

 Image 26 -“m”

 Image 27 -“i”

 Image 28

After practicing aiming and hitting correctly, you can now find your position on the ukulele. At first, mute the strings with your fretting hand, so you can hear the rhythm clearly. You don’t have to hit every string with every finger, but you should aim for hitting at least two strings each time. The thumb stays up and doesn’t rest on top of the ukulele or a string.

 Image 29- basic position

 Image 30-“c”

 Image 31-“a”

 Image 32-“m”

 Image33 - “i”

 Image34– “p“(position 1)

 Image 35– “p“(position 2)

Strumming 3.2a Practice the same bar with your fingers in reverse order:

Try to be patient, while practicing. Your fingers will not all move with equal ease. Be careful while practicing and don’t overdo it. If the muscles in the back of your hand are not strong enough yet, your tendons can be strained. Build your muscles slowly but surely. The best idea is to practice a few times over the course of the day (you can just do the earlier exercises without the ukulele that you can see on the pictures above). If your muscles start to hurt, take a break, until your hand is totally relaxed again and your muscles have completely recovered. This is a flamenco pattern that I like to use: Strumming 3.2b And this is for ambitious people:

3.3 Strumming with “Special Effects”  Palm Mute - Muting withyour strumming hand

We’ve already muted parts of strumming patterns with dead notes created by the fretting hand. In that instance, we had to use bar chords, to be able to mute with the fretting hand

but you can also mute with your strumming hand by muting the strings with your palm while or shortly after strumming.

 Image 36- With the ball ofyour

thumb ofyour hand

Image 37- With the heel

You may have to adjust and work on the positioning of your strumming hand. Experiment with finding the ideal position for your hand. Strumming 3.3a

You can play the

following just for practice or use it as an actual strumming pattern: Strumming 3.3b

Strumming 3.3c shows you how to incorporate this technique into  Strumming 2.1e. The audiotrack is recorded in a G major chord:

 Enhanced st rumming - Flamenco-influenced patterns You can spice up Strumming 2.1e(again G major) with an easy flamenco technique:

Strumming 3.3d

You can also use all four fingers of your strumming hand (c a m i). This makes the accented beat even more elaborate. The second beat is stressed and seems to be a bit delayed but, in fact, it is not and it is your job to look out for rhythmical precision. Listen to the audio-tracks. Strumming 3.3e

Strumming with Percussion

You can enrich every strumming pattern that you’ve learned so far, with percussive sounds. Don’t be afraid that your instrument will get damaged. The body and also the top of your ukulele are quite strong and can easily deal with a hit from your hand. If you’re hitting the strings with your hands, try to hit more towards the bridge. The sound will be a little louder and crisper.

 Image 3e 3 Percussionwith your hand

The “m” (for lat. manus = hand) together with an arrow and the percussion sign means that you are hitting with your open hand (just like on the picture). Afterwards you play the upstroke with the soft side of your index finger. That results in a soft sound on the unaccented beat in the octuplet SStrumming 3.3f

You can also hit with your fist (f, together with the arrow and the percussion sign). Note that you’ll perform a down stroke after the hit! Normally you’d continue here with an up stroke, but you’ll perform this stroke with the nail of your index finger i, which will accent the usually unaccented beat in the octuplet that is already stressed by elongation (syncope). You can play calm acousticballads as well as rhythmical songs with the strumming pattern in Strumming3.3g. You’ll find ideas for that in the next section. Strumming 3.3g

When you’re hitting the ukulele with your fist, you can try and “miss” with the thumb and

index finger in your fist, so you hit the top of the ukulele instead of the strings (look at Image 40). That’ll give you a more percussive sound. Don’t worry! Your Ukulele can handle it!

 Image 39-

 Percussionwithyourfist   Image 40 - Index finger hittingthe top

3.4 Strumming in Songs In this section we’ll look at the strumming patterns in two very famous songs that are very popular on the ukulele. You can use Strumming 3.3g for ““I’m yours” by Jason Mraz. The strumming will be applied twice for each chord. Strumming 3.4a

Volume III will

show you different options on how to play these chords. There is one chord, which is very concise and not in the collection of chords in the beginning. In the key of D it’ll be E7. Israel Kamakawiwoʻole has made a wonderful version ““Somewhere over the Rainbow” on the ukulele. The strumming pattern is actually quite easy: Strumming 3.4b

You can see that some arrows are bigger and bolder than others. These strokes are played louder than the other strokes. Practice playing everything in the same dynamic at first and then later accent the “big ones”, while softening the others a little bit. In the original recording, this strumming is quite fast so you don’t alternate your strumming between the index finger and the thumb. You alternate your strumming in this case with your index

finger i. This will result in two different tone colors that give the pattern a very special dynamic.

 Image41– “away“

 Image42– “towards me“

If you’d like to play the Intro for “Somewhere over the rainbow”, you’ll use these chords: || C | | Em | | Am | | F | | C | | Em | | Am | | Am7 | F || You can see tiny bar lines. Each chord is played for two bars, for two strumming patterns. The only exception is the last two chords of the intro. The Am7 is played like this:

Am7

By now you’ll find dozens of instructional videos and a lot of material for this song and others online. You’ll be easily able to find the other chords you need. If you want to find a good strumming pattern for a song you should experiment and try out a number of different patterns. At the beginning, try to count with the song, to make sure, that you are looking for patterns in the right meter. Then you can test different strumming patterns and decide on the one you like best. Try your best to capture the feel of a song when you play.

Appendix Parts of the Ukulele

Holding the Ukulele We’ve already talked briefly in Chapter 1.1 about the correct way of holding the ukulele. The “correct” way is something very personal and also something, that can change slightly over time. If you’re playing standing up without any accessories, you’ll probably just squeeze the ukulele with your right forearm (lefthanders squeeze with their left forearm), so you can lift your fretting hand off the neck of the ukulele. If you’re holding the ukulele a little bit with your fretting hand, you should be able to briefly lift off the other arm, as well. A basic rule of thumb is: the position you’re holding the instrument in, should give you the maximum of freedom to move. The small size and the weight of the ukulele’s head that pulls it towards the side are potential obstacles on your journey towards a relaxed position. Often when you’re playing pieces that are quite virtuoso, there will be situations when you will have to actively decide whether the left or the right hand will hold the ukulele in a particular moment. Very often the picking hand has to fully help out, when there are bigger shifts for the fretting hand. However, the light weight of the ukulele is an advantage, because one finger can stabilize it so that the fretting hand can part from it for the pivotal moment. Here, coordination is everything!

It doesn’t matter if you decide on a standing or sitting position. In both cases, there are different accessories that will make life easier for you. There are detailed descriptions of them later on. A conscious attitude towards your position and way of holding the ukulele is especially necessary while playing. Of course, you don’t have to change your whole position with every little tension in your body, but if you’re experiencing great tension or pain during or after practice, you should consider changing the way you’re holding the ukulele and reflect on where the tension is coming from. However, over time you’ll develop stamina with your position and some beginner’s problems will solve themselves. Finding your very own position and way of holding the ukulele is a very personal process, which you’ll have to observe attentively and consciously. Here are a few pictures that show you some ways of holding the ukulele:

 Image45- Standingwithouta strap

 Image 45 - Standing withastrap

 Image 45 - Sitingwithslip-resistantcloth

 Image 45 - Sittingwithfootstool andslip-resistantcloth

Unlike with other “classical” instruments there are no real long-term experiences with practicing the ukulele for long stretches of time (more than 3hrs daily), yet. If you’d like to practice that long on a regular basis, I can only applaud you and tell you, that you’re going to come a long way on the ukulele! If you’re feeling inspired to experiment with different ideas for your position (i.e. a combination of strap and weights to keep the instrument in place), I can only encourage you to do so. New inspiration is highly welcome in the world of the ukulele and lots of players will be thankful. Apart from the “standard ukulele”, there are soprano, concert, tenor and baritone ukuleles. All of them, except for the baritone ukulele are tuned in the standard tuning GCEA. The sizes of the ukulele are indicated in diapason lengths, the same as on all other string instruments. The diapason is the length of the actual sounding string from the saddle to the bridge of the ukulele. The soprano ukulele is the smallest and has a diapason of just 33cm.

Apart from the standard tuning the more original A D F#G - tuning is sometimes used. The majority of ukuleles that you’ll see in standard music shops are soprano ukuleles. The concert ukulele has a diapason of 38cm and is sometimes tuned in “Low G”. That means that the G-string is tuned one octave lower and replaced with a metal-wrapped nylon string. The tenor ukulele is most comfortable at first for guitarists. It has a diapason of 43cm and is therefore quite a bit bigger than the soprano ukulele. It also produces a “bigger” sound. Many soloists, like Jake Shimabukuro, like to play tenor ukuleles in concert. Standard tuning and “Low G” are the most common tunings, but sometimes they are tuned to D G H E, which corresponds with the standard guitar tuning of the higher strings of a guitar. However, the D string sounds an octave higher compared to a guitar. The baritone ukulele has a diapason of 48cm and feels closest to the guitar. Usually it is tuned D G H E. Unlike with the other ukuleles, the strings of this type are tuned in “one direction”, meaning the D string is the lowest sounding and the E string the highest sounding string. For me, as a player, the number of frets I can use on my ukulele is very important. At the moment I play a concert ukulele with 15 frets (most soprano ukuleles only have 12 or 13) and I use them all in solo pieces, but there are concert ukuleles with more frets and I’m thinking of getting one of those. When you want to buy a ukulele, you should ask yourself the following questions: What kind of music do I want to play on the ukulele? “Just” chords or solo repertoire, as well? What do I want to learn after the basics? Improvising? Chords in higher positions? Solo repertoire? The more advanced pieces you want to play, the better your instrument should be. Quality is reflected, on the one hand, in sound, of course, but quality instruments are usually also easier to play, which enables you to master more difficult techniques. Even if you cannot play at all yet, try out different instruments and take time to actually play the instrument a bit in the shop. If you know a teacher, ask him or her to accompany you and help you pick an instrument. Test your future ukulele for buzzing or dead strings or single notes. All notes should ring clearly and try to play some easy chords on it. If that is not at all possible or if the notes in higher positions sound really bad, it is probably better to invest a little bit more in a good instrument. A good instrument for beginners should have “proper fretting” (read below about what that is and how you can test it). That is crucial for being able to tune it properly. The string action shouldn’t be too high, so you can play easily in higher positions and the sound shouldn’t sound extremely short or muffled. Then you’ll definitely be happy with your ukulele, at least for a while. Of course, when you’re getting better the demands you make on your instrument, will change with your abilities.

Different Ways of Tuning We’ve already mentioned above, that the standard tuning of the ukulele is G C E A (the C string sounds middle C). You will find books on ukulele chords or songs for the ukulele that are applying different tunings. In this book I use the standard tuning. Look out when you buy music and books and make sure, they’re for the right tuning! Apart from the standard tuning you can encounter A D F# B and “Low G” (which is G C E A , but the G string is an octave lower than standard). The intervals between the strings do usually correspond in all tunings and the C E and A strings correspond directly with the treble strings of the guitar. That means that you can apply many principles and pieces that are played on the treble strings of the guitar, directly to the ukulele. They will sound in a different key. When explaining different methods of how to tune the ukulele, we work with the sstandard tuning.

The strings of the ukulele are numbered, beginning with the A string. You can memorize the order of the strings with the following sentence: All EElephants CCan GGrow Tuning - Comparing Unisons

Unison is two identical notes sounding together. If you compare the same note on different strings, you can tune your ukulele. You just have to “define” one string as “in tune” and go from there. I’d suggest playing the notes always in the same order. Meaning, the note that is “in tune” is played first and then the note that is to be tuned.

Defining the G string “in tune”, we’ll play the A on the G string first and then the open A string. That way, we can compare best if the open string sounds higher or lower. Usually it requires some practice to be able to hear that. You can listen for the “pull” of the second note. You’re going to have to tune in the same direction that it is pulling. In your next step you take the A string, which is in tune and compare it to the A on the E string.

The C string is tuned the same way. Again, you pluck the open string, that you tuned last and compare it to the note on another string.

Tuning - Comparing Octaves Another tuning-method is

Comparing Octaves. You can hear well, if a string is in tune, similar to comparing unisons. A perfect octave that is in tune has no friction in its sound.

This method is only works if your ukulele is properly fretted. Read on to find out how you can check if it is properly fretted. I use a combination of octaves and unisons for tuning.  Is my ukulele properly fretted?

A ukulele has proper fretting, when all frets are placed correctly, so the notes they produce are in tune. You can just simply check with a tuner, if that is the case.

In any case, the octave on your ukulele should be in tune. That means that the open string and the octave on the 12th fret should form a perfect octave. You can check that in different ways. The harmonic on the 12th fret should be the exact same note as the normally plucked note on the 12th fret. To play the harmonic, put your finger exactly over the fret-bridge of the 12th fret, but don’t push down. Then pluck the string. If you’re doing it correctly there will be a bell-like sound that is called harmonic. Then, when you play the normal note on the same fret, there should be no difference in pitch. You can also use a tuner to check that. Instead of using harmonics, you could also pluck the open string. Then it’s not quite as easy to hear the difference but a tuner will help you. When you place your finger on the string for the normal note, try not to pull or squeeze the string, as this will change the intonation and subsequently the pitch. The octave on your ukulele is in tune, if all strings are in tune. Sometimes one string is very much out of tune. Usually that is a problem caused by the string and you can try to change it to solve the problem The audio-tracks can help you practice and are in most cases available in two different tempos. You can listen to them and play along to improve your playing of the ukulele. You may not be able to reach your goal with the audio-tracks alone. The recording may be too fast for you or you need more time to find the right speed. Practicing with a Metronome can be a good solution, as you can practice the strumming patterns in all kinds of different tempos. It’s very important that you listen very carefully to the metronome and try to play exactly on its beat. This can be very challenging when you are first learning to use a metronome. There are different types of metronomes: Classic Metronomes come in pyramid shape and have a pendulum that swings from one side to the other, producing a clicking sound. You can move a weight on the pendulum, which will make it go from side to side in different tempos. Those metronomes look great, but there are some disadvantages to them. They’re not very handy and they only offer certain tempos. Electronic Metronomes have the advantage that they are usually quite practical and easy to transport. You can also change the tempos in steps by 1. Very often, you can also “tap in” the tempo you like and the metronome will identify the tempo you were tapping. That way you can check, if you are playing faster or slower after a while. Usually you can set the meter and the first beat in a bar will sound differently than the rest. Electronic Metronomes very often allow you to set rhythmical phenomenon’s, like triplet, quintuplets or dotted notes. You can even program several pieces including different parts in different tempos or meters into certain metronomes. However these are often very expensive. Some electronic metronomes operate with a rather annoying electronic sound. You should test your metronome in the shop and determine whether you’ll be able to practice with it, or not. I personally prefer knocking sounds. Apps: If you don’t want to invest in a metronome machine, you’ll find different Smartphone Apps, like “Mobile Metronome” or “Metronome Beats“that are usually free

and offer most features simply on your phone. Once you’ve decided on a metronome the next step is to find the right tempo and learn how to practice well with it. I’ve recorded most audio-tracks in two tempos. In the slower ones, the quarter note is played at a tempo of 87. That means, that 87 beats on a quarter note sound every minute (it is slightly faster than counting seconds, this would result in 60 beats per minute). Musicians write this:

= 87     The fast audio-tracks are recorded = 120.

  

If you can play along with the slower recordings quite well, but the fast recordings are way too fast for you, you can increase the tempo step by step, by using a metronome. I suggest you count a little bit together with the metronome, to get a feel for the tempo then you can play the strumming pattern in the tempo. Advanced players can try to imagine the strumming pattern in as much detail as possible in the tempo of the metronome before playing. Sometimes tempo is written using different notes, for example, in 6/8 meter we write:

= 80      You get two beats per bar (one on the 1st beat and one on the 4th). Sometime we use the eighth note. A dotted quarter note, like the one you see above, can be replaced with three eighth notes. A normal quarter note can be replaced by two eight notes:

= 87 is = 174         If you set your metronome to eighth notes, you can look at the strumming patterns of the first part and determine exactly when you have to hit the strings and when you don’t. The metronome is a great tool for practicing, if you use it consciously and purposefully. A good way to practice is, to concentrate on specific patterns for a while, then move on to something else and come back to recap. Depending on the pattern you can raise the tempo in small or big steps. Especially for patterns based on sixteenth notes the steps will be quite small. Don’t advance too fast and be patient while practicing. Playing with speed takes time to develop. Above all: Always stay relaxed!

Useful Accessories

 Image 49- All tools

Slip-resistant Cloth This “cloth” is an about 2mm thick layer of foamed material, that is flexible enough to lie over your legs and slip-resistant, so the ukulele won’t move too much. If you are playing sitting down, this is one of the best tools I know because the ukulele can’t move sideways or turn and the weight of its head is not affecting your position as much. Of course, you’ll still have to hold the neck a little bit, but coordinating your fretting and your picking hand, while holding should be easier with the cloth. Thin cloths are usually deep black and thus look very elegant, but they are quite expensive and not so easy to come by. You can find good alternatives in crafts shops (sponge rubber is available in different colors) or hardware stores (i.e. slip-resistant mats for the trunk of a car). Some players also use leather, but that can cause annoying noises and is not as effectively slip-resistant as other materials. Slip-resistant cloth and all other alternatives can simply be cut into the required shape and size with normal scissors . Cleaning materials from the household department of supermarkets are not recommended. Don’t wash leather or other slip-resistant materials with cleaners that contain chemicals as they may damage the finish of your ukulele.

 Image 45 - “Classic slipresistantcloth”

 Image - Alternative: slipresistantmatfortrunk 

The Strap You can buy special straps for the ukulele (Image 52), that are hooked onto the sound hole and that go around your neck in a noose. This kind of strap holds the ukulele, when you’re playing standing up and you can easily take one hand off of the ukulele. Generally using this strap is good, but will not result in a position that is as stable as a sitting position with a slip-resistant cloth. Another problem is that the ukulele will fall forward, if you take both hands off it, forgetting that you still have to hold it. You will have to be careful with the hook that hooks onto the sound hole. It can easily scratch the top of your instrument. The strap by itself is a good solution, if you don’t want to play virtuoso or if you have already found a good way to play standing without any other tools.

 Image 52 - UkuleleStrap

The Guitar Strap Just like with a guitar, you can have a strap-pin on the bottom of the rib, in extension of the neck. You’ll probably see the spot where the two parts of the rib (the rolling sides of the ukulele) come together. Inside, there’s a beam that the two wooden parts are glued to. Therefore this spot is quite strong and robust. If you’d like to screw in the pin yourself, you should pre-drill a small hole with a hand brace. If you’re drilling too fast, the wood can splinter. If you’re ukulele was expensive, I’d recommend having a guitar maker put in the pin or you can ask a good guitar- or ukulele-shop, if they can do it for you. You can attach the other end of the strap to the head of the ukulele. For this system you might have to make the strap yourself from suitable material. As far as I know, at the moment, there are only two strap models by Caer that are similar to guitar straps and developed specially for the ukulele. The biggest advantage of these kinds of straps is that the ukulele is safe around your neck and can’t fall forward. This means you can take off both hands. Without further accessories, the ukulele will shift quite a bit, when you do that. You may find a way to attach the body of your ukulele to your own body. This could be a valuable approach to finding your “perfect” position.  My Way of holding the ukulele

Usually, I play sitting and use a combination of slip-resistant cloth and a foot stool to get the best position for me. When I play standing, I use, at the moment, a ukulele strap and a small piece of slip-resistant cloth, which I put between the ukulele and my chest. That way, the ukulele can’t move sideways but the sitting position is still more stable.

 Image52- “footstool”

Tuner  If you don’t want to use the tuning methods from the last part, I recommend you get a tuner. I think the following features are important: Chromatic - it should be able to tune chromatically, so that you can tune your ukulele in different tunings and also tune other instruments with it. Clip-On - I’ve had great experiences in noisy rooms with this kind of tuner. It’s easy to attach, handy and tunes very accurately despite other sounds and noises. (You may consider taking it off before a concert for optical reasons.) Over the years branded tuners (i.e. by Korg) have worked well for me. Cheap tuners break easily and don’t tune as exactly. Calibration - that is not absolutely necessary, but if you’re playing with other instruments that are not so easy to tune (like a recorder in the hands of beginners) it can be quite handy to be able to change the general pitch of your tuner. Usually the tuner is set, so that A5 is tuned 440 Hz. You can change that from around 320 Hz to 430 Hz if you’re tuner can be calibrated.

 You’ll

 Image 153- Tuner

find the audio-tracks for this volume in the following Dropbox-folder: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ioamvj7hd878mum/AAC-OGV61qvpCPofrrxTlyH7a?dl=0 If you send an email to [email protected] you’ll get the link in an automated reply email. The Dropbox service is free. Simply register with your e-mail address, if you’re not a member, yet. If you have questions, ideas or problems, just write an email to:

[email protected]