Do you strum ukulele with thumb or finger? (2023)

Do you strum a ukulele with your thumb or finger?

For the down strum, keep your knuckles pointed away from you, curl your fingers in toward your body, and strum in a downward motion with your index fingernail striking the strings. For the up strum, use the fleshy pad of your index finger or your thumbnail.

Is it okay to strum with your thumb?

Strumming with your thumb gives you a rounder sound, and strumming with a pick gives you a brighter sound. Things to keep in mind when learning how to strum the guitar with your thumb: With the down strums, use the fleshier part of your thumb. On the up strums, your nail may catch the string.

Do you play ukulele with pick or fingers?

Historically speaking there is no call for a pick or plectrum. The Hawaiians who invented the ukulele (by modifying Portuguese instruments that came to the islands with sailors) did not use a pick. In Hawaii you generally strum with the first finger or the thumb, often a combination of the two.

Can I strum with my fingers?

The basic shape for fingerstyle strumming is really easy to remember. Simply form a little heart shape using your index finger and thumb. It's important to keep your hand free and relaxed - don't squeeze your fingers together! Just let them gently touch each other.

What hand do you strum a ukulele with?

Traditionally, most ukulele players use their right hand to strum, while their left hand functions as the fretting hand. Even lefties tend to play the ukulele right-handed, as finding a lefty ukulele can be a challenge.

What are the 5 most common ukulele playing mistakes?

Is it easier to strum or finger pick?

That said, strumming is easier for beginners because you don't need to be precise with your fingers. The important part is keeping the rhythm solid and moving your hand in the right direction. But fingerstyle is quite fiddly.

Is finger picking or strumming harder?

Summary. Strumming is easier than fingerpicking or using a guitar pick, (at least initially) but both methods have their own difficulties that you have to figure out.

Does it matter if you strum up or down?

Most people have the pick angled downward towards the floor when they strum. Some people have the pick angle more parallel to the strings, and some people, angle the pick upward. It really doesn't matter. The important thing is that you experiment with the angle that you like best and find out what works for you.

Is it okay to strum a ukulele with a pick?

Thinner picks are generally easier to use at first, as they give a lot more and slip over the strings and can also be great for strumming. I personally prefer a heavy pick, as it lends more bite to the sound, especially when it comes to playing melodies.

Is it better to use a pick or fingers?

Using a pick gives you a brighter and more consistent tone than using your fingers, because the pick is made of the same material throughout, while plucking strings with different parts of your fingers produces different sounds.

Is ukulele fingerstyle hard?

Ukulele fingerpicking isn't necessarily hard, but there is a learning curve you'll want to master in order to be successful.

What part of your hand do you strum with?

The left hand can play full chords by pressing down a number of strings while the right hand strums the guitar. The right hand plucks the strings. With classical guitars the guitarist uses their fingernails, but with many modern day guitar styles the guitarist uses a pick.

Should you strum with wrist or elbow?

If you want to learn how to strum a guitar you must learn to strum with your whole forearm. We want big, bold arm movements from your elbow (not timid twiddling from your wrist). This is a key point: If you want to learn how to strum a guitar you must learn to strum with your whole forearm.

Should I strum with my thumb or index finger?

The thumb offers a warmer, more mellow tone and is easier to strum with when you are learning chords for songs. The index finger is usually a bit easier to control—for example, I almost always exclusively use the index finger when executing more complex strum patterns.

Should I strum with pick or fingers?

Using a pick gives you a brighter and more consistent tone than using your fingers, because the pick is made of the same material throughout, while plucking strings with different parts of your fingers produces different sounds.

Do strum patterns matter?

Why is it important that I learn strumming patterns? Strumming technique is a key fundamental in guitar playing which helps you to create music. Guitarists don't just learn to play guitar chords for the sake of it, they learn the guitar to play MUSIC.

Should you move your wrist while strumming?

Move From the Wrist

Most of the motion should be coming from your wrist. Strum a chord and look to see if this is happening. Movement from the elbow should be reserved for when you want to accent something and strike a chord or two just a little harder than your regular strum.

Do you hit all strings when strumming?

When strumming the A chord, you play only the first five strings. You don't play the thickest string. Sometimes, you'll make a mistake and hit the thickest string - an E!

What is the basic strumming pattern?

The strumming pattern we'll play using the muted strum is a classic alternating eighth note pattern, you'll use a muted downstroke on beat two. You can repeat this strumming pattern for beats three and four. This is really like a two beat strumming pattern that keeps repeating over again.