Adding An Upstroke To A Ukulele Strum
Parents Teach Lessons and Learn Baritone Uke With their Child
Sep 28, 2008
Up to this point, parents and kids have patiently put up with a basic down stroke to practice a steady rhythm. It’s time they were rewarded with a little more fun in their strums.
How to Perform The Upstroke on the Ukulele
So far, the right hand has been taking it easy by only strumming with a downward motion on the downbeats. If parents and kids have mastered a steady rhythm, it’s time to add an upstroke. On the other hand, if they’re not quite ready, they shouldn’t rush it. Parents need to wait until both they and their kids are ready to move on, or practicing will become frustrating.
Here’s what to do:
- Make a C chord on the ukulele.
- Strum four times with downward sweeps of the hand.
- Repeat these groups of four strums while counting, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4…
- Add upstrokes after the 2 and 4 by catching the strings on the way back up.
- The count will sound like 1, 2-and, 3, 4-and, 1, 2-and, 3, 4-and…
- If counting is too complicated for kids, try repeating “Strawberry, strawberry, strawberry," with down strokes on the syllables “straw” and “berr” and upstrokes on the “y.”
Play Upstrokes on Three Great Tunes for the Ukulele
Here’s three traditional campfire songs that’ll sound great with those jazzy upstrokes. They’re both in the key of C and only have the C and G7 chords learned so far in parts 3, 4, and 5.
Each line of “Buffalo Gals,” “Skip To My Lou,”and “Go Tell Aunt Rodey” has four of the “Strawberry” strum patterns. Parents and kids should Take it slow until they’re comfortable. Changing chords smoothly will be more challenging with the upstrokes.
Skip To My Lu
(C) Lou, Lou, skip to my Lou.
(G7) Lou, Lou, skip to my Lou.
(C) Lou, Lou, skip to my Lou.
(G7) Skip to my Lou, my (C) darling.
Go Tell Aunt Rodey
(C) Go tell Aunt Rodey,
(G7) Go tell Aunt Rodey,
(C) Go tell Aunt Rodey,
(G7) The old gray goose is (C) dead.
Buffalo Gals
As (C) I was walking down the street,
(G7) Down the street, (C) down the street,
A pretty little girl I chanced to meet,
And we (G7) danced by the light of the (C) moon.
Buffalo (C) Gals won’t you come out tonight,
(G7) Come out tonight, (C) come out tonight,
Buffalo gals won’t you come out tonight,
And (G7) dance by the light of the (C) moon?
Wow, parents and kids can play more than ten tunes on the ukulele now. They can go back over the songs in parts three, four, and five to see how they sound with their new and improved strumming
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