How To Play Fingerstyle on Ukulele ~ EASY Fingerpicking Tutorial PIMA

Welcome to Lesson 1 of the Fingerstyle Series on this channel! Through these videos we will learn how to start playing fingerstyle on the ukulele. Each video will help you gain more skills with the fingerstyle/fingerpicking technique.

Click here to see other lessons:
Lesson 1    • How To Play Fingerstyle on Ukulele ~ ...  
Lesson 2    • How To Play Fingerstyle on Ukulele ~ ...  
Lesson 3    • Fingerstyle Ukulele Tutorial ~ Beginn...  
Lesson 4    • Fingerstyle Ukulele Tutorial ~ Beginn...  

Do I need nails for this to work? Yes and no.
If you have nails, your strings will sound louder. If you don't have long nails, your strings will sound softer. The muscle memory for this, however, is the same for both long nails and short nails. If you want to grow strong, healthy nails, I recommend you use jojoba oil on your cuticles (daily) http://amzn.to/2wNolh5

Let's learn the names of the fingers:

P: Pulgar - Thumb
I: Indice - Index finger
M: Medio - Middle finger
A: Anular - Ring finger

Funny how we don't call it a "thumb finger," but we do add the word "finger" to the ends of the other ones. Anyway, let's continue!

You will assign each of your fingers to a string. Each finger MUST ONLY pluck the string that it is assigned to!!!

String G - P
String C - I
String E - M
String A - A

Or think about it this way:
String G - Thumb
String C - Index
String E - Middle
String A - Ring

^I know that seeing the English names of the strings is A LOT easier right now, but challenge yourself to learn their PIMA names and grow familiar with them, because I will NOT include them in future lessons! (As a teacher, I have to take the training wheels off, so don't judge me).

The pattern we are doing today is P I M A and repeating it. I am going to play it over and over again on C chord, so it will look like this

Go to C chord
Play P I M A, P I M A, P I M A, P I M A (4 times)
Rest
Repeat


Another way to think about this is by the names of the strings

Go to C chord
Play G C E A, G C E A, G C E A, G C E A (4 times)
Rest
Repeat


How long should I practice? 5 minutes 4 times a day.
Why not just practice 20 minutes? I find that my students retain information and build muscle memory much better when we practice more often in shorter spans of time! Practice every day until I release the next video.

HOMEWORK
If you master this concept, practice the following:

Go to C chord
Play P I M A, P I M A, P I M A, P I M A (4 times)

Switch to Am chord
Play P I M A, P I M A, P I M A, P I M A (4 times)

Switch to F chord
Play P I M A, P I M A, P I M A, P I M A (4 times)

Switch to G7 chord
Play P I M A, P I M A, P I M A, P I M A (4 times)

Finish by plucking all 4 strings AT THE SAME TIME on C chord

If you master this, record yourself, post it on YouTube and leave me a comment below letting me know!

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Buy this uke!
http://amzn.to/2fGsLR0

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S N A P C H A T
plazi

I N S T A G R A M
  / plazi  

F A C E B O O K
  / bernadettetea.  .

T E A C H E R S P A Y T E A C H E R S
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E M A I L
[email protected]

WRITE TO ME HERE
Bernadette Etcheverry
PSC 482 BOX 28
FPO, AP 96362



Hi! My name is Ms. B and I am a happy teacher working in Okinawa, Japan. I love technology, I love learning more about the ukulele, and I love helping beginners.

I hope you found value in my video. Please let me know if there is a video I can make that will help you.