Take the Hum Drum Out of Your Strum: An easy way to add groove and swing to your strum

If you're ready to add a little life to your strum - and give yourself a solid foundation for more nimble playing - get this simple 2/4 swing strum into your fingertips. When I first learned this strum, it opened up my own ukulele playing to more variety, more responsiveness to a song's inner workings, and freed me from the bland, mechanical strum that made every song sound the same. I rarely use one strumming pattern throughout an entire song because I draw inspiration from the song's rhythms, not just the steady beat. This strum will get you there and maybe even open up some fresh possibilities for you.

Download the song sheet for Tom Petty's "Wildflowers" here:
https://www.ukuleleclare.com/_files/u...

For more on finding the right strumming pattern, check out this blog post:
https://www.ukuleleclare.com/post/how...

0:00 The 2/4 swing strum adds drive and swing to many of your favorite songs.
0:23 Tom Petty’s “Wildflowers” - verse 1, using the 2/4 swing strum
0:47 Ukulele Clare and co-host Tim intro
1:00 Strumming patterns are based on the beat. Most songs are based on 4-beat groupings
1:11 4-beat synchronization practice
2:01 Notice tiny pause after down-strum - like an attitudinal accent - the first step in adding a little swing to the strum
2:28 For even more swing and groove, emphasize the 2nd and 4th beats (hence the name “2/4 swing strum” - practice synchronizing
3:43 For this strum, focus on landing down-strums on the beat; up-strums on the “and”
3:55 Strum practice tips
4:13 The more slowly you practice, the more quickly you become a faster player
5:07 Play “Wildflowers” verse 1 at 95 bpm
6:34 How to evaluate your progress
6:54 Assign the strum to your body - try to keep your mind out of it
7:20 Practice tips

You can find lots of information about my in-person and online classes, gigs, and resources at
https://www.ukuleleclare.com

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I'm a ukulele teacher and performer. I help people tune into their inner ukulelian and cut through learning challenges with patience and laughter.

I don't come from a musical background. Growing up, my main instruments were the record player and radio. I crooned along with what we now consider Americana and the country oldies on the dearly departed WHN Country station out of New York.

I didn't pick up an instrument for real until I turned a fateful trip to Hawai'i when I turned 50. Without musical training, I had to come up with my own ways of explaining to myself what was happening musically. I share these hard-earned nuggets with other folks with little or no musical background, illuminating a slightly different pathway to learning how to music. It ain't perfect and it ain't done, but it has helped me tip-toe farther and farther into the scary jungle of music theory. Turns out the lions and tigers and bears in that jungle aren't as scary up close! It all comes down to how you coax yourself to approach them.

I'm here to help you coax yourself to approach your own lions and tigers and bears and musical dreams.