Strumming

You can practise strumming your Ukulele without knowing any chords!  (If you hold the fingers of your fret hand lightly over all the strings it is much quieter).

Strumming a Ukulele is different than a guitar.  With a Ukulele you strum over the neck of the instrument, with a guitar you strum over the hole.  You can strum using your pointing finger, or your thumb, or both!

The two strums we will learn in our group is a "down, down, down..." strum, and a "down-up, down-up, down-up..." (think: "chinka, chinka, chinka").

Play this track to help you practise these two strums...

The Ukulele

Did you know that the proper way to say Ukulele is "oo-koo-lay-lay" ... there's no 'y' sound at the beginning!  The Ukulele was first made in Hawaii more than 130 years ago.  It was based on an instrument from Portugal called a "machete de braga." 

The Soprano Ukulele that we will be playing in our group has these parts: