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They’re a great uke and vocal duo and their Kingdom EP is one of my favourite ukulele records this year.
Plus their fingerpicking riffs make it perfect for this week’s theme.
Birdsong is played on a low-G ukulele. But it does still sound right on a high-g uke.
The picking is done with the thumb and two fingers method (with the thumb covering the G and C strings). But I prefer to use one finger per string on the Am7 in the intro/verse since the G and C strings are played in quick succession.
A simple pattern using each finger in order with the thumb starting on the g-string then moving to the C-string. Making a p i m p i m p i m… picking pattern.
Since you’re using three fingers, this pattern is well suited to playing in triplets.
Complicated PIMP Pattern
A similar pattern to last time. But here you’re not using triplets so you have to fill out the bar with just the first two notes of the pattern. So you play p i m but just p i the final time.
Reverse Pattern
Rather than going up the strings as you did in the last two patterns here you pluck with the thumb then go down the strings. So it’s p m i repeated.
Alternate Picking
Alternating is my favourite way to use the thumb and two fingers method. Here the thumb alternates between the g- and C-strings.
In this particular pattern you pluck g-string with your thumb, E with middle, C-string with thumb, A with middle. So it’s p i p m.
One Finger Per String Picking
PIMA Pattern
Picking with your thumb and going up the strings to make p a m i.
PAMI Pattern
Here you pluck the g-string with your thumb. Then go through the strings in the opposite direction. Making a p a m i pattern.
Choosing a Pattern
If you’re unsure of which method of picking to use for a pattern I have a general rule for choosing.
If the g- and C-strings are played next to each other at any point I go with the one finger per string method. It’s much easier than having to switch strings with your thumb quickly.
But if the g- and C-strings aren’t played consecutively then I’ll go with the thumb and two fingers method. I find it much easier to play in general.
Here’s a quick illustration. This is the first thumb and two fingers method played using the one finger person string method. If you’re anything like me you’ll find it trickier to play this way.
In ukulele tab the finger you use to pluck the note is indicated by a letter in italics above the tab. They look like this:
Each letter corresponds to a finger on your picking hand:
t or p = Thumb
i = Index Finger
m = Middle Finger
a = Ring Finger
So when a note has an i above it you pluck that string with your index finger.
You won’t always find the picking notation. Sometimes you’ll just see it at the beginning of the piece and you just carry on that pattern all the way through. Sometimes you’ll just get the fingering for tricky sections.
The names are shortened from: pulgar, indice, medius, annular.
– You don’t use your ring finger. All the picking is done with thumb, index finger and middle finger.
– The thumb plays notes on both the g- and C-strings.
So the fingers cover these strings:
Thumb: g- and C-strings.
Index Finger: E-string.
Middle finger: A-string.
This method of picking has a few advantages over
The big disadvantage is that it makes it harder to play patterns where the g- and C-stings are played next to each other in a pattern. So if you’re playing a pattern that has that use the One Finger Per String Method.
The One Finger Per String Method is the most logical way of arranging your picking hand. Each string is allocated a finger. Each string is only played with one finger and each finger only plays one string.
They are arranged:
Thumb – g-string
Index Finger – C string
Middle Finger – E string
Ring Finger – A string
Like this:
As you can see, I use my little finger as an anchor. Don’t copy that! It’s a bad habit. This stabilizes the hand but there is a trade off. Letting you hand hover over the strings will give your fingers greater flexibility and make it easier to switch between picking and strumming.
And it means my hand always falls into that position. So whenever I’ve chugging a beer in a manly fashion I’m also raising a delicate pinkie.
I post a lot of instrumental fingerpicking pieces but I don’t often show fingerpicking as an accompaniment. Doing the acoustic riffs post made me want to dedicate some posts to uke fingerpicking in songs. So this week is dedicated to fingerpicking accompaniment.
Starting off with a perfect bit of fingerpicking for beginners. The little picking pattern in Walk off the Earth’s cover of LORDE’s Royals is dead simple.
Twiddly Bits
For the fingerpicking you don’t have to worry about the fretting hand at all. Just hold down a C chord all the time.
For the first picking pattern pluck:
– The C-string with your thumb.
– Then the E-string with your index finger.
– Then the A-string with your middle finger.
– Let all those notes ring out for the rest of the bar.
Here’s how that’s played (slowed down a little):
There’s a slightly different pattern in the second verse. The first bar is just the same. But for the second bar you do the exact opposite. So it’s:
– The A-string with your middle finger.
– Then the E-string with your index finger.
– Then the C-string with your thumb.
– Let all those notes ring out for the rest of the bar.
Suggested Strumming
The main pattern is a very reggae down strum on every off beat:
– d – d – d – d
Keep all the down strums short except the second one. Let that strum ring. Here’s how it sounds:
I did think that acoustic guitar would transfer better to the uke than the electric riffs. Nope! They tend to be much more complex. So I’ve taken a few liberties with these arrangements and some of them are still very tricky.
The same riff rules apply:
– These aren’t necessarily in the same key as the original.
– If you want the rest of the song you’re shit out of luck.
This version is for smaller ukes. If your uke goes as high as the 13th fret you can play the descending notes all on the C-string. That does make it a bit easier and gives it a more consistent tone.
It’s played campanella style and picked with thumb and two fingers.
