– 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.
It means you’re free to share the stuff in any way you like. For example, you can:
– Print off sections and use them in a ukulele lesson.
– Print off tab of a tune and share it with your uke group.
– Record audio and video performances of the arrangements.
– Use them to make a video tutorial.
– Translate them.
What you have to do
All you have to do is tell them you got it from Uke Hunt (because I have a ravenous ego and must be adored). It would also be cool if you let me know how you’re using it because I’d be really interested to know.
You also have to use the same (or similar) license on anything you use it to make. For example, if you use it to make a YouTube video select the Creative Commons license option when you upload it. Or if you translate it give the translation the same CC-BY-SA license.
What it Doesn’t Apply to
These DON’T have a CC license because I don’t have the power to give them one:
– The stuff that isn’t mine in the Ukuleles for Peace ebook.
– Ukulele for Dummies.
This ode to Iron & Wine is the single from it and is dead easy to play. They’re all variations on a G chord. Although they do have different roles in the song depending on what the other instruments are doing. For example, in the middle section the first G is playing the role of an Em7. But I’ve kept the same chord names throughout to keep things simple.
Suggested Strumming
For a simple main strum you can use:
d – d u – u d u
Intro: A bit complicated. Two down-strums on the G. Back to the main strum until the last three chords. Do d – d u for the Gsus4 and G. Then back to the main pattern for the last chord.
Verse and Outro: Main strum once for each chord.
Chorus: Main strum once for each chord except the Gsus2s. Main pattern twice for the first Gsus2. And four times for the last one.
Shouty Bit If you’re feeling ambitious on the A-meh-ri-ca bit you can do three triplet strums followed by a down strum on each syllable. Or you can just do four down-strums.
Middle: Main strum once for every chord. Except twice on the final chord.
