Sep/28/13

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Sep/27/13

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Friday Links

It’s your last chance to use the half price code on the How to Play Ukulele ebooks. You can claim 50% off any of the ebooks (except Ukuleles for Peace) until the end of September by using this code on the checkout page: cowhouse

Sep/26/13

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Ninebarrow – Birdsong (Tab)

If you’re a fan of folk music you absolutely have to follow the Songs from the Shed YouTube channel. They have a huge range of sessions from acts on the UK folk scene. The latest session to make me prick up my ears was Ninebarrow’s performance of Birdsong.

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.

Links

Buy the MP3
Ninebarrow’s YouTube channel
Their website

Sep/25/13

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Fingerpicking Patterns

Following on with this week’s fingerpicking accompaniment theme with some popular ukulele picking patterns.

I’ve put up a few mini-posts earlier today covering:

– One Finger Per String Picking Method
– Thumb and Two Fingers Picking Method
– Fingerpicking Notation

This post follows on from those and the Fingerpicking Ukulele – First steps post with patterns using those picking methods.

Thumb and Two Fingers Picking

PIMP Pattern

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.

Links

Some more challenging fingerpicking patterns

Sep/25/13

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Fingerpicking Notation

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.

Links

If you need a primer on reading ukulele tab in general, check out How to read ukulele tab.
Fingerpicking Patterns

Sep/25/13

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Thumb and Two Fingers Picking

The Thumb and Two Finger Method of fingerpicking differs from the One Finger Per String Method in two ways:

– 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.

An Example

Links

Learn some fingerpicking patterns using this technique
Fingerpicking Notation

Sep/25/13

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One Finger Per String Picking

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.

An Example

Links

Learn some fingerpicking patterns using this technique
Thumb and Two Fingers Method
Fingerpicking Notation

Sep/24/13

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Walk off the Earth/Lorde – Royals (Chords)

Lorde/Walk off the Earth – Royals (Chords)

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.