Strumming patterns – some people can’t play without them, others never use them. Personally I never really know which pattern I’m playing unless I analyse afterwards, but I know some people really need a strumming pattern to guide them through a song. With that in mind I’ve put together a PDF of 32 ukulele strumming patterns to help anyone that needs a little inspiration.
All of these strumming patterns are eighth note patterns so the best way to get to grips with them is to count 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and throughout. Count out loud if you need to to begin with (if you can say it, you can play it) and miss the words where no strum appears.
I haven’t noted any songs alongside these patterns as I think you should let your ear guide you as to which you think works with the song you’re playing – also don’t feel limited to playing one throughout a whole song. Once I get a feel for a song I’ll make subtle variations to the strumming to keep it interesting.
The patterns I’ve given you here are just to spice up your playing a little, feel free to experiment with them – try them on songs you don’t think they’ll fit into, you might be surprised.
Download 32 Ukulele Strumming Patterns
If you really want to progress your strumming at a rapid rate then I’d highly recommend taking a look at Al Wood’s downloadable ebook How To Play Ukulele Strums. For just $12 you get an in-depth guide showing you how to play 49 different strums with supporting videos and MP3 files. There’s also a really useful section that focuses on counting strums the easy way (something I wish I had when I was learning to play).
Buy How To Play Ukulele Strums
View Comments (29)
Thank you so much for the strum sheet. It is so well set out and easy to follow. A truly great idea.
You're very welcome Veronica!
Great aid dave, printed out and clipped on my board.
Thanks
James
stumming patterns really helpful. Been learning since christmas. know about 8 chords but could you to a chord chart with single notes possibly. when looking up on internet for these i get so confused. a simple 4 or 5 single notes would really help. thanking you in advance.
Thanks for commenting Sue. I'm not entirely sure what you mean when you say a chord chart with 4 or 5 single notes?
lol Sorry for the confusion. I do not read music but what I mean is I know chords are made up of 2 or more notes. However, learning to finger pick someone said I needed to learn single notes. If this is correct I wandered if you could write it out and explain were the single notes are example F, C ,G and a few more? Not sure if this makes more sense to you. I am involved in a group but we are only strumming to songs and I wanted to learn more. thanks for any help you can offer.
No problem Sue - a really useful thing to do is to start to get to grips with your fretboard and understand which note is which. I wrote a post that goes into a bit of detail on this which you can read here… https://ukulelego.com/articles/get-to-know-your-ukulele-fretboard/
Strumming patterns seem to be my achilles' heel of ukulele learning. I can sometimes fake a pattern well enough, but following one? This might keep me busy for months! And there's a link to advanced ones? ...
You surely don't mean gambling Nicola?
Well, as long as we're gambling, my money's on Google Translate!
Playing-->Gambling
Thanks for all your advice. It has been really helpful in getting me playing. I have started up a beginners class and everyone enjoying the strumming patterns. Wish I had started playing years ago. :)
Between barre chords and strumming patterns, I find this challenging. I am however persistent and practice daily. I will master these but it's going to take a while. Thank you for all you great hints! Susan
Very grateful for the guidance,thank you.
I'm pretty sure I'm falling in love with you. ❤️ I started playing a year ago and have been taking lessons from a teacher all this time. I've repeatedly asked for help with strum patterns so all my songs don't sound so samey but not gotten any farther or any real concrete help. This post is a game changer for me. Thank you.
I'll take comments like that all day long! Thanks and I'm really pleased that it helped.
Hey,
Thank you so much for this sheet and all other lessons, been great help!
I have one strange problem though.. you know your "if you can say it you can play it", well I can play some patterns pretty fast when I get the feeling but my problem is I lose the connection between counting and strumming in the speed, so I don`t know which beat I'm on and therefore if I should already change the chord or no. Does this make any sense? And if it does, do you have any tips? Aside from "learn how to count to 4" :)))
Thank you, have a great one!
Not Dave, but if I'm understanding what you're saying correctly, try this;
Get a metronome (real or app) & start it up at a bpm you can count all the counts with. (1,2,3,4) As you do it successfully increase the bpm. Only count out loud, once you can follow count at higher bom start tapping your strum hand on your leg or table. After you can do everything correctly start over, but use your uku & strum the beats until you reach the higher bpm.