Category Archives: Strumming

UD#110 The Strum-o-lo-gy of Swingin’ the Blues

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UD#110 The Strum-o-logy of Swingin’ Bluesfrom Ukulele in the Dark with Guido Heistek I’ve created an arrangement of “Blue Monk” by Thelonius Monk. Have a listen, and then read on!   CLICK TO LISTEN TO “BLUE MONK” The music sheet is below. Try it out with some uke buddies! Today, I am going to focus on strumming the chords.  In the song we use three chords: G7, C7, D7.  A lot of times when we play jazz music on the ukulele we use chords “up the neck.” So today, instead of playing the open G7 like this…   we will play the   …Continue Reading


UD#88 The Magic of Triplets

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UD#88 The Magic of Triplets from Ukulele in the Dark with Guido Heistek GETTING THE FEEL OF TRIPLETS As promised, this lesson we are looking at the triplet strum. The most common triplet strum has us playing three strums in the space of one beat. In other words we are strumming a “triplet” on one beat. I like to get people to clap triplets before we start to try to learn the strum. That way we can get the feel of it. Let’s do that. Clapping Triplets First, let’s clap one triplet. Like this: 1  2  3 Now, let’s clap   …Continue Reading


UD#48 Closet Banjo: The Clawhammer Technique

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UD #48  Closet Banjo: The Clawhammer Technique from Ukulele in the Dark w/ Guido Heistek   I am very excited to introduce the CLAWHAMMER style this week! What’s CLAWHAMMER? Here’s a video of me playing Wayfaring Stranger in the clawhammer style. It will give you a feel for how it sounds. Enjoy! When I first received a ukulele from my wife some 12 years ago I was struck by how it sounded a little like a banjo, an instrument I’d always had a soft spot for. The five string banjo has a high pitched string that is plucked by the   …Continue Reading


UD#38 Sixteen Beat Strum: Steal My Kisses

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UD#38 Sixteen Beat Strum: Steal My Kisses (Ben Harper) from Ukulele in the Dark w/ Guido Heistek   OKAY, let’s look at Steal My Kisses by Ben Harper. The song has three chords in it: G C6 and D6. Here are the chords in open position on the uke: And here are the chords “up the neck”: NOTE: The D6 up the neck needs to be played at the 5th fret. There’s a little 5 there at the top of the diagram that is hard to see. The progression goes like this: | G                 |  C6                |  D6                    |  G                         …Continue Reading


UD#28 Strum Like a Drummer: Backbeat

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UD#28 STRUM LIKE A DRUMMER: BACKBEAT (and Right Hand Muting) from Ukulele in the Dark w/ Guido Heistek Hear is a definition of backbeat: back·beat  n. “A sharp rhythmic accent on the second and fourth beats of a measure in 4/4 time, characteristic of rock music.” Hmmm…but how do we do that that? I don’t like getting too technical and getting people to count and try to put stresses on certain beats. Instead I’d like us to play backbeat by FEEL. Let’s start by listening: Here’s a recording of a rhythm with a strong backbeat being played on the drums.   …Continue Reading


UD#11 Bo Diddley Ukulele Strum

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UD# 11: Bo Diddley Ukulele Strum from Ukulele in the Dark w/ Guido Heistek This week I want to take a look at the Bo Diddley Strum. Here are a couple of videos of Bo Diddley himself playing his famous locomotive-like rhythmic style. One video is from the 80s and one from early in his career:   Bo Diddley’s trademark rhythm has made it into a lot of pop songs over the years. Here are a couple: 1. Faith, George Micheal (The song actually starts at the :55 mark) 2. I Want Candy, Bow Wow Wow   Here is a   …Continue Reading


UD#10 A Knee Slapping Reggae Strum

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UD#10 Knee Slapping Reggae Strum from Ukulele in the Dark w/ Guido Heistek -HOW TO STRUM A REGGAE BEAT I am teaching and playing this weekend at the Vancouver Ukulele Festival. I will be teaching a workshop on strumming so I thought I would teach a strum for this week’s newsletter. Here are a couple of recordings of me playing the chords to Somewhere over the Rainbow  (Israel “IZ” Kamakawiwoʻole version). I am playing the song in the key of G (different from the original)  so just use them as a reference for the strumming groove. faster version: slower version: In the   …Continue Reading


UD#7 PAPER STRUM (Strum-without-a-uke)

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UD#7 PAPER STRUM (Strum-without-a-uke)  from Ukulele in the Dark w/ Guido Heistek Learning to strum can be a little daunting especially if you have never played a strummed instrument before. There is a lot to consider: •What finger should I strum with on my right hand? Thumb? Index finger? Both? •How can I change between the chords and keep strumming? •How do I know which pattern to strum? •How can I strum and sing at the same time? I find that new players need a lot of experience with the simple act of keeping rhythm with their strumming hand. They   …Continue Reading