It will give the song that fun island sound.
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Find out for yourself why teachers and students have depended on Play Ukulele NOW Methods and Songbooks since 2009
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An easy fun accompaniment for any song - The Reggae Strum!
This is the easy - beginners version of the reggae strum. It's easy because it uses right hand muting to play the rests.
This is also a great exercise in control and right hand technique.
Anyone can play it and apply it to any song!
Here's how to perform the reggae strum:
- Rest the side of the palm of your hand on the strings, right next to the bridge, with your thumb pointing outward away from the ukulele. Make sure that you hand is muting the strings as it rests on them.
- lift your palm up enough that you will be able to strum a chord and have it ring clearly. strum the strings with an upward motion, using your first finger.
Rest = step 1 above
Upward strum = Step 2 above
Variation
After you master it with an upward strum, try it using a downward strum, rather than the upward strum.
Not sure about strumming or how to strum?
Get your copy of the Play Ukulele NOW Method and Songbook! or click here to get your eBook
Try this first with some of the easy songs you already know, the first songs in the eBook would work great for this, if you don't already have your eBook get it now!
The Rock Steady and the Ska strum
The Rock steady strum and the ska strum are variations of the reggae strum.
First play the strum on the &'s rather than on beats 2 & 4, it'll be twice as fast.
Count and strum on the &'s (rest your palm on the strings for the counts): 1, &, 2, &, 3, &, 4, &..
Now you will need a metronome in order to play them. A metronome helps you keep time, when you strum and count along with a metronome each count is on one of the clicks.
Click here for a free online metronome
As you can see on the page above you can choose between 30 and 330 beats per minute, most music is between 75 and 140 beats per minute.
Most teachers recommend always playing with a metronome, one of the things most beginners have trouble with is keeping time.
Rock steady is a music genre that originated in Jamaica around 1966. A successor of ska and a precursor to reggae.
The rock steady strum is simply the reggae strum played between 75 and 100 beats per minute.
Take some of the easy songs you already know and set the metronome for a rock steady strum and play along. Try some different numbers in between 75 and 100 beats per minute.
Ska is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950's and was the precursor to rock steady and reggae.
The ska strum is simply a reggae strum played between 110 and 140 beats per minute.
Take some of the easy songs you already know and set the metronome for a ska strum and play along. Try some different numbers in between 110 and 140 beats per minute.
Now lets tray another variation, when playing the reggae strum with the up-strums, only strum the top two or three strings. (these would be the strings on the E and A strings or the G, E, and A strings)
Make the rest longer than the strum:
* the short is half the length of the long
Questions on tuning? Click here to see our 3 tricks to tuning a ukulele and to keeping it in tune blog
Now you will need a metronome in order to play them. A metronome helps you keep time, when you strum and count along with a metronome each count is on one of the clicks.
Click here for a free online metronome
As you can see on the page above you can choose between 30 and 330 beats per minute, most music is between 75 and 140 beats per minute.
Most teachers recommend always playing with a metronome, one of the things most beginners have trouble with is keeping time.
Here's a great, inexpensive metronome, its a good idea to use it every time you practice
Rock steady is a music genre that originated in Jamaica around 1966. A successor of ska and a precursor to reggae.
The rock steady strum is simply the reggae strum played between 75 and 100 beats per minute.
Take some of the easy songs you already know and set the metronome for a rock steady strum and play along. Try some different numbers in between 75 and 100 beats per minute.
Ska is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950's and was the precursor to rock steady and reggae.
The ska strum is simply a reggae strum played between 110 and 140 beats per minute.
Take some of the easy songs you already know and set the metronome for a ska strum and play along. Try some different numbers in between 110 and 140 beats per minute.
Another slight variation
Now lets tray another variation, when playing the reggae strum with the up-strums, only strum the top two or three strings. (these would be the strings on the E and A strings or the G, E, and A strings)
The icing on the cake - give it that authentic reggae sound
Make the rest longer than the strum:
- Tap your foot 1, 2, 3, 4 make sure you are taping evenly, or use a metronome - start slow
- Then, over the taps - make sure you're counting evenly - say: Long, short*, long, short. Say the short, shorter than the long and play the strum on the short
* the short is half the length of the long
Questions on tuning? Click here to see our 3 tricks to tuning a ukulele and to keeping it in tune blog
UPDATE (07/21/2023): RELATED VIDEO and ARTICLE:
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