Cómo rasguear el ukelele
por Jonas
Para rasguear un ukelele, pasa la uña del dedo índice por las cuatro cuerdas, justo donde el mástil se une al cuerpo, y deja que el movimiento salga de una muñeca relajada en lugar de todo el brazo. Rasguea hacia arriba con la yema del mismo dedo. Cuando te resulte natural, añade un patrón como el «island strum».
Strumming is what turns chords into a song and it is simpler than it looks. The whole technique comes down to three things: a relaxed wrist, the right spot on the strings and a steady pattern. Here is how to do all three, then eighteen patterns to practice, each one with arrows you can play back.
Lo básico para rasguear el ukelele
Start out with the basic hand position, which is a loose fist. Strum with the index finger of your right hand, fingernail side down. When you strum down you should be hitting the strings with your nail. When you are strumming up, with the fleshy tip of your finger. It is important to use your wrist rather than your whole hand. Using your whole hand gets tiring very quickly.
When I started playing the ukulele I did it in a different way. I put the tip of my thumb and index finger together as if I were holding a plectrum. I strummed down with the nail of the index finger and up with the tip of the thumb. Maybe that is because I had a guitar background, but I found it an easier way to strum in the beginning. You also want to make sure that you strum on the correct spot. Strumming too close to the bridge or too high on the neck will make a dim sound.
I have found that the best place to strum the ukulele is different on every instrument, but it is around the area where the neck meets the body (see the red zone below).
Practice strumming either way by simply going up and down. Once you have mastered that, go on to the advanced section. And once your strum runs on autopilot you can start singing over it. Here is how to sing and play at once.
Avanzado
Once the basic up-and-down feels comfortable, you can start shaping a rhythm. Every song has its own strumming pattern and you build one by keeping the same steady up-and-down motion but skipping the strings on certain strokes. For example, try down, up, miss, down: keep your hand moving the whole time, but only let it touch the strings on the strokes you want to hear. Practice slowly, ideally with a metronome around 60 beats per minute. Only speed up once the pattern is even. Keeping your hand moving on the skipped strokes is what holds your timing together.
Notación de rasgueo
Strumming patterns are written as a short row of letters showing which way your hand moves on each beat. I do not publish the exact strumming for an individual copyrighted song, but the general patterns and notation below work across thousands of them. Here is what each symbol means.
- d: rasgueo hacia abajo
- u: rasgueo hacia arriba
- – : pause or missed strum, meaning you move your hand up or down without hitting the strings. These give you the timing of the strums.
- x : a chnk. You strum down and follow through so the underside of your hand lands on the strings, creating a “chnk” sound.
- (d) or (u) : a muted down or up strum. You strum as normal but with your fretting fingers resting on the strings to stop them reverberating. It sounds like a chnk but you can do it in either direction.
- D or U : capitalized letters mean the strum is emphasized, so give it a bit more welly.
Patrones de rasgueo
| # | Patrón | Ideal para |
|---|---|---|
| Acordes iniciales | ||
| 1 | d d d d informo | El primer rasgueo (todo hacia abajo) |
| 2 | d u d u te lo he dicho | Abajo y arriba con cada compás |
| Compás de 4/4 | ||
| 3 | d – d u – u d – | El rasgueo 4/4 que se usa en todas partes |
| 4 | d – d u – u d u | El clásico rasgueo isleño |
| 5 | d – d – d u d u no sé | Conducción 4/4 |
| 6 | d – d u d u d u | Ajetreado, alegre, 4/4 |
| Medio compás (los acordes cambian dos veces por compás) | ||
| 7 | d – d u | Cambios rápidos de acordes |
| 8 | d u x u | Media barra con un trozo |
| Dos compases (cambios de acordes lentos) | ||
| 9 | d – d u – u d u | Cuando los acordes cambian cada dos compases |
| Énfasis | ||
| 10 | d u d U d u d U ¿Qué tal? | Énfasis en el tiempo fuerte |
| 11 | d u x u d u x u información | Original y robusto |
| Reggae | ||
| 12 | – d – d – d – d – d – d – d – d | Fuera de lo común |
| 13 | – – d u – – d – | Reggae sincopado |
| Compás de vals de 3/4 | ||
| 14 | d – d u d – | Canciones de tres tiempos |
| 15 | d – d u d u informo | Canciones de tres tiempos, más animadas |
| 6/8 time | ||
| 16 | d – – d – u | Rocking, lullaby feel |
| 17 | d – u d – u | Flowing 6/8 |
| One strum per bar | ||
| 18 | d – – – | Slow ballads, let it ring |
There is no single correct strumming pattern for a song the way there is a correct chord. Plenty of patterns can fit and learning to pick one by ear is a skill in itself. The table above lists the most common ones, simplest first. Every pattern below shows the arrows and has a play button. Most have a recorded sample too. Brand new? Get the two starter strums steady before anything else. Try a few against your song, keep whichever feels right and once you are comfortable you can invent your own.
Acordes iniciales
¿Eres totalmente nuevo en esto de rasguear? Empieza por dominar bien estos dos, y luego pasa a los patrones que te muestro a continuación.
Pattern 1: all downs (d d d d)
El primer rasgueo: un rasgueo hacia abajo en cada tiempo. Lo importante es mantener un ritmo constante, así que cuenta «uno, dos, tres, cuatro» en voz alta mientras tocas.
Songs that use it on UkuTabs
Pattern 2: down-up eighths (d u d u)
Añade un rasgueo hacia arriba entre cada rasgueo hacia abajo, para que tu mano no deje de moverse de arriba abajo en todo momento. Esta es la base sobre la que se construyen casi todos los patrones que vienen a continuación.
Songs that use it on UkuTabs
Patrones de rasgueo 4/4
El compás más habitual. Si puedes contar «uno, dos, tres, cuatro» al ritmo de una canción y te cuadra, prueba con estos.
Pattern 3: everywhere 4/4 (d – d u – u d –)
Skips the third down-strum for a gentle syncopated lift. Simple, but it turns up everywhere, which is how it got the name.
Songs that use it on UkuTabs
- Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová – Falling Slowly
- The Muppets – Rainbow Connection
- Ben E. King – Stand By Me
Pattern 4: island strum (d – d u – u d u)
The classic island strum: pattern 3 with an extra up-strum at the end. The go-to for a huge number of songs and the most used pattern on UkuTabs by a wide margin.
Songs that use it on UkuTabs
Pattern 5: driving 4/4 (d – d – d u d u)
Un ritmo constante y enérgico, con una segunda mitad del compás más animada.
Songs that use it on UkuTabs
Pattern 6: busy upbeat 4/4 (d – d u d u d u)
Una vez que arranca, tiene un ritmo casi constante de subidas y bajadas, lo que va muy bien con canciones más rápidas y animadas.
Songs that use it on UkuTabs
Motivos de medio compás
Para canciones en las que los acordes cambian dos veces por compás.
Pattern 7: half-bar (d – d u)
A short half-bar strum for songs where the chord changes quickly. You play it twice per bar, once for each chord.
Songs that use it on UkuTabs
- Halsey – Without Me
- Melanie Martinez – Tag, You’re It
- Trevor Daniel – Past Life (feat. Selena Gomez)
Pattern 8: half-bar chunk (d u x u)
Un rasgueo de medio compás con un acento (la «x») para darle un toque percusivo y un poco funky.
Songs that use it on UkuTabs
Patrón de dos barras
Para canciones en las que los acordes cambian poco a poco. Así se extiende un patrón a lo largo de dos compases.
Pattern 9: two-bar relaxed (d – d u – u d u)
The island strum stretched over two bars instead of one, so each chord gets twice as long. Useful for slow ballads where the chords barely move.
This one is a shaping trick rather than a pattern in its own right, so no song on UkuTabs is tagged with it. Take any slow song that uses pattern 4 and give each chord two bars instead of one.
Énfasis
Son los mismos movimientos, pero presiona más fuerte en ciertos tiempos para conseguir un ritmo diferente. Una «U» mayúscula indica un rasgueo ascendente más fuerte.
Pattern 10: upbeat emphasis (d u d U d u d U)
Leans on the up-strums for a bouncy, lifted feel, good for big singalongs. The capital U is where you dig in.
Songs that use it on UkuTabs
- The Foundations – Build Me Up Buttercup
- Neil Diamond – Sweet Caroline
- American Authors – El mejor día de mi vida
Pattern 11: funky chunky (d u x u d u x u)
The chunk groove from pattern 8 carried across two bars, for a funky, percussive feel. It suits anything built on a tight rhythm part.
Songs that use it on UkuTabs
Acordes de reggae
El reggae hace hincapié en los tiempos secundarios en lugar del «uno». Un guion significa que te saltes ese golpe y sigas moviendo la mano.
Pattern 12: reggae offbeat (– d – d – d – d)
Pure off-beat: you only strum on the “and” of each beat, which is the foundation of a reggae feel.
Songs that use it on UkuTabs
Pattern 13: syncopated reggae (– – d u – – d –)
A syncopated reggae strum that accents the two and the four. Common in reggaeton and Latin pop as well as reggae itself.
Songs that use it on UkuTabs
Compás de 3/4
Para canciones que se cuentan de tres en tres en lugar de cuatro.
Pattern 14: waltz (d – d u d –)
Un rasgueo sencillo en 3/4, para canciones en las que se cuenta de tres en tres.
Songs that use it on UkuTabs
Pattern 15: busy waltz (d – d u d u)
Un rasgueo de tres cuartos más rápido, con más golpes hacia arriba.
Songs that use it on UkuTabs
- The Beatles – Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds
- Édith Piaf – La Foule
- Bo Burnham – Welcome To The Internet
6/8 time
Some songs count in six rather than four, with a swaying, rocking feel underneath. Count “one two three four five six” evenly and lean on the one and the four. These two patterns are written across all six beats rather than in bars of four.
Pattern 16: 6/8 lilt (d – – d – u)
Two strums per bar with a lift on the last beat, which gives 6/8 songs their rocking, lullaby feel. This is the one to reach for whenever a ballad refuses to sit in four.
Songs that use it on UkuTabs
Pattern 17: 6/8 flowing (d – u d – u)
The same six-beat count but with an up-strum closing each half, so it flows rather than rocks. Good for songs that need to keep moving underneath a slow vocal.
Songs that use it on UkuTabs
One strum per bar
Sometimes the right answer is barely strumming at all. On slow, spacious songs a single stroke per chord leaves room for the voice. Adding more just gets in the way.
Pattern 18: whole-bar ballad (d – – –)
One down-strum per bar, left to ring. Count the other three beats in your head and let the chord breathe. It sounds like nothing until you try it under a slow vocal. Then it sounds exactly right.
Songs that use it on UkuTabs
- Billie Eilish – Happier Than Ever
- Harry Styles – Sign Of The Times
- Billie Eilish – Lovely (feat. Khalid)
Preguntas frecuentes sobre cómo rasguear el ukelele
¿Cuál es el patrón de rasgueo más fácil para el ukelele?
The simplest is one down-strum on each beat, the “all downs” strum (pattern 1 above). It builds your sense of timing and works for slow or beginner songs. Once that feels steady, add an up-strum between each down to get the down-up strum.
¿Cómo se toca el «island strum»?
It is the most popular and most versatile uke strum. Using the symbols above, the pattern is d – d u – u d u, which you can say out loud as “down, down-up, up-down-up”. It is pattern 4 above, with the arrows and a sample you can play.
¿Cómo debo colocar la mano con la que rasgueo?
Make your strumming hand into a loose fist and hold it in front of the center of your chest, pointing toward your opposite shoulder. Strum from the wrist and let your thumb steady your strumming finger for extra support.
¿Dónde debes rasguear en el ukelele?
If you strum too close to the bridge it sounds tinny and the strings have little give. The sweet spot on soprano and concert ukuleles is around the point where the neck meets the body. On tenors it sits a little closer to the bridge.
¿Cuál es la técnica correcta para rasguear?
Use your wrist rather than your whole arm or you will tire quickly. On the way down, hit the strings with your nail. On the way up, hit them with the fleshy tip of the same finger.
How do I know which strumming pattern a song uses?
¿Qué es un «swing» o un «shuffle»?
En el swing, el rasgueo hacia abajo dura más o menos el doble que el rasgueo hacia arriba, lo que le da ese toque relajado y animado que se usa mucho en la música hawaiana, el jazz y el blues. Hace que un simple rasgueo de arriba abajo suene mucho más interesante.
¿Qué es el «chunking»?
Chunking adds a percussive beat to your strum. As you strum down, lightly slap the strings with the side or underside of your hand so they click instead of ring. It is sometimes called muted strumming and it is the x in the notation above.
¿Qué son los rasgueos muertos?
Un «strum» sordo es otro chasquido percusivo, pero que se hace con la mano con la que pulsas las cuerdas. Apoyas los dedos ligeramente sobre todas las cuerdas para que no suenen y, a continuación, rasgueas, produciendo un chasquido amortiguado.
¿Tengo que aprenderme todos estos patrones de rasgueo?
No. Si aprendes entre tres y cinco patrones versátiles, como el rasgueo «island» y un par más, podrás tocar casi cualquier canción. Añade más solo cuando una canción concreta lo requiera.
Ahora toca la guitarra al ritmo de una canción
Pick a song you know, get the island strum going and keep your hand moving even through the chord changes. Count On Me is about the friendliest place to start and its own page suggests that exact strum. There are thousands more in the easy ukulele songs list. Look up shapes in the free chord library and when you are ready, the fingerpicking guide is the natural next step. Feel free to contact me whenever you need more information about strumming.
Really helpful. I find strumming the hardest thing playing the uke
jk, but this was super helpful, Thanks!
I thought that the chords and moving my fingers would be the hardest thing for me but once you get that down it becomes muscle memory. Strumming is the hardest thing about the ukulele definitely
i am still having some trouble strumming up, i don’t know how to position my hand.
how to do the chnk
what about this / ?
Thank you! I was unsure on how to strum before but this was really helpful <3
Does anyone know any good song that use the hawaiian strum…Ive been wanting to practice that
Waww! finally 🙂 since I started learning ukulele (without any background in music) I have being jumping from one tutorial to the other and getting frustrated because of the lack of strumming instructions. This guide helped me greatly. Thanks a lot!
Thank you so much! These Strumming patterns helped a lot
I’ve been playing ukulele for around 3 years now and I have a really odd strumming pattern. I use my entire hand, so for a down I hit it with all of my nails and and for an up i hit the upper skin of my thumb and slide onto the nail.
I actually don’t know if that’s okay or not, but it works nonetheless.
I’m so glad I found this. Thanks especially for the little audio clips of the strumms.
TQVM fir this informative ibformation. 🙂
how do i sign-up for newsletter?
Really helpful. Thanks!
How do I fingerpick 😭
How do you do d u u d d?
Just use Middle finger if comfortable and do simple and common pattern of D D U U D U used in most ukulele songs
the e chord is still kind of hard for me tho
i fond struming the hardist