Free Ukulele For Dummies by Alistair Wood

Strumming Variations’. In the shuffle strum you do a standard down-up strum but the first half of the strum lasts longer than the second half – making it sound lop-sided.
    Many genres, including country, reggae and Hawaiian, use the shuffle (also known as swing time ), but blues music takes the greatest advantage of it.
    In a shuffle strum the first part of the beat lasts twice as long as the second half (and so the beat is divided into thirds). But instead of trying to work that out in your head, the best idea is to listen to the examples and grasp the feel.
    Shuffle time is indicated at the beginning of a chord chart where you see the notation indicated in Figure 5-24.
    Figure 5-24: Shuffle time notation.

    For sounding the shuffle out, I use ‘Mar-tin Mar-tin Mar-tin Mar-tin’ (a long ‘Mar’ and a short ‘tin’).
    See Figure 5-25 and listen to Track 13 for a sample of the 12-bar blues chart, another key ingredient in the blues sound.
    Figure 5-25: Chord chart for 12-bar blues.

    Becoming upbeat about the reggae off-beat
    Jamaican songs are a great place to practise your strong and weak strumming. Reggae songs have a strong emphasis on the off-beats , which are the second and fourth beats in the bar. Take a look at Figure 5-26 for a visual image and listen to Track 14.
    Figure 5-26: Off-beat strum notation.

    â€˜The Banana Boat Song’ (also known as ‘Day-O’) became particularly popular when Harry Belafonte’s version of the tune was used in the film Beetlejuice , and it illustrates the off-beat idea perfectly. The chord progression is very similar to those I use in the earlier sections of this chapter, but the change in the strumming style gives the tune a whole new flavour (take a look at Figure 5-27 and have a listen to Track 15).
    Figure 5-27: ‘The Banana Boat Song’ chord chart.

    Rocking without strumming
    Sometimes stopping playing can be the most effective thing you can do for a song. As Lisa Simpson advised a fellow, but unenthusiastic, audience member: ‘You have to listen to the notes he’s not playing’ (to which he replied grumpily, ‘I could do that at home’).
    Not playing (at least momentarily) is a technique often used in rock music.
    In order to create the silence, you need to mute the strings. You do so by laying the fingers of your fretting hand over the strings, as shown in Figure 5-28.
    Figure 5-28: Fret hand muting the strings.

    You want to be only just touching the strings. Don’t put any pressure on them or you run the risk of fretting them.
    Keeping the time correctly when a large gap lies between the notes can be quite tricky. To help you, tap your foot, nod your head or keep your strumming hand moving in time with the music.
    The ultimate technique in rock is the rock riff, and to play this you need one more chord: E (pronounced ‘E flat’). The flat part means one fret lower (Chapter 2 contains more info on flat notes). So the E chord is one fret lower than an E chord. See Figure 5-29 for a look at the chord diagram and Figure 5-30 for a visual image.
    Here’s how you play the riff:
    1. Use your index finger to fret the A-string at the first fret.
    2. Use your ring finger to fret the C-string at the third fret.
    3. Use your little finger to fret the E-string at the third fret.
    Figure 5-29: The E chord diagram.

    Figure 5-30: Your fingers look like this when playing E .

    Now take a look at Figure 5-31 and play Track 16 to experience the magnificent rock riff.
    Figure 5-31: The rock riff chord chart.

    Rolling your strums
    Just as night is followed by day, so rock is followed by roll. A roll strum adds an accent to a particular strum, making it stand out from the others. It involves strumming with all your fingers rather than just your index finger.
    To perform a roll strum, hold your hand above the g-string in a loose fist, and then flick out your little finger so it strums the strings. Then