Pop · Ukulele
Pop ukulele rhythm: fan-roll accent
The pop ukulele rhythm in 4/4: a rasgueado roll (R) marks the accents and the strum goes down (↓) and up (↑). Beat by beat, one mark per eighth note, with · where there is no stroke: ↓· ↓↑ R↑ ↓↑. Play the audio here in your browser, set the tempo anywhere from 50 to 200 BPM and follow the grid, which marks every subdivision.
Sound summary
The Pop pattern is a rasgueado for the ukulele, in 4/4 straight (even subdivisions): the fingers roll the chord in a fast fan (R), the rasgueado that defines the bar. In practice it sounds: A↓ — A↓ A↑ AR A↑ A↓ A↑.
How to count it
The meter is 4/4: 4 beats per bar, counted in eighth-notes (two per beat). Say the beats: 1 e, 2 e, 3 e, 4 e. Tap your foot on the strong beat and read the grid above: each cell is one subdivision.
The rhythm grid
A = chord · ↓ down-stroke · ↑ up-stroke · R = rasgueado (finger roll) · — = no stroke
The ↓/↑ direction follows the bowed-string arcada convention (ᴨ down, V up; Ribeiro 2017).
How to play it
Right hand
The signature stroke is the rasgueado (R): roll the fingers in a fast downward fan — pinky, ring, middle, index — each finger a separate attack, one just after the next, landing on the beat. On the rests the arm keeps going: it stays in motion in the air and lands again on the next hit.
Left hand
The left hand gives the harmony: hold the whole shape clean from start to finish, leaving the right hand to the rhythm. Make the change on the last beat, the hand already heading to the next chord.
Example in C
Grab a C and play the full strum over it: each stroke is the same chord. To carry it into any song, change only the shape in the left hand — the right hand’s rhythm doesn’t change. Listen below.
Common mistakes
- Up-strokes as hard as down-strokes. The up-stroke (↑) is lighter and catches only the treble strings — equal force thickens and drags it.
- Rushing. Fast subdivisions are easy to run. Start slow with the metronome and only speed up once the pattern is clean.
- Stopping the arm on the rests. The hand never stops — it keeps swinging in the air and only touches the strings on the next hit. That’s what holds the time.
Guided practice
- Open the fan slowly. Play just the rasgueado (R), feeling each finger fire in sequence.
- Fit it into the bar. Place the roll on its beat and fill the rest with the plain strokes.
- Take it up on the metronome. Start slow, keep the pattern clean, and add a few BPM at a time.
You already get the logic of the groove. Now put it in time: hear the pattern, follow the count and practice slowly until the roll lands cleanly on the beat. In Chord and Fret, the Metronome and the Rhythm Trainer help with that drill, free.
Train with the metronome →Variations & related patterns
Once the strum is steady, play the same pattern over Pop progressions: rhythm and chord changes in one exercise. In Chord and Fret, Progressions by Rhythm plays progressions from many styles, with diagrams and audio, free.
Apply to progressions →