Ijexá · Ukulele
Ijexá ukulele rhythm: afoxé
The ijexá ukulele rhythm in 2/4: the strum goes down (↓) and up (↑) and muted strokes (x) keep the groove. Beat by beat, one mark per sixteenth note, with · where there is no stroke: ↓↑x↑ ↓↑·↑. 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 Ijexá pattern is a chord strum for the ukulele, in 2/4 straight (even subdivisions): the chord (A) swings back and forth, down and up, and the muted hits (x) give it bounce. To the ear: A↓ A↑ x A↑ A↓ A↑ — A↑.
How to count it
In 2/4, each bar has 2 beats, counted in sixteenth-notes (four per beat). Say the beats: 1 e & a, 2 e & a. 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 · x = muted · — = no stroke
The ↓/↑ direction follows the bowed-string arcada convention (ᴨ down, V up; Ribeiro 2017). The muted and ghost strokes follow Cantalice 2022.
How to play it
Right hand
The hand strums the whole chord (A). The arm swings down (↓) and up (↑) in constant motion — the up-stroke catches the treble strings and is naturally lighter. On the (x) hits, mute: rest the hand on the strings at the attack for the percussive “chka” that gives the groove its bounce. On the rests the arm keeps going: it stays in motion in the air and lands again on the next hit.
Left hand
The fretting hand holds the chord firmly through the whole pattern — it owns the harmony while the right hand owns the rhythm. Change chords at the last instant of the bar, the hand already moving toward the next shape. On the muted hits (x), ease the finger pressure without leaving the neck: the strings stop ringing but stay under the fingers, ready for the next chord.
Example in Am
Grab an Am 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
- Skipping the mute. The (x) hits aren’t chord, they’re percussion. Without them the bounce flattens into a lifeless strum.
- Up-strokes as hard as down-strokes. The up-stroke (↑) is lighter and catches only the treble strings — equal force thickens and drags it.
- Running the subdivisions. The faster the pattern, the easier to push ahead — lock the tempo on the metronome before speeding up.
- 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
- Start all down. Strum the chord down (↓) on every stroke, one direction only.
- Add the up-stroke. Let the arm come back (↑) between hits — lighter, catching the treble strings.
- Add the mute. Bring in the x hits by resting the hand on the strings — that percussion is the bounce.
- Close with the metronome. Go slow first and raise the BPM only once the pattern comes out clean.
You already get the logic of the groove. Now put it in time: hear the pattern, follow the count and practice slowly until every stroke lands in its place without rushing. In Chord and Fret, the Metronome and the Rhythm Trainer help with that drill, free.
Open the trainer →Variations & related patterns
Once the strum is steady, play the same pattern over Ijexá 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.
See the genre’s progressions →