Pop · Ukulele
Pop ukulele rhythm: island strum
The pop ukulele rhythm in 4/4: the strum goes down (↓) and up (↑). Beat by beat, one mark per eighth note, with · where there is no stroke: ↓· ↓↑ ·↑ ↓↑. 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
For the ukulele, Pop uses a chord strum, in 4/4 straight (even subdivisions): the groove strums the chord (A) up and down. To the ear: A↓ — A↓ A↑ — A↑ A↓ A↑.
How to count it
In 4/4, each bar has 4 beats, counted in eighth-notes (two per beat). Say the beats: 1 e, 2 e, 3 e, 4 e. Keep the beat with your foot and follow the grid: each box is one subdivision.
The rhythm grid
A = chord · ↓ down-stroke · ↑ up-stroke · — = no stroke
The ↓/↑ direction follows the bowed-string arcada convention (ᴨ down, V up; Ribeiro 2017).
How to play it
Right hand
Alternate down (↓) and up (↑) on the chord (A). The down-stroke is firm; the up-stroke just grazes the thin strings — that contrast gives the 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 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
- Weighing down the up-stroke. The up (↑) should just graze the thin strings; matching the down-stroke’s force thickens it and drags the time.
- 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
- Start all down. Strum the chord down (↓) on every stroke, one direction only.
- Bring in the up-stroke. Let the arm rise (↑) lightly between hits, grazing the thin strings.
- 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 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
With the strum steady, take it to Pop progressions, putting rhythm and chord changes together. In Chord and Fret’s Progressions by Rhythm, the progressions come with diagrams and audio, free.
Train with progressions →