Ballad · Ukulele
Ballad ukulele rhythm: 6/8 strum
The ballad ukulele rhythm in 6/8: the strum goes down (↓) and up (↑). Beat by beat, one mark per eighth note: ↓↑↓ ↑↓↑. 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
Ballad is played with a chord strum — 6/8, straight (even subdivisions) — for the ukulele: the hand strums the chord (A) down and up. To the ear: A↓ A↑ A↓ A↑ A↓ A↑.
How to count it
In 6/8, each bar has 6 beats, counted in one strum per beat. Count out loud: 1 2 3 4 5 6. Keep the beat with your foot and follow the grid: each box is one beat.
The rhythm grid
A = chord · ↓ down-stroke · ↑ up-stroke
The ↓/↑ direction follows the bowed-string arcada convention (ᴨ down, V up; Ribeiro 2017).
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.
Left hand
Keep the chord well pressed through the whole pattern — the left hand rules pitch, the right rules the bar. Only release the shape at the end of the bar, moving the hand ahead to the next one.
Example in G
Hold a G and apply the whole pattern to it — every hit lands on the same chord. That’s how you take the groove into any song: change only the left hand, the right hand’s rhythm stays the same. Hear the example 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.
- Letting the tempo drift. Without a firm pulse the strum leaks — count along and hold the same time from the first bar to the last.
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.
- Take it up on the metronome. Start slow, keep the pattern clean, and add a few BPM at a time.
You’ve got the theory; now the time has to enter the body. Play along with the audio, follow the count and raise the tempo bit by bit until every stroke lands in its place without rushing. The Chord and Fret Metronome is free and keeps that drill steady.
Train with the metronome →Variations & related patterns
With the strum steady, take it to Ballad progressions, putting rhythm and chord changes together. In Chord and Fret’s Progressions by Rhythm, the progressions come with diagrams and audio, free.
Apply to progressions →