Folk · Ukulele
Folk ukulele rhythm: triplet strum
The folk ukulele rhythm in 12/8: 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
Folk is played with a chord strum — 12/8, straight (even subdivisions) — for the ukulele: the chord (A) swings back and forth, down and up. In practice it sounds: A↓ A↓ A↑ A↓ A↓ A↑ A↓ A↓ A↑ A↓ A↓ A↑.
How to count it
There are 12 beats per bar (12/8), split into one strum per beat. Count out loud: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12. 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
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.
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 Em
Hold an EmEmEmEm 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
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 Folk 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 →