George Formby playing technique thumb drag

In this video we look which playing techniques George Formby used to create his style, and how George did one of his most commonly used ukulele 'tricks', the thumb drag.

[@tomhughes5891]

Thank you...you make more sense of it than anyone else I've seen!😄

[@stananders474]

Great podcast thanx

[@zandermagic]

Thank you Lee! Best explanation of the thumb drag/triplet I have seen. This helped me greatly! Much appreciated!

[@cluxseltoot]

A fascinating video - many thanks for uploading it.

[@DieterLo1]

Very good teaching! Thanks!

[@billyaitken7461]

Good tutorial bloke 🇬🇧😎👍🪕‼️

[@RonWylie-gk5lc]

I loved it, very very handy

[@johnnyfrisco5354]

Love the herring gulls right at the end... nice, informative video... there seem to be several variations on the thumb drag or scissors stroke. Thanks for this.

[@queenarc]

Excellent tutorial,keep them coming.You have a really good technique........Paul

[@pv8636]

Great video, nice and clear.

[@RondelayAOK]

Thanks so much; this is nicely done and nicely explained.

[@DelTangBrav]

Good video - understandable and very well explained. It might be mentioned though (for anyone wrongly thinking George cheated) that most musical performers on feature films use prerecorded sound it's the usual thing to do - one big difference is that in George's case, unlike many performers, he played on the prerecording too ☺

[@PeteyHoudini]

Thanks, mate! This was very useful! 8-)

[@peterforrest3424]

Hello peter you pop up always somewhere

[@JackScurlock]

Great to see you putting up a video and looking forward to the videos on the Blackpool trip. Take care of yourself and keep the videos coming. Huggs...captjack...

[@leeshetliffe]

Hi, Yes, I'm a member, and used to go frequently in the 90's. Sadly, due to work commitments and living a long way from Blackpool, don't get chance to go anymore, hopefully will try and do a visit in 2013 though.

[@jonathanmallalieu7043]

Excellent, thanks !

[@Russellye5man1]

Great stuff, many thanks

[@NickJay]

Thank you Lee. I've literally just started playing this morning and whilst undoubtedly some good tutorials out there, none I've found yet which explains the fingering (don't know *any* chords yet ... but I know C now thanks to this lol) or that takes the strumming really slowly. Will be checking out your other videos soon hoping you do some more strokes/chords for later. :) I'm retired now and whilst I'm 55 miles away from Blackpool, am hoping to go to one of the conventions once the Corona Virus thing is over. Maybe you'll return after 2013 too? hehe.

[@rog271]

very useful and easy to learn. when are we going to practice the fan, tremble and split strokes lee?

[@darrenbirchall5378]

Thanks Lee very helpful indeeed

[@1442GlennLane]

Great tutorial thanks. Is there a book I can get that explains right hand techniques? atb Glenn

[@alleyorch7728]

At last someone doing it slow enough for an old man, Where do I find your other videos

[@rog271]

in the closing minutes, you will find it easier if you keep your thumb and finger together on the upstroke. it tends to guide your hand better. hope this helps!

[@2tallB]

Meaning, use the thump on the upstroke? That's how I'd naturally do it, but I've never checked out George F's technique.

[@vipvop]

great!

[@pir869]

mime in the films for the pre-recorded music would most likely be down to how the mic picked up the sound,with the banjolele being so loud it might overload the audio recording ,i think he would have sung but the uke may have drowned him out,i know my banjolele drowns me out when i try it,i'm not sure of the pick up patterns they had for mics in the 20s-30s etc,cardioid,uni-directional etc,no problems with audio headroom and compression,but the mic could be the weak link. I'm not saying the mics were bad,i'm saying to mic vocals AND the uke on set may have been difficult to balance properly,maybe not ,it's my thoughts on it,i record music directly from amplifiers,i make amplifiers,so the use of proper mics and audio shielding to stop signals being picked up on the wrong mic or overloading a speech mic with very load instruments that are quite percussive can be an issue if not addressed properly,and why i also state maybe,as the type of directional mic used on set is unknown to me at this time,just my two bobs worth really.

[@bingcro]

good lesson lets have more of them pse

[@fasteddyuk]

6:33

[@tdegneyegrass101251]

Good way of playing the triplet have a look at my way of playing a similar stroke regards tom

[@anthonyford2894]

Does anyone know which ukulele he was playing?

[@joephillips4082]

An excellent tutorial, the best I've seen on the technique. I thought I had read somewhere that George used the thumb drag often on chord changes, but now I can't find that reference. Is it possibly true? Are there particularly good points to insert a thumb drag, or do you just drop it in at random?

[@leeshetliffe]

Hi, pretty random, however the mood takes you...

[@directorski]

Making me feel sea sick rocking back and forth, otherwise good instruction!

[@normanjones3439]

Controversial ? Story I heard was he did to stop rivals slowing down the film and copying his technique .

[@Lewisjls]

Is there a book with CD If no why doesn't somebody do one.

[@michaelmaleedy2749]

Thanks Emory Schley for pointing out that the instrucion starts at 6:30

[@anthonytaylor9232]

Yeh. I was beginning to loose the will to live! Anybody else think that he looks like a younger version of Tom Hanks, minus the accent? Peace.

[@emoryschley5546]

Go to 6:30 where the instruction actually starts...

[@resonator_95]

Have you been to the George Formby Society?

[@jacobchaunceyweltshmerzhop9794]

Tom Hanks you look like,

[@AdrianShawDrummer]

It was a great tutorial when we actually got to it. Eight minutes of waffle and three minutes of actual useful stuff. If you could cut to the chase a bit earlier it would be even better. Still worth watching though. Thanks.

[@leeshetliffe]

Hi Adrian. I agree with your comments, it was one of the first videos I made in my younger days, and there is a lot of pointless waffle which I hope to get around to editing out at some point. Any questions just drop me a line. Lee

[@stananders474]

U r a Tom Hanks look a like

[@johntreadaway47]

Would have been better if more time was spent on the technique and not so much about the height of the strings. But, enjoyed it anyway.

[@jonnybbad35]

he could talk a glass eye to sleep

[@silasfatchett5693]

jonnybbad35 If it didn't want to learn the thumb drag, I suppose he could.

[@The4thDensity]

Good video Lee, but please get to the point with your explanations. No offence.