5 Variations On The Island Strum! Ukulele Tutorial

[@dianemcarthur7667]

Lara, thank you sooo much! You’re a fantastic uke teacher & this session is even better than most!

[@LaraMarkowitzMusic]

Thank you Diane! I'm so glad you enjoy my teaching style and that you found this lesson helpful. I appreciate the feedback!

[@raidengamer1193]

that's what we call it PERFECTION! that's a perfect tutorial, pretty calm, no stress, pretty easy and simple, and clear! thank you so much for your hard work, I appreciate your amazing videos

[@LaraMarkowitzMusic]

Thank you Yuki, I'm so happy to hear how much you enjoyed this tutorial! Your feedback is much appreciated.

[@sken1000]

Been looking for some variations to the usual island strum I have learnt and this is perfect. Lots to practice on here! Thank you so much Lara.

[@LaraMarkowitzMusic]

My pleasure, I hope you have fun with these variations!

[@timbuhite3688]

Very do-able and fun!! Exactly what I needed to add interest to my over used basic strum!! Thank you sooo much!!

[@LaraMarkowitzMusic]

Glad it was helpful! 😊

[@beverlychislett3392]

This video is amazing. I’ll have to start practicing these variations. You’ve broken the strumming down so at the very least, we see clearly what we need to practice. Thank you! I’m pretty pitiful with my strumming. It doesn’t seem to be a natural thing for me. So any strumming techniques you teach are priceless for me! 🙏

[@LaraMarkowitzMusic]

Thanks so much Beverly! Next week I'll be sharing a tutorial on the traditional island strum which you may find helpful as well 😊

[@beverlychislett3392]

@@LaraMarkowitzMusic fantastic! Looking forward to it ♥️

[@emm_arr]

Low Gs rock. My high G string survived until the low G arrived in the post. Thanks, Lara. Another great one.

[@LaraMarkowitzMusic]

Thanks so much! I agree...I fell in love with the low G the first time I heard it. Glad to hear you're enjoying it too :)

[@jacklangedyk4078]

love it . Have put a low G on . great sound on my Kala

[@LaraMarkowitzMusic]

Wonderful, so glad you're enjoying the low G!

[@suengkg]

Thank you Lara. I love your variations of island strum. It takes me out of my boredom of just playing the same style of island strum. Thank you again.

[@LaraMarkowitzMusic]

You're very welcome! 😊

[@ЛюдаЛ-ж6л]

Thank you! I like your tutorials a lot :)

[@LaraMarkowitzMusic]

Thanks so much! I'm glad you're enjoying the lessons 😊

[@christinemarie007]

I love it, thank you Lara. It allows me as a beginner to play something easy that sounds very good and have fun.

[@LaraMarkowitzMusic]

Wonderful! Glad you found this helpful Christine 😊

[@karent.8245]

Very cool!!!

[@LaraMarkowitzMusic]

Thanks! 🤗

[@mikenadin6435]

Love these Lara!

[@LaraMarkowitzMusic]

Thanks Mike! These are a lot of fun to play :)

[@chrisandthekids]

Merci beaucoup !

[@LaraMarkowitzMusic]

My pleasure!

[@JohannesHeld]

A nice! Thank you! Do you have a good advice on how to change chords mid strum using the island strum?

[@LaraMarkowitzMusic]

Glad you enjoyed this Johannes! If the beats of the pattern are split equally between 2 chords then ideally you'll change chords between the 2 upstrums. This can be tricky and I have a couple alternatives that you can try: 1) Omit the first upstrum (D-D-chord change -U-D-U) or 2) Omit the 2nd upstrum (D-D-U-chord change-D-U). Thanks for the question! 😊

[@vitico1630]

I wish I had more time to listen to all your lesson 😭😭😭

[@LaraMarkowitzMusic]

I'm so glad you're enjoying them! 😁

[@Eric-xg9nq]

An excellent tutorial... No major difficulty, however for the 2 examples of percussion, I can't make a sound as distinct as yours .. With which fingers hit you and is it at the handle or the body ? A big thank you for your teaching, you light up my learning sessions ...

[@LaraMarkowitzMusic]

I'm so glad you're enjoying the lessons! For the percussion hitting the body of the instrument below the strings, I'm "knocking" with the first knuckle of my middle finger. For the percussion against the strings I'm using the first knuckle of my index, middle, and ring fingers all together. I hope this helps :)

[@kenzuleisti2779]

Thank you for this.. To be honest have to check this out later as I am personally just trying to get the "island strum" in my ukebrain atm xD

[@LaraMarkowitzMusic]

Definitely, this will be fun once you get the strumming pattern down 😊

[@kenzuleisti2779]

@@LaraMarkowitzMusic Mastered it but then checked out a lot of other youtubers learn this many or that many and most of those were not that good as they did not go thru them in an effective way .. I suppose in order to get views one puts "learn 27 strumming patterns for uke in only 8 minutes" xD I forgot this was youtube.. I did have more fun but.. What are the others apart from the Island strum pattern to be considered?

[@LaraMarkowitzMusic]

@@kenzuleisti2779 Great job mastering it! There are so many possible patterns...I like to teach them with specific songs. You may enjoy my videos on Riptide, Can't Take My Eyes Off You, and Summer Wind to learn a few patterns in 4/4 time. Then there are also patterns in 3/4 (or 6/8) time...see my lessons on Hallelujah and Could I Have This Dance :)

[@jerryvarnes3490]

Thanks! This is surely a challenging one that will take time to master! 🥴

[@LaraMarkowitzMusic]

I hope you have fun with it Jerry! It may take some time and patience :)

[@jerryvarnes3490]

Lara Markowitz I’ve got my work cut out for me! You make it look so easy but when I try, I feel like I have five fat sausages for fingers! LOL! 😆 You’re quite nimble 😎...

[@LaraMarkowitzMusic]

Sausages for fingers...I laughed at that! 😆

[@heyamkareem6109]

Thank you Lara, I'm so loving your tutorials, so encouraging to follow. A question for you. I have the smallest uje 12 frets, I am not so impressed with sound, o always make sure it's tuned of course, but still don't feel the warmth of the sound. Had it fir sometime, as I'm feeling I'm progressing (guess heading to intermediate level) I am wondering if you could suggest a uke that gives a better sound. I'm thinking to get a better uke. Thank you for your great lessons.

[@LaraMarkowitzMusic]

Hi Heyam, I'm so glad you're enjoying the lessons! That's great that you're progressing and looking to move on to your next uke. You'll get a warmer/deeper sound with a tenor and it will offer you more frets with a longer neck. I love having a low G to be able to play lower notes. I've really enjoyed playing Kalas. Here's a link to the Kala that I'm currently playing if you're interested: amzn.to/2XcWHJC. Also here are my favorite strings (with a low G): amzn.to/2AHd6hQ. I hope this helps and hope you enjoy your next instrument! :)

[@heyamkareem6109]

@@LaraMarkowitzMusic thank you so much. I looked at your recommended uke on amazon, unfortunately it was not in stock. I found this www.amazon.com.au/Mahogany-Hricane-Ukeleles-Beginners-Hawaiian/dp/B075XF8KS2/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=Lala+tenor+ukulele&qid=1598218734&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzTlRaQ1NSUFU0SFM2JmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNTkyMTE2SjQyNjdaTzhPMkxTJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTFBWlFHM0ozSUtaQkgmd2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9zZWFyY2hfbXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ== Also on Amazon. Would you recommend it? I'm sorry to trouble you, but, these lockdown times are limiting us here in Melbourne. Cheers

[@LaraMarkowitzMusic]

Hi Heyam, I think the one you found looks like a good starter uke but it likely wouldn't be a big improvement in sound/quality. Check out this one...it appears to be more intermediate level and the reviews are good. With ukes, I find that with each increment of $50-$100 or so there's a noticeable jump in quality. If this is in your price range I think it would be a better option: amzn.to/3gogbm7

[@LaraMarkowitzMusic]

Also, this is another option at a higher price point. This will sound very similar to the one that I play: amzn.to/3aOkC8m

[@heyamkareem6109]

@@LaraMarkowitzMusic thank you, I'll have a look. Cheers

[@suengkg]

Hi Lara, I have difficulties in the up strum after the chuck if I put my 4 knuckles down covering on all 4 strings. Is it that when you chuck, you are covering only the 1st and 2nd (bottom 2 strings) cos it makes it easier to pluck up 4th and 5th for the up strum. Am I right?

[@LaraMarkowitzMusic]

I tend to cover strings 1-2 with my knuckles and cover strings 3-4 with my palm (or base of my thumb). So my hand is at an angle facing downward vs lining up the 4 knuckles with each string. Have fun practicing this and thanks for the question!

[@chuckjeffery944]

Lara, you do these strums much too easily. Very cool stuff alright. Thanks for showing us.

[@LaraMarkowitzMusic]

Thanks Chuck, glad you enjoyed this!

[@peterbradley4391]

Hi Lara what is the actual model of your Ukulele

[@LaraMarkowitzMusic]

Hi Peter, I'm playing a Kala KA-STGE-C. Here's the link: amzn.to/2XcWHJC

[@peterbradley4391]

@@LaraMarkowitzMusic Tank you