Figuring Out Percussive Ukulele

 

I’ve been starting to dabble in percussive ukulele. I’ve watched some videos as well as been beating on my ukulele to figure out what sounds it can make. What seems to be lacking is a systematic approach to this mysterious art. People seem to share a particular strum technique or demo a pattern one can use, but that really isn’t a system. While I haven’t figured out a system, writing helps my thinking process. Plus, maybe others will see this and engage in some discussion.

 

The Ukulele is NOT a Drum Kit

Many of the videos and resources I’ve seen compare the ukulele to a drum kit. While there is some logic to approaching percussion by thinking like a drummer, have you seen a drum kit? A basic drum kit has a kick drum, snare drum, floor tom, mid tom, high tom, hi hat, crash cymbal, and ride cymbal. Many of those pieces can be played in different ways to produce different sounds. How many basic sounds are there? It’s hard to say, because I’m not a drummer. But, I can say that the percussive sounds an ukulele is capable of do not correlate well to a drum kit, which has too many sounds. Could I take something written from a drum kit and play something that correlates on an ukulele? Obviously no!

 

We Need a Simpler Drum

So, to me it seems more logical to correlate an ukulele to a simpler set of drums. But, what would that be? As I’ve been doing some research and thinking things through, it seems the most logical drums would be the cajon (box drum people sit on) and djembe (large African goblet drum). The beats of these drums are based around three basic sounds: bass, tone, and slap. Obviously, there are other sounds and techniques, but the core of their beats focuses on three sounds. The bass is the deepest sound. The tone is a middle sound. The slap is the highest sound. So, we have lowest, middle, and highest sounds. If you want to correlate this to a drum kit, the most logical correlation would be kick drum (lowest), snare drum (middle), and hi hat or some sort of cymbal (highest). So, this three-tone scheme does correlate to drum kit—at least if the drum kit is extremely simplified.

 

Can I find those three sounds on an ukulele? While I’m still playing around and figuring things out, the simple answer is yes! So, at least in theory, I should be able to take most drum parts written for a cajon or djembe and play them on an ukulele. Now, I’m thinking like a drummer, and I’ve picked the right drum!

 

Strum and Drum

But, things aren’t that simple. While playing an ukulele solely like a drum would be useful in some sort of ukulele performance group, what if I want to play solo? So, ukulele drum! Playing it simply like a drum gets boring. If all I want to do is drum, why not just get a djembe or cajon? Either sounds better as a percussive instrument than an ukulele.

 

I don’t just want to drum. I want to drum and strum. But, here’s the catch. Listen to some music. You’ll find it common for a note or chord to be played simultaneously with a percussive sound. This does make sense—at least if you’re listening to some musicians who have some sense of the beat. You may also hear a chord, note, or percussive sound played by itself.

 

Things Become More Complicated

While magical things can be done with an ukulele, in general it makes one sound at a time—a chord, a note, or a percussive sound. Now, I’m asking it to multitask, and I now need eleven sounds if I want to play chords, notes, and percussive sounds together. Let’s look at the eleven sounds I want:

·       Bass by itself

·       Tone by itself

·       Slap by itself

·       Bass + Chord simultaneously

·       Tone + Chord simultaneously

·       Slap + Chord simultaneously

·       Bass + Note simultaneously

·       Tone + Note simultaneously

·       Slap + Note simultaneously

·       Chord by itself

·       Note by itself

Let’s Focus on Nine

Playing chords, singles notes, or multiple notes on the ukulele are basic strumming and fingerpicking techniques. So, I really don’t need to focus on figuring those out to develop a percussive ukulele system. That leaves me with nine sounds and some blisters and sore fingers!

 

Let’s Add in the Fretting Hand

If I’m going to play percussive sounds by themselves, I’m going to need to mute the strings with my left hand. If you play around and beat on your ukulele to figure out percussive sounds, you’ll notice that the strings ring out. In some cases this is loud enough to be heard as a chord, but in most cases it’s just extraneous sound that muddies up the percussive sound.

 

I’m going to talk about my fretting hand as my left hand. I am aware there are left-handed players that fret with their right. So, if that happens to be you, you may need to think in mirror for this discussion.

 

If I want a percussive sound by itself, I’m probably going to have to use my left hand to mute strings. But, there’s a catch. What if I want a percussive sound to play after a chord has been played and is still ringing out? Muting the strings would stop the chord from ringing out. However, at least for the percussive sounds I’ve been playing around with, the percussive sound doesn’t seem to interfere with a chord that’s already ringing out. So, I’m hoping as I play around this doesn’t become a problem.

 

What is a problem is making a percussive sound at the exact same time as a chord is being strummed or a note is being plucked.

 

Plucked or Strum is the Same Thing

Wait, no it’s not! I know a plucked string and strummed chord are not the same thing. But, I think it might be the same thing for your strumming hand when you’re playing a plucked note or strummed chord at the same time as you’re making a percussive sound. In such a case, you really need some sort of technique that performs the percussive sound at the same time as you strum the strings—or somehow cause all the strings to ring out simultaneously. Here’s where the left hand would come in—to mute strings so only the proper note, notes, or chord ring out.

 

Left and Right

So, now I’m starting to develop a systematic approach to percussive ukulele. I obviously haven’t figured out how my fingers are going to do everything, but I have system for my left and right hand.

 

My left hand is tasked with fretting chords, muting strings, or fretting some strings while muting others. While I haven’t totally figured that out, I have four fingers and four strings, so many combinations of muting and fretting should be possible.

 

My right hand no longer must learn nine new things (because my left hand is now doing some of the work). My right hand must do six new things:

·       Bass by itself

·       Tone by itself

·       Slap by itself

·       Bass + Chord simultaneously (with left hand muting if single notes, dyads, or triads are needed)

·       Tone + Chord simultaneously (with left hand muting if single notes, dyads, or triads are needed)

·       Slap + Chord simultaneously (with left hand muting if single notes, dyads, or triads are needed)

 

Where to Go From Here?

The obvious place to go from here is to grab my ukulele and begin playing around. Hopefully others will read this, and it will spur their thinking and some dialogue. But, if not, it’s been a useful thought process for me. Basically, to really play percussive ukulele like I see it being played, seven techniques need to be added to the common chord and melody techniques common on ukulele:

·       The ability to combine muting and fretting simultaneously with the left hand.

·       Bass by itself

·       Tone by itself

·       Slap by itself

·       Bass + Chord simultaneously

·       Tone + Chord simultaneously

·       Slap + Chord simultaneously

Seven! While I know it won’t be easy, at least I have a place to start my journey.