The Beginner's Guide to Ukulele Fingerpicking

As you advance in your ukulele lessons you will learn different techniques to achieve different sounds from your instrument. Ukulele fingerpicking is an important component if you want to boost your playing skills and take your music to the next level. Here, ukulele teacher Willy M. teaches you ukulele fingerpicking basics…

Whether you’re a beginner ukulele player or have been playing for a while, learning how to fingerpick can add a whole new dimension to your playing. This style of picking is often used for solo performances, and can produce some beautiful and intricate sounds.

Fingerpicking is a technique that allows you to play melodies on the ukulele using your fingers, rather than using a pick. This can create a more gentle and mellow sound, and it’s perfect for playing chords and melodies at the same time. Plus, it’s a great way to add some variety to your ukulele playing!

A lot of people like to strum the ukulele, but they usually stop there and never explore all of the ways to fingerpick the ukulele. Typically, I deal with people who come to the ukulele through other instruments, like the guitar. But regardless of your level and experience, we’re going to go over ukulele fingerpicking basics. I’ll also give you some tips on how to learn to control each finger, and provide some examples of ukulele fingerpicking patterns, ukulele fingerpicking songs, and even some ukulele fingerpicking tabs.

How Do You Practice Fingerpicking Ukulele? 

If you want to play fingerpicking songs for ukulele, consider these tips:

• Consult the list of tips below to understand what fingerpicking actually is and how you can get better
• Warm-up with single string exercises
• Stretch your fingers on both hands before you practice
• Master the fingerpicking tabs for a few simple songs
• Practice for at least 30 minutes a day
• Consider working with a ukulele instructor who can provide you with more personally-tailored support 

You may want to watch helpful videos like this, too, to acquaint you with everything you need to know as a newbie ukulele player:

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What is Ukulele Fingerpicking?

Fingerpicking, also known as fingerstyle, is simply a particular style of playing that can be applied to any song. 

It’s not just a term applied to ukuleles but also to other string instruments, like guitars and banjos.

It has to do with how you play the chords in the right hand. While most ukulele songs are played by strumming, fingerpicking is a unique style that will require you to pluck through the notes of a given chord, string by string, with each of your individual fingers instead. 

Ukulele Fingerpicking Basics

The most basic form of ukulele fingerpicking is thumb-style picking. Very basic fingerstyle starts with learning how to use your thumb to pick the strings of the ukulele.

You may be used to thumb strumming, and fingerpicking with the thumb is not much different. The main difference is that instead of strumming all of the strings, you use your thumb to strike particular strings.

You could strike the strings in a random order, but that would not necessarily be very musical. Here are a couple patterns that you might want to practice. You don’t even have to hold down any chords at first.

We are going to use the bottom three strings (G – C and E) which spell out the C major chord. These three strings will give us our drone that we can create with our picking pattern.
Try these patterns using only your thumb:

1. Quarter Note Arpeggio

 

 

 

 

 

G C E G, G C E G

Once you’re familiar with this pattern, try working through some of the chords that you know, but keep plucking these strings as you change chords.

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2. Full Ukulele Arpeggio

 

 

 

 

 

G C E A, G C E A

Again, start with just the open ukulele, but then work on changing chords as you go.

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3. Quarter Note – Eighth-Note Mix

 

 

 

 

 

C E C E

Start with a quarter note on the G, and then play eighth notes for beats 2 and 3 on the C and E strings a couple times, and then come back to the G string. It looks like this: G (quarter) C E C E (eight notes) G. Repeat as often as necessary.

Once you master these patterns with your thumb, you can go on to trying them with your other fingers. I would recommend trying each pattern with each finger. When you get these patterns down with all four fingers, then them again with the two, three and four finger styles.

How to Control Your Fingers: 3 Ukulele Fingerpicking Methods

When you’re learning fingerpicking, even for easy ukulele fingerpicking songs, you might have a hard time getting control of your fingers. Here are some effective techniques to try.  

1. Two-Finger Style

Let’s take a look at what pattern 1 would look like with two-finger style. First, your thumb will control the G and C strings, while your first finger controls the E and A strings. Pattern 1 would look like this: G (thumb), C (thumb), E (first finger), G (thumb). Repeat as often as necessary.

In two-finger style, you can also use your thumb to control the first three strings, and control the top string with your first finger. Pattern two would look like this: G (thumb), C (thumb), E (thumb), A (first finger), repeat.

You can alternate between the thumb and the first finger, to get a Spanish guitar sound: G A, C A, E A, A A. Check out the example in the tab. The first finger controls the A string here as well, so the mechanics are thumb, finger, thumb, finger (over and over).

2. Three-Finger Style

Three-finger style can be a bit tricky if you’re just learning how to finger pick. The best way to do this is to mimic a banjo fingerpicking pattern, a la the bluegrass legend Earl Scruggs. Scruggs often used his thumb to go back and forth between the high string and the low string of the five-string banjo.

You can do the same by using your thumb to alternate back and forth between the G and the C strings. Your first finger controls the E string, and the middle finger controls the A string. Go back through the ukulele fingerpicking patterns and try to use this fingering.

3. Four-Finger Style

Four-finger style is similar to three finger, except each string is governed by a different finger. The G (thumb) C(first finger) E(middle finger) and A(ring finger). This style is not one that I use often, but it’s worth practicing. You can achieve some nice rolls if you can get the rhythm in uniform.

Once you’ve mastered these styles and figured out which ones works best for you, give these ukulele picking patterns a try.