I had a one-on-one lesson recently with a student who wanted to play “Blues Umbrella” by John Prine but the strumming pattern sounded, well, off.

He asked, “Why does every song I strum sound the same?”

To play “Blue Umbrella”, he grabbed the strum he knew best, the calypso strum aka the island strum.

The chords were right. You could tell what song it was. It didn’t sound bad. But it felt a little off.

And here’s the bigger problem. If you play every song with the island strum, every song starts to sound the same.

You don’t need a secret pattern

This happens to a lot of ukulele players. You practice a pattern until it feels good. Then you try it in a song, and it just doesn’t fit.

The beginner instinct is to go hunting for a new pattern. A better one. A more “magical” one. As if the right pattern is the only thing standing between you and the song.

What surprised my student was this. The pattern for “Blue Umbrella” is way easier than you’d think. What makes it sound good is something else entirely.

Step 1: Find the count

So I told my student, let’s stop thinking in patterns for a minute. Let’s just find the count.

I pulled up the song and we listened. As you listen, ask yourself one question: how is this song counted? Try counting to four. Then try counting to three.

For “Blue Umbrella,” counting to four fits just right.

1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4…

At the most basic level, you can play the whole song by strumming down on each number. It works. But it sounds a little stiff.

Step 2: Let the up strums create the feel

Here’s the real secret to strumming patterns. The feel of any pattern comes from the up strums. How you space them is what gives a song its feel.

So add an up strum between each down strum:

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

down-up, down-up, down-up, down-up

Try it with the strings muted first. No chords yet. Just strum along with the recording. You’ll hear it start to sound like John Prine’s “Blue Umbrella.”

My student was surprised.

“So you’re just strumming down and up?”

Yep. Just down and up. No secret pattern. No clever calypso strum.

What matters is how evenly you strum and how well you lock into the feel.

Step 3: Accent beats 2 and 4

Once your muted strums line up with the count, add one small thing. Strum beats 2 and 4 a little louder.

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

Now you’ve got a nice little pulse.

Think of it like a drummer. A drummer hits the snare on beats 2 and 4. You’re doing the same thing with your strumming hand.

The pattern is still simple. It just feels better because some strums stand out more than others.

How to find the feel of any song

Next time a strumming pattern just isn’t working, try this:

1. Set the ukulele down. Play a recording of the song and count out loud. Most songs count in 4, 3, or sometimes 6. Keep saying the count once you find it.
2. Mute the strings and strum down on the numbers. Pick up your uke, rest your fretting hand on the strings, and strum down on each beat.
3. Add up strums in between. Listen for the feel. Find the spacing between your down and up strums that matches the song. Then try accenting beats 2 and 4.

You’re strumming along to the recording without worrying about chords. You’re only focused on the rhythm.

It’s not about finding the pattern. It’s about finding the feel. And a simple pattern played with feel sounds way better than a fancy pattern played without it.

Patterns still matter

This doesn’t mean patterns aren’t important. You need a vocabulary of rhythms that feels automatic. That way, when you come across a new song, you have something to pull from.

That’s exactly what my Strumming Tricks course teaches. You’ll learn over 30 strumming rhythms and use them to play over 20 songs in 7 different styles.

Join Strumming Tricks here

Once you have that foundation, the steps above help you match your vocabulary to the song. Listen. Count. Mute the strings. Strum something simple until it feels good. Often, keeping it simple is the best way to find the right feel.

Happy strumming!

Brett