Ukulele For Dummies (21 page)

Rocking without strumming

Sometimes stopping playing can be the most effective thing you can do for a song. As Lisa Simpson advised a fellow, but unenthusiastic, audience member: ‘You have to listen to the notes he's not playing' (to which he replied grumpily, ‘I could do that at home').

Not playing (at least momentarily) is a technique often used in rock music.

In order to create the silence, you need to mute the strings. You do so by laying the fingers of your fretting hand over the strings, as shown in Figure 5-28.

You want to be only just touching the strings. Don't put any pressure on them or you run the risk of fretting them.

Keeping the time correctly when a large gap lies between the notes can be quite tricky. To help you, tap your foot, nod your head or keep your strumming hand moving in time with the music.

The ultimate technique in rock is the rock riff, and to play this you need one more chord: E
(pronounced ‘E flat'). The
flat
part means one fret lower (Chapter 2 contains more info on flat notes). So the E
chord is one fret lower than an E chord. See Figure 5-29 for a look at the chord diagram and Figure 5-30 for a visual image.

Here's how you play the riff:

1. Use your index finger to fret the A-string at the first fret.

2. Use your ring finger to fret the C-string at the third fret.

3. Use your little finger to fret the E-string at the third fret.

Now take a look at Figure 5-31 and play Track 16 to experience the magnificent rock riff.

Rolling your strums

Just as night is followed by day, so rock is followed by roll. A
roll strum
adds an accent to a particular strum, making it stand out from the others. It involves strumming with all your fingers rather than just your index finger.