Ukulele for Guitar Players

Song Rhythm

Beat Basics

When we strum ukulele (or guitar), we say we're “playing rhythm.” John Lennon was known as the “Rhythm Guitar” player in The Beatles — yet no one talks about a “Rhythm Ukulele” player. In reality, that’s exactly what we are.

In a rock band, the drummer keeps the beat. The bass and guitar lock in with that beat to create rhythm. When that works well, people say, “That band is tight.”

If you can hear the drums, you can build your strumming from the ground up

To play tight ukulele, we need to sync with the drummer. And to do that, we need to understand the beat.

In this video, I use the Eagles song Lying Eyes to show you how to recognise the beat, hear it in the drums, and translate it into strumming that locks in time.