Folk exercises
Thumb boom on the beat, strum or fingers on the offs. The boom should be a little louder than the strum — that contrast is the sound of the style. On high-G uke, “bass” means that thumb pulse (often a root on G or C), not that the G string is low; C is the lowest pitch. These are longer gym reps; the short wake-ups live on Folk drills.
Technique path: Drills · Exercises · this page
Each card has pedagogy, TAB (A string on top — see Foundations · TAB), and Play. One model at a time; Play becomes Stop. Tempo follows the metronome.
Suggested order
- Boom-chick on G.
- Alternating bass.
- Waltz 3/4.
- Travis seed.
- Boom under G–C–D.
- Folk pulse variants — same family, other chords.
Beginner
Boom-chick on G only. Capo off. Stay near 60.
Intermediate
Alternating bass. G–C–D under boom-chick. Waltz bass-chick-chick.
Advanced
Travis seed on several chords. Then deepen on Folk drills.
Folk pulse
Hold the chord and let the right hand do the work. The neck lights the shape the loop is playing. Full drill set: Folk drills.
Boom-chick on G
Beat 1 bass, 2 strum, 3 bass, 4 strum. Hold G throughout.
1 2 3 4 A|-------2-----------2-- E|-------3-----------3-- C|-------2-----------2-- G|-0-----------0--------
Bass a little louder than the strum.
Alternating bass on G
Same pattern; beat 3 takes the C-string D (fifth) instead of the root. The bass walks instead of thudding.
A|----------------- E|----------------- C|---------2------- fifth (D) on beat 3 G|-0--------------- root
Deeper: Folk drills · alternating bass.
Waltz 3/4
Bass on 1 only; chick on 2 and 3. Meter switches to 3/4. Many older folk and Nepali songs sit here.
1 2 3 A|-------2-----2-- E|-------3-----3-- C|-------2-----2-- G|-0--------------
Set the practice bar to 3/4 before you start.
Travis seed
Thumb on the bass; index and middle pick one string each on the offs. Folk door into pima — not the full classical method.
A|--------2-----2-- m E|-----3-----3----- i C|----------------- G|-0-------0------- p
Deeper: Folk drills · Travis picking · Classical exercises.
Boom under G–C–D
One bar each with boom-chick running underneath. Three chords, dozens of campfire songs. Say the next chord name out loud on beat 4.
G C D A|--2-----------------3-----------------0-- E|--3-----------------0-----------------2-- C|--2-----------------0-----------------2-- G|--0-----------------0-----------------2--
Do not stop the right hand to make the chord change — keep strumming even if only two strings are fretted on beat 1. Hands-together version: Exercises · boom-chick through a change.
Folk pulse variants
Same right-hand family on different chords. Capo later — shapes first.
Practice note
How long: 8–10 minutes. Two on boom-chick, four on G–C–D, two on Travis or waltz.
Listen for: the bass landing on the click, and every strum the same weight.
Then deepen: Folk drills (capo, walk-downs, lok 6/8, first pieces).