The Ukulele Bo Diddley Rhythm

Learn the famous Bo' Diddley Rhythm, focussing on our rhythmic strumming. Once we have this locked in, it can really help in progressing our playing.

Exercise 1 - Tapping and feeling the rhythm

• Try tap along with the video and think 'Faith' by George Michael and any other songs which help you hear and feel the rhythm

• The count goes past our usual core 4 beats to 5 beats but rather than over complicating it, we just need to practicing tapping the rhythm, counting the 1,2,3,4 and 5 and trying relax into it

• Try using a full E major chord to practice the rhythm as this way we use all four strings and do not need to worry about muting any strings

We don't usually think so directly about when we strum and mute to learn a rhythmic pattern but it is sometimes useful to break it down in areas. So here is the pattern written out as demonstrated in the video also -

strum, mute, strum, mute, strum, mute, mute, strum, strum.