Brett McQueen | Ukulele Tricks

Start Reading Music in 30 Minutes or Less

Being able to read music is an extremely powerful skill.

For myself, growing up, I played piano and ukulele. I relied very heavily on my ear to learn how to play songs. I’m very thankful for my ear, but this really limited me in the types of songs I could play.

So, for example, whenever I would visit my grandparents, it wasn’t uncommon they would want me to play a hymn on piano for them, or if it was around Christmas, a carol. They would put the songbook in front of me, and unless I knew the hymn or carol from memory, I would freeze or have to fumble my way through it.

Whenever I looked at a piece of music, I was completely intimidated by it.

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The Best Way to Transpose a Song

by Brett McQueen

Today, I’m going to teach you one of the most important skills you can possess when it comes to playing ukulele (or any type of music for that matter): how to transpose a song.

There are many reasons why you would want to transpose a song.

Reason #1: Singability

Have you ever tried playing a song on the ukulele but found it to be impossible to sing along with because the key was either too high or too low? To fix this problem, you might transpose or change the key of the song or chord chart to make it easier to sing.

Reason #2: Playability

A lot of songs are written in weird keys like Eb, F#, or Db. The chords found in these keys aren’t the easiest to play on ukulele, so you might transpose the song to a different key with easier chords.

Reason #3: Creativity

Transposing allows you to be really creative. You might transpose a song to get a specific tone from a different set of chords. You also need to transpose a song if you’re trying to arrange two different songs to flow together in the form of a medley (e.g. Somewhere Over the Rainbow –> I’m Yours).

You never know when you might need to change the key of a song, so let’s take a look at an easy formula for how we can do this.

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Ukulele Blues Fingerpicking Lesson for Beginners: Pattern #2

by Brett McQueen

This is the third and final lesson (and video lesson) of a three part ukulele fingerpicking blues lesson series. If you missed it, be sure to check out part 1 and part 2.

Just a couple days ago, we learned a fingerpicking pattern we can use for the 12-bar blues. In this lesson, we’re going to learn a second fingerpicking pattern. As much as these patterns can be used for the blues, they can also be used for other popular songs.

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Ukulele Blues Fingerpicking Lesson for Beginners: Pattern #1

by Brett McQueen

This is the second post (and video lesson) of a three part ukulele fingerpicking blues lesson series. For the first lesson, I introduced the structure of the 12-bar blues. Get that lesson here. Stay tuned in a couple days for part three.

Now that we’ve learned the 12-bar blues on ukulele, it’s time to learn a couple fingerpicking patterns that we can use with this form. These fingerpicking patterns are great if you are a beginner to fingerpicking, but they are just as useful if you want to get some new ideas.

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How to Play the 12-Bar Blues On Ukulele

by Brett McQueen

This is the first post (and video lesson) of a three part ukulele fingerpicking blues lesson series. Once you’re ready, go ahead to part two where we learn a fingerpicking pattern to go with this.

The blues has arguably been one of the most influential genres of music in the past century. The chants, spirituals, and songs of African-American slaves in the 19th century gave birth to the genre, while descendants of slaves carried their legacy into recorded form in the early 1900s.

When people think of the blues, they typically think of a man with a raspy voice singing and playing along with a guitar. While this is a common expression of the blues, it’s not unlikely that in the early to mid 20th century people would sing and play the blues on their ukulele too.

In this lesson, we’re going to take a look at one of the most popular chord progressions in traditional blues music known as the 12-bar blues. The blues are characterized by simplicity, repetition, rhythm, and pure emotion.

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Sophie Madeleine: 30 Days of Covers

by Brett McQueen

Have you heard of Sophie Madeleine? If you haven’t, then you need to know that she is one of the most interesting, creative, lovely, and captivating ukulele players you’ll have the pleasure of listening to these days.

Just a few days ago, Ms. Madeleine started into her 30 days of cover songs. For thirty days straight, she is releasing a video of a cover song each day. This will lead up to the release of a new music video of her first single “Oil & Gold” from her album The Rhythm You Started.

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The Day I Took My Ukulele to Central Park

by Brett McQueen

If you follow Ukulele Tricks on Twitter, or if you are friends with us on Facebook, you probably saw a video I posted earlier this week of me playing my ukulele in Central Park.

While I was there, I took my ukulele to Central Park to record some videos just for fun. Out of the blue, an older gentlemen came up to me and told me he wanted to sing the song “Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue” while I played it. I figured, “Why not?!”

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“I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz

by Brett McQueen

Summer is just around the corner, and let me tell you, it can’t come soon enough. I’m in the Midwest of the United States and we are still getting the occasional snow and sleet here into April. Unbelievable! So in the excitement and much anticipation for summer to come, let’s take a look at what I would consider a great summer tune for the ukulele: “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz.

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Ukulele Strumming Tricks Video Lesson Course: Now Open

by Brett McQueen

I will be honest with you. There have been fewer updates over the past couple months. For this, I apologize, but I am not too sorry only because I have been hard at work, sweat and all, at one of the BIGGEST projects ever for Ukulele Tricks.

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Ukulele Songbook: All-Time Favorites – iPhone & iPad App Review

by Brett McQueen

I’ve had an iPhone for awhile now. I’ve loved it so much that I just recently bought an iPad.

Because of this, I’ve been looking for the best apps to use on both devices. I recently came across a new ukulele app called Ukulele Songbook: All-Time Favorites.

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Start Reading Music in 30 Minutes or Less