With Saint Patrick’s Day right around the corner, there’s no better time to learn to pick the chords of the famous Irish ballad Danny Boy.
You use a delicate pinch picking pattern to express this song. The pinch pattern creates a rich sound with harmony to provide underlying support for the singing.
Get the ukulele chords, fingerpicking pattern and ukulele tab for this intermediate-level song in the sheet music below.
[Continue Reading...]If you’re the kind of person to learn ukulele to impress that special someone, then Let Me Call You Sweetheart is a song you need to have in your repertoire (skip ahead to the chords). It’s a guaranteed heart-melter.
Let Me Call You Sweetheart was originally published in 1910 with music by Leo Friedman and words by Beth Slater Whitson. Since then, it’s been performed and recorded by artists like Bing Crosby, Joni James, Patti Page, Slim Whitman, and more. The song is also notable amongst Barbershop-style a cappella groups.
In a waltz-y, light rhythm, this song is a sweet-sounding piece with frequent chord changes throughout.
To play this song…
[Continue Reading...]There’s no better time of the year than the holidays to start learning how to play ukulele.
It can be your year to learn where you start new traditions of making music and playing ukulele with family and friends.
When you’re a brand new beginner ukulele player, don’t get lost in the options and endless searching and scrolling on the internet. It can feel overwhelming to know what ukulele is right for you. Let’s keep it simple with these twelves ukulele to buy for beginners… for any budget!
Recommendations are broken up into four parts based on the four different ukulele sizes soprano, concert, tenor and baritone. For each size, I give you my top three picks based on my experience and students’ experiences. Don’t worry. I’ll include tips on what size is best for you and at the end of the post I’ll include some recommendations on other ukulele accessories like the best tuner, strings, and cases.
[Continue Reading...]This past weekend hundreds of ukulele players and fans came together for a jam-packed weekend of playing ukulele, learning new songs and techniques, and listening to inspiring performances from artists Cynthia Lin, Ukulenny, Craig Chee & Sarah Maisel, Aldrine Guerrero & Aaron Nakamura, and Abe Lagrimas Jr.
On October 7-8, Cynthia Lin and Ukulenny hosted the first-ever San Francisco ukulele festival known as SF Uke-tober Fest. Arising from local Bay Area ukulele jams hosted by Cynthia and Ukulenny, the SF Uke-tober Fest brought over 150 ukulele players and fans from around the world to jam with their favorite artists and teachers.
I went to SF Uke-tober Fest to experience the joy of ukulele and to learn more about the amazing community that Cynthia and Ukulenny have built in the Bay Area. What I discovered is a remarkable group who have a passion and love for the ukulele and sharing that magic with others.
Perhaps you’ve wondered what a ukulele festival is like and if you should ever go. Now you can know and see what it is you’re missing!
[Continue Reading...]There’s nothing quite as peaceful as listening to the melody of a song intricately picked and strummed on the ukulele.
This style of playing ukulele is known as chord melody or solo fingerpicking. You combine the melody and harmony of the song to create a rich and beautiful sound.
Today I give you a free arrangement including the sheet music and ukulele tab of the well-loved Hawaiian song Hawai’i Aloha, one of six arrangements in the new Hawaiian Chord Melody course now available to all members in Club Ukulele.
Hawai’i Aloha was written by Lorenzo Lyons and is sung to the tune of I Left It All With Jesus a hymn written by James McGranahan. Lyons a Christian missionary who came to Hawaii from Boston in May 1832 dedicated his life to the native Hawaiians learning the language and composing many songs and hymns.
The song Hawai’i Aloha is sung by small and large group gatherings in Hawaii including the inauguration of the Governor of Hawai’i and the opening sessions of the Hawai’i State House of Representatives and Hawai’i State Senate.
Watch the video and take a listen now.
[Continue Reading...]Chances are if you’re waiting for motivation to come, then, you might find yourself at the end of your life wondering why you didn’t learn to play an instrument.
A lot of us have had this experience at some point in our lives where we set out to change our lifestyle for the better, like exercising or eating more veggies, only to find ourselves three months later in the same exact spot.
Learning to play ukulele can be similar.
You know you love music.
You know you have a passion for music.
You know you’ve always had a dream to play an instrument.
Then, why is it so hard? Why haven’t you done it yet? Why is it the first thing that slips away when life gets busy?
Before you start beating yourself up, consider you aren’t the only one to have fought to find the time, energy and motivation to make music in your busy life.
[Continue Reading...]Are you the kind of ukulele player that wants to deeply understand their instrument?
Have you ever wanted to know the notes of the fretboard and how they interact and relate in meaningful ways to make music?
That’s what this lesson’s about. In this two-video lesson, you introduce yourself to the world of major scale theory on ukulele starting with the chromatic scale and major scale.
The major scale is the foundation of music you make on ukulele.
Learning the major scale is important if you ever want to compose, arrange, or write your own music. The major scale also demonstrates a meaningful relationship between notes on the fretboard. This understanding allows you to become a more creative musician and ukulele player.
By the end of this lesson, you’ll know how to make a C major scale and play it in first position.
Let’s begin!
[Continue Reading...]One of the most loved ways of playing ukulele is in the style of chord melody sometimes referred to as solo fingerpicking.
In this advanced style, you strum and pick the rhythm and melody of the song at the same time.
Today I give to you a free arrangement of O Shenandoah one of five chord melody arrangements I teach in the new 5 Chord Melody Songs course in Club Ukulele.
Watch the video and take a listen now.
[Continue Reading...]You have a ukulele!
That feeling of learning an instrument for the first time is pure excitement. There’s nothing quite like it. However, that excitement can also be met with the feeling of overwhelm and a big fat question:
Where do I even begin?
With your ukulele in hand, what do you do now? How do you take this strange alien object called the ukulele and turn the sound it makes into beautiful, inspiring music?
If you’re a beginner and don’t know where to start, here are the four options you have before you to learn how to play ukulele.
[Continue Reading...]One of the most popular ways of playing ukulele is in the style of chord melody – sometimes referred to as solo fingerpicking.
Chord melody is a style of playing ukulele where you strum the chords and pick the melody at the same time.
Both Jake Shimabukuro and James Hill come to mind as masters who have brought so much attention to this way of playing ukulele with chord melody songs like Hallelujah and Billie Jean.
A lot of my students will ask:
“How do I arrange a chord melody song for ukulele?”
You too might have a desire to play in this style. Perhaps singing and strumming isn’t your thing but picking the melody is. If that is you, then, here’s what you eventually need to know to arrange and come up with your own chord melody songs.
[Continue Reading...]