Ingrid Michaelson – You and I (Chords)

I’m slightly concerned this one is going to anger the Indie Gods. Particularly since she’s played it with Jason Mraz a few times. But I’ve had a bunch of requests for it and I took a lot less convincing than I did with the song that won’t be named (henceforth to be known as ‘the Scottish song’).

The chords are pretty simple and ideal for beginners. She does use the less common variations of F and Am (with the A string at the third fret). But if you find that tricky, use the ones you’re familiar with.

Suggested Strumming

Here’s the strumming pattern she uses:

d – d u – u d u

Play it twice for each chord in the verses and once for each chord in the chorus. An exception is in the, “You and I/You and I” where you do d – d u once each for the F and G chords.

View Comments

78 Comments

todd June 23rd, 2009 7:20 pm

be careful AL :)……..

i’ll offer up a reconciliatory offering for you later today….. :)
drywell June 24th, 2009 3:16 pm

I wouldn’t worry too much about the Indie Gods – they’re usually too busy squabbling amongst themselves. Just don’t eat the pomegranate seeds when you step outside their realm – you’re likely to end up spending 6 months of the year playing the banjo.

Beautiful, fun piece – thanks once again.
Kelly June 24th, 2009 4:12 pm

I have been playing a guitar version of this for a while and was so excited when I opened my email today. Thank you so much. Your arrangements are always so much better.
I love her, thanks again!
Hello Jodi June 24th, 2009 7:56 pm

I think she stole this from Amber.
Woodshed June 24th, 2009 10:03 pm

todd: Much appreciated. No major injuries yet, so it looks like it worked.

drywell: Thanks for the advice!

Kelly: You’re welcome.

Jodi: She should have stolen Pig Latin.
Scott June 25th, 2009 1:57 pm

Perfect! I’m getting ready to perform this song with a friend at a cabaret and was working it out on the uke. Now I can be lazy and use yours. Great song, thanks!
Vincent June 26th, 2009 11:44 pm

Hey all,

I live as a hermite and didn’t know this singer before seeing this post. Could someone fill me in on the Indie-god joke?

Thanks!
Barbarracuda June 30th, 2009 5:10 am

Thanks for posting this!
Fortunately I think this is safe from the Indie Gods, considering it wasn’t actually recorded with Jason Mraz. So the coast is clear ;]
Woodshed June 30th, 2009 5:07 pm

Scott: Have a good performance.

Vincent: Explanation here.

Barbarracuda: Thank the Indie Gods for that.
Vincent July 1st, 2009 1:53 am

Hehe, thanks!
coll July 4th, 2009 7:54 pm

thank you so much for this!
i have been dying to learn this for a while!
Woodshed July 5th, 2009 12:34 pm

coll: Glad I could help.
Cathy July 8th, 2009 3:18 pm

Thank you for this song. I’ve owned a uke for about 3 weeks, and I’m having a blast, and love this song.
Alvin October 13th, 2009 11:28 pm

Thanks for the song! I’m sorry about the stupid question, but what am I supposed to do during the hyphenated parts in the strum pattern? Are those chucks?
Woodshed October 14th, 2009 4:50 pm

Cathy: Glad you’re enjoying it.

Alvin: The hyphens mean you don’t play anything (move your hand over the strings without strumming them).
oaky April 6th, 2010 8:20 pm

This is great! Thanks! You should do Everybody or Solider by Ingrid!
Amy May 22nd, 2010 6:13 pm

Thanks for posting this one, I love it! I am a little thrown off though by the chord diagrams. You have C listed as being at the 4th fret, and some of the other chords have weird fret placements. Is this how it is supposed to be?
Amy May 22nd, 2010 6:52 pm

Doh, I figured it out! I am guessing it is referring to which finger to use. Okay, more coffee before posting next time…

Thanks again for posting this one!
Woodshed May 24th, 2010 2:11 pm

Amy: Glad you got it figured out.
Sarah! June 2nd, 2010 5:48 am

I’m new to reading chords, but it is easy enough to understand. Would someone mind explaining how to figure out the “strumming pattern” though? Thank you so much!
erica August 11th, 2010 7:54 pm

oh my goshhh
i get it now
“UKE HUNT” = “YOU CUNT”
wow.
awesome song though…
Woodshed August 15th, 2010 7:14 pm

erica: OMG, I never realised.
you suck August 26th, 2010 12:17 am

you website is not helpful at all.
Woodshed August 26th, 2010 5:48 pm

you suck: me sorry you don’t like me website.
aquaticsloth December 5th, 2010 3:55 am

Thanks Woodshed! Seems you almost always have the song I’m looking for!
Woodshed December 5th, 2010 4:58 pm

aquaticsloth: You’re very welcome.
Dill Pickle December 12th, 2010 11:03 pm

I don’t really understand the chorus in the second part the C Csus4 C Csus4 C, am i supposed to keep on playing C Csus4 C Csus4 C?
Brianna January 1st, 2011 10:51 pm

I don’t understand the C Csus4 C Csus4 C part. Is Csus4 a chord? What does that mean?
Matthew January 4th, 2011 5:07 am

I’m a beginner at ukulele so sorry if I’m just not understanding something obvious but I am confused with the Chord tabs at the top. Why do the F Chord and the Am still have the 3rd fret on the first string fretted? I though the F chord was only 2nd fret on 4th string and 1st fret on 2nd string.
erica January 6th, 2011 7:53 pm

http://www.ukuleleunderground.com/forum/showthread.php?8806-Ingrid-Michaelson-You-and-I

the chords are perfectly laid out with the lyrics on this site.
woodshed- please dont hate me…
Kim January 7th, 2011 3:39 pm

I really wish there was a tutorial to this, I’m still a nOOb! I need help!
Woodshed January 16th, 2011 11:43 am

erica: “Perfectly laid out,” is not how I would describe it.
Woodshed January 16th, 2011 11:43 am

Kim: I don’t do tutorials, I’m afraid.
Brianna January 26th, 2011 1:00 am

Pretty please with a cherry on top write the chords/tabs for Banana Pancakes by Jack Johnson. Or at least tell me the strumming pattern.
Woodshed January 28th, 2011 10:15 am

Brianna: Sorry, Brianna. He’s got a book out so I won’t be doing it.
Brianna January 29th, 2011 3:19 am

What about Say Hey (I Love You) by Michael Franti & Spearhead? :)
Anika January 29th, 2011 5:32 pm

the D7 chord is really hard for me! I’m a beginner and i have tiny hands :(
is there an easier way to play it??
Woodshed January 30th, 2011 3:15 pm

Anika: You can go with 2020 (from g to A).
sisi March 8th, 2011 12:29 pm

is there any chance of milows “you and me (in my pocket)”? that’d be great!
Daniel March 18th, 2011 9:34 am

freakin awesome and cool stuff!!!! loving this site already!
Berk April 17th, 2011 10:59 pm

I’ve been playing this successfully for a few days now and it sounds right but not when i listen to her playing it too. hers sounds like a high key maybe? capo in use? it’s possible my uke not tuned correctly but it does sound right just lower.
Laura May 23rd, 2011 1:54 am

Thats awesome!! i love igrid michaelson!!!
AprilD May 23rd, 2011 7:13 pm

Love it. I’m new to ukes but familiar with guitar. This was perfect for my little Ingrid heart and beginning fingers!
Woodshed May 25th, 2011 10:42 am

Laura: Glad you enjoyed it.

AprilD: Excellent!
mandy May 31st, 2011 9:54 pm

oooh, so I’m a newbie, and I spent so long working on this, but got disappointed when I couldn’t figure out how to play and sing so I tried some other songs…randomly came back to this and was playing along and just started singing! I surprised myself! It’s a great beginner song! Thanks for posting this :)
Woodshed June 2nd, 2011 10:57 am

mandy: That’s excellent! Glad you got to grips with it. If you can sing at all you’re way ahead of me.
Grace Weeks June 15th, 2011 1:33 am

Is the “-” a chunk or whatever its called?
Woodshed June 15th, 2011 10:26 am

Grace: It means you don’t strum. There’s a guide to reading strums here.
Mickey June 17th, 2011 2:46 am

drywell : You are my hero for making that reference.
Amy July 29th, 2011 3:30 am

Haha. The Scottish Song. <3 Thank's for the Shakespeare reference.
Woodshed July 29th, 2011 7:40 am

Amy: Hahaha! Thanks.
Amy August 13th, 2011 8:00 am

This is played on a soprano ukulele. Could I still play it on a concert ukulele?

Cause I tried it on a concert ukulele and the pitch is lower.
Woodshed August 13th, 2011 8:50 am

Amy: I’m fair sure it’s played on a tenor. But, either way, it’ll be perfectly good on a concert.
Ellie August 21st, 2011 10:23 pm

I was just looking through some of the beginner songs, this title caught my eye (never heard the song though) and instantly fell in love with it! This is a perfect song with my voice and my ukulele skills. Thanks a ton! I love it!
Woodshed August 22nd, 2011 12:29 am

Ellie: Thanks. Very glad I could introduce you to it.
Christian Mann August 30th, 2011 10:11 pm

Well done! Usually I have to make drastic changes because the people who attempt to chord things are tone deaf…didn’t have to make a change!
Woodshed August 30th, 2011 11:21 pm

Christian: Thanks very much!
Ylah October 25th, 2011 12:32 pm

Thank you very much! I’m a big Ingrid M fan and just learning the ukulele. The songs you shared are awesome.
zoe December 6th, 2011 4:11 pm

what indie gods?? i need this song for a class at my school and im sooo confused:P
Woodshed December 6th, 2011 5:17 pm

zoe: Don’t worry about it. It’s just a running joke.
Lucas February 20th, 2012 6:25 am

Just wondering, on my uke, whenever I play a chord which has the E-string first fret, I always get fret buzz. This doesn’t happen on any other string or fret. Even when I press down hard it still happens. Is this just some problem with my uke?
TY

BTW, love the site!! :)
Woodshed February 24th, 2012 4:13 pm

Lucas: It’s hard to say. Have you tried changing the strings. That sometimes helps.
Adriana July 7th, 2012 7:50 am

I don’t know if I missed the answer to this… but I have no idea what the C Csus4 C Csus4 C, means? is doing that with the strumming pattern very fast? that’s what sounds in the song after the chorus? one more total noob here :-) thanks :-)
Woodshed July 9th, 2012 10:37 pm

Adriana: Yeah, they’re just short.
Haley July 17th, 2012 7:21 am

I’m having a lot of trouble with the strum. Can you give any more tips?
Jo July 27th, 2012 4:02 pm

whats the tuning for this?
Danielle August 9th, 2012 2:55 pm

the chords for Am and F aren’t normal.. I mean, there’s an extra finger placement (4). Is that how it’s supposed to be for this particular song, or was there an error with editing the image? :D Thank you, btw, for posting this. Helped a lot!! :)
Woodshed August 12th, 2012 9:08 pm

Danielle: Yeah, they are a different inversion. It’s the same basic chord. So you can play it the usual way. I’ve written it up that way because that’s the version she uses.
holly December 27th, 2012 12:24 am

Hi.
I got my ukulele 3 days ago and I understand all the chords in this song.
I just don’t understand the strumming pattern and having to do it 2 times for each chord, I have tried but with the speed of the song have only managed to do it once for each chord. Will this affect the song?
Woodshed December 27th, 2012 9:25 pm

holly: If you like the sound of it, go for it. It should work.
Reamus January 29th, 2013 4:09 pm

If you’re trying to play it like her, the D7 chord is wrong. She actually plays an F#dim/C chord (2023 from G-A). She also gets rid of the C suspension on the first string in the chorus, and plays those chords as standards.

Great job though. I really enjoy your site overall.
Woodshed January 29th, 2013 9:29 pm

Reamus: Thanks. You might well be right. I’d still call that chord D7 though.
Kitty Santi August 18th, 2014 8:25 pm

Hey, I hope I don’t seem like a fool for asking a random question on here,if I do, it’s not the first time. I was wondering if anyone would take a look at Ingrid Michaelson’s song that I linked below, doesn’t have a name and I really want to learn it but no chords are out on it. :/ Thanks! Take care.
http://youtu.be/tSObufEPp3g
Claire-Louise August 1st, 2015 8:03 pm

Thank you so much! Only picked up the use a while ago a would have never been able to play if it wasn’t for you :) I did a cover of this song :) http://youtu.be/YS3jRTgLHAg
Woodshed August 1st, 2015 8:12 pm

Claire-Louise: Excellent cover! I’m very glad I could help!
Manny May 31st, 2016 1:45 am

The second line of the verse is a Csus4, not an F (on the “We might not have…”, for example). Also, there is a Gsus4 to G embellishment at the end of the line about sweaters in the chorus.
Helena January 29th, 2017 4:38 am

I’ve been using your site a lot since I got a uke last Saturday! I absolutely love this song, thank you!
I’ve subscribed to your email list, as well.

Also, I don’t know if this is an appropriate place to ask, but could you do The Chain by Ingrid Michaelson as well?
Woodshed January 31st, 2017 11:10 am

Helena: Thanks! You’re very welcome. I’ll keep it in mind.

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Ingrid Michaelson – You and I (Chords)