When I got my first ukulele, I was completely clueless. This was in those dark, long forgotten days before the internet had been discovered. I didn’t even realise that the strings weren’t supposed to go thickest to thinnest and restrung it.
But you can save yourself from the social disgrace I experienced. I’ve put together a free mini-ebook covering the basics that every first time uke owner needs to know. Here’s what it contains:
Five Things to Know
Five Chords to Learn
Five Patterns to Strum
Five Songs to Play
Five Websites to Visit
Five Things to Get Free
Five Things to Buy
Five Videos to Watch
Five YouTube Channels to Subscribe to
That’s it from me for this year (other than the ebook for new ukers). I’ll be back at the end of January 2016 (year of the unnecessarily difficult F7 chord).
If you can’t bear to be without a steady stream of uke, I’ll be posting bits and pieces on Tumblr, UkeToob and on Twitter.
Wilfried Welti has just released a new free tab ebook Erste Ubungsstucke fur Solo Ukulele and was kind enough to let me share it. The arrangements are very simple and suitable for people just starting out with solo ukulele.
I did the chords for this Bernard and Smith tune way back in 2008 so it’s long overdue a run through a tabbed version.
I’ve gone with a chord arrangement for most of the tune. That means I’m just holding down chords and strumming. Then emphasising the melody while letting the other strums hang back.
The other main technique is picking the C-string with my thumb and flicking my index finger up across the E- and A-strings. I do that right at the start of the verse (second half of bar 4) and in the, “In the meadow…” section (bars 14-19).
The only bit of pure fingerpicking comes in the descending line in bar 20.
For this tab of the intro I’m picking all the strings at the same time. That way all the notes are played simultaneously just like a piano (as opposed to strumming where they sound at very slightly different times). It seems like a subtle difference but it really helps match the sound of the original.
Time for the annual Uke Hunt Christmas time-waster.
– Grab a pen and paper
– Display knowledge.
– There might be spoilers in the comments.
– Check the answers here (no peeking).
– Return in triumph or despair and share you score in the comments.
I’ve written up the live version of this one because it’s lovely (as is Mark Kozelek’s version). The only difference in the arrangement is the long, faded in intro is cut down.
It’s dead easy to play. Just three chords and you can use one strum all the way through. The only weirdness is the lyrics fit around the chords a little strangely.
Suggested Strumming
You can use this strum all the way through:
d – d u d –
In the verses play that twice for G then once each for C and D. In the bridges do it twice for each chord.
Twiddly Bits
There are a couple of ways you can play the riff. This version sticks closely to the original:
Playing the chords with a capo at the 7th fret also sounds great. You just need to change the chords you use. With the capo instead of C – D – G it’s F – G – C.
Here’s a version with one uke playing the low chords, one playing the high chords and one playing the capoed intro:
When I got my first ukulele, I was completely clueless. This was in those dark, long forgotten days before the internet had been discovered. I didn’t even realise that the strings weren’t supposed to go thickest to thinnest and restrung it.
