And here’s one showing all chords used four times or more. The first thing that struck me was that it’s a Pareto distribution (near enough) which means if you learn the first few chords you’re going to be able to play most of the songs.

I was curious, so here’s a chart for the chords for ukulele-tabs.com’s most popular songs. The results are similar but there’s a much clearer gap after the top four. So if you want to write a successful ukulele song use the chords C, G, Am, F.

Songs you can play after learning 6 chords

Just learn these six chords:

C, F, G, Am, Dm and Em

And you’ll be able to play these songs:

NeverShoutNever! – Your Biggest Fan/Did It Hurt?
Noah and the Whale – Five Years Time
OK Go – This Too Shall Pass
Paolo Nutini – High Hopes
SoKo – I Will Never Love You More
The Bobby McGee’s – A Dog At All Things
The Lancashire Hotpots – He’s Turned Emo
The Tiger Lillies – Start A Fire
Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra/Kings of Leon – The Bucket
Addams Family Theme Tune
Alton Ellis – Rock Steady
Black Kids – I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend to Dance With You
Darren Hanlon – All These Things
Electrelane – Cut and Run
Garfunkel and Oates – Me, You and Steve
Florence and the Machine – Dog Days Are Over
GUGUG – California Sun
Israel Kamakawiwoíole/Jason Castro – Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Julien Dore – Cet Air-La
Kate Nash – Foundations
Kate Micucci/The Gooch – Mr Moon
Last Shadow Puppets – Standing Next to Me
Phosphorescent – Wolves
She & Him – Sentimental Heart

If a song doesn’t use the most common chords

If you come across a song that’s all Eb and Bb and you haven’t mastered those chords yet, there is a way to make it easier: change the key.

To do that visit this site. Take your complicated chord chart. Copy and paste it into the box. Go to the ‘New Key (required)’ drop-down menu and select C. Click ‘Click Here’.

Whatever it spews out will sound right and will usually be easier to play (if not to sing).

Favourite Chord?

All of which raises this question: what’s your favourite chord?

I’m going with Caug (1003) or add in the 7 as well (1001). Leave yours in the comments.

Ten Ukulele Sites That Aren’t in the Top 25 But Should Be

Taken from the Top 50 Ukulele Sites

1. Ukulele Languages

Armelle’s world tour of ukulele is only just outside the top 25. She has a great range of non-English and English language videos alike.

2. Humble Uker Ramblings

You haven’t noticed how often ‘Via Humble Uker’ turns up on the Saturday UkeTube?

3. Play Ukulele by Ear

Jim D’Ville travels the world interviewing ukulelists about their approach to music and provides invaluable information about the most widely used chord progressions.

4. Ukulele Dav
5. Descordes et Dubois

Two French sites with some excellent tabs.

6. The Backwards Ukulele Player

Michael has a real knack for finding great old news stories and pictures.

7. Ukulele Secrets

A relatively new blog from UkuleleTim promising to teach you, “how to play ukulele like a badass.”

8. Ken Middleton
9. Ukulele Bartt

Two ukers offering tabs and playing advice on their sites.

10. Ukulele Brasil

A few years back I’d get emails from Brazilians unable to find a ukulele amongst the cavaquinhos. Good to see that’s changing.

10 Posts Fewer Than 500 People Have Seen This Year

1. Rod Thomas – Same Old Lines
2. Ukulelezo – Optional Accessory

How quickly people forget, eh. Rod Thomas was the 2008 Ukulele Video of the Year and Ukulelezo was the 2008 Bushman Contest Winner.

3. The Fall – Theme From Sparta FC

Let me explain the story of the Fall-feit: I posted I’m Yours, against my better judgment, to stop the cavalcade of requests. Less than two hours after it went live, I was being taken, unconscious, to hospital. Realising I had angered the indie gods, I pledged to do a post on the most indie band there ever was whenever I posted something suspiciously popular.

4. The Elected – At Home (Time Unknown)

I only posted this because I had a bunch of requests and now no one reads it. Typical!

5. Kate Micucci Interview

If you’re ever wondering why I don’t do many interview posts anymore it’s because, no matter how famous the interviewee, no one ever reads them.

6. Shorty Long – Viper Mad
7. Mirah – Take Me Out Riding

Two great songs probably suffering from the fact they a) aren’t very well known and b) don’t have a video on YouTube for me to embed.

8. GUGUG – Get Carter

Plenty of GUGUG in the more popular posts. But not this one.

9. Jack Pepper – Girl of My Dreams

His musical talents were enough to attract Ginger Rogers, but not to attract any views.

10. The Blockheads – A Little Knowledge

The Blockheads without Ian Dury really isn’t the Blockheads.

10 YouTubers with Under 300 Subscribers Who Should Have Thousands

1. KestonCobblersClub

Loveable, tuneful folkies. Top band.

2. lololobotomy (Lila Burns)

Kimya Dawson-style songs with touching and insightful lyrics.

3. DianeRubio
4. SanfordAndSong

Two top-notch instrumentalists.

5. BenMealer

Old-school songs made fresh.

6. Phredd

So much fun your pants will explode.

7. UkesNotDead

Jeremy Kyle-loving star of Uke Hunt Podcast #6

8. NicholasAbersold

Writer of adorable songs.

9. Machitz (Roberto Moritz)
10. Machetista (Roberto Moniz)

Two Madieran masters of the uke-precussor the machete.

5 Books Amazon Keeps Hidden

Search for ukulele books on Amazon (US) and you won’t find these on the first page.

1. 101 Ukulele Licks by Lil Rev

I wrote a full review here .

2. The Classical Ukulele by John King

Full review here.

3. Famous Solos and Duets for Ukulele by John King

My review here.

4. The Ukulele: A Visual History by Jim Beloff

My review here.

5. Ukulele for Dummies by The World’s Handsomest Ukulele Blogger

It’s not even out yet, so I can’t complain. It’s more favourably placed in the UK store. I wrote all about Ukulele for Dummies here.

So in this post I’ve listed some of the most common strumming patterns around. Ones you can try out and see if they fit the song.

For more info on strumming, read the posts on strumming notation and strumming for dummies; and the ebook I wrote How to Play Ukulele Strums.

Some Basics

Before you start strumming, go through these steps:

Step 1: Clap along with the song: If the singer was to shout, “Hey everybody, clap along,” what would you do? (Assuming you’re less surly than me and would just fold your arms and look moody.)

Step 2: Pretend you’re in The Ramones: If you were going to start the song by shouting one, two, three, four what would you do? Try counting through the song repeating that all the way (if counting to four doesn’t fit, try counting to three).

Step 3: Try a few strumming patterns: Try fitting a strumming pattern to the song. Fit them so the down strums in the pattern match with the numbers you count. So a dead simple pattern would be all down strums: strum down when you count one, when you count two, when you count three and when you count four.

4/4 Strumming Patterns

By far the most common time signature around is 4/4 (“four four”). If you can count along to a song, “one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four,” and it fits, try out these strumming patterns.

Strumming Pattern 1: d – d u – u d -

This one crops up in so many ukulele songs. It’s simple to play. But – because it misses the third down strum – it has a slightly syncopated feel to it which makes it more interesting.

Sounds like:

d-du-ud-

Use it in:

Charlieissocoollike – A Song About Acne
She and Him – Gonna Get Along Without You Now
WIUO/Outkast – Hey Ya!
Kate Micucci & William H Macy – It’s Time to Get Laid
Noah and the Whale – Jealous Kind of Love
Zee Avi – Kantoi
Zee Avi – Just You and Me
In double time: Cosmo Jarvis – She’s Got You
Nevershoutnever – Cheatercheaterbestfriendeater

Strumming Pattern 2: d – d u – u d u

Very similar to strumming pattern 1, but with another up strum at the end.

Sounds like:

d-du-udu

Use it in:

Ingrid Michaelson – You and I
Paolo Nutini – High Hopes
I Wanna Be Like You
Misty Miller – Remember

Strumming Pattern 3: d – d – d u d u

Sounds like:

d-d-dudu

Use it in:

WIUO – I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man
OK Go – This Too Shall Pass
Keston Cobblers Club – You Go
The Pogues – Fiesta
Neutral Uke Hotel – King of Carrot Flowers

Strumming Pattern 4: d – d u d u d u

A really straight-forward strum useful for punky stuff.

Sounds like:

d-dududu

Use it in:

UOGB – Teenage Kicks
Ryan Gosling – You Always Hurt the Ones You Love
The Beach Boys – Wouldn’t It Be Nice

Half-Bar Patterns

If you’re looking for a strumming pattern for a song where the chords change regularly (twice a bar) try out these.

Strumming Pattern 5: d – d u

Sounds like:

d-du

Use it in:

Death Cab for Cutie – I Will Follow You Into the Dark
WIUO – Short People
Sesame Street

Strumming Pattern 6: d u x u

Sounds like:

duxu

Use it in:

Hellogoodbye – Betrayed by Bones

Two Bar Pattern

If the chords change much more slowly, you could just double up on the 4/4 pattern. Or you could make it more interesting by using a two bar pattern.

Strumming Pattern 7:
d – d u – u d u
- u d u – u d -

Henceforth to be known as the ‘Sophie Madeleine strum’.

Sounds like:

d-du-udu-udu-ud-

Use it in:

Sophie Madeleine – The Knitting Song
Sophie Madeleine – You Are My Favourite
Sophie Madeleine – I Just Can’t Stop Myself
Rocky and Balls – Love Cake
Bella Hemming – Play Guitar
Peggy Sue – February Snow
Antarctica Takes It – C&F

Emphasis

Strumming Pattern 8: d u D U d u D U

Sounds like:

duDUduDU

Use it in:

Florence and the Machine – Kiss With a Fist
Rocky Horror Picture Show – Time Warp
Sophie Madeleine – Take Your Love With Me

Strumming Pattern 9: d u x u d u x u

Sounds like:

duxudu

Use it in:

Nevershoutnever – Biggest Fan
Noah and the Whale – Five Years Time

Reggae Strums

With a reggae strum you’re always going to be accenting the off beats. In the other strums here you’re always playing a strong beat on the ‘one’ of the count. Here you’re accenting other beats. It’s not always obvious what’s going on so I’ve included a click track with these.

Strumming Pattern 10: – d – d – d – d

Here you’re accenting the beats between the count.

Sounds like:

-d-d-d-d

Use it in:

April Smith – Colors

Strumming Pattern 11: – - d u – - d -

Here the accent is on the ‘two’ and ‘four’ beats.

Sounds like:

–du–d-

Use it in:

WIUO – The Israelites

3/4 Time

If counting, “one, two, three, four,” doesn’t fit with the song you’re playing, try counting in threes instead. If that works, try these patterns.

Strumming Pattern 12: d – d u d -

Sounds like:

d-dud-

Use it in:

Amanda Palmer – In My Mind
John Denver/Ballard C Boyd – Christmas for Cowboys
Weezer – Christmas Song

Strumming Pattern 13: d – d u d u

Sounds like:

d-dudu

Use it in:

WIUO – Blue Smoke

Changing the Patterns

There are tweaks you can make to all these strumming patterns.

Swing Them

When you swing a strumming pattern you make the down strum last slightly longer than the up strum. That gives the strum an off-kilter feel to it.

You can do this with any of the strums. For example, strum pattern 4 would sound like this when swung.

Swing Strum

Change the Tempo

You make any of these strums faster or slower than I’ve played them. In general, the more complicated the strum, the better it’ll sound slowed down. The more straight forward it is, the better it works at high speed.

For More on Strumming…

Pick up a copy of my ebook How to Play Ukulele Strums

What’s a Barre Chord?

A barre chord is any chord that involves playing more than one string with the same finger. For example, the chord on the left shows the index finger barring across all of the strings.

Some common barre chords are Bb, D7, F# and C#.

A few rules that are always true of barre chords:

- The strings on the barre will always be played at the same fret.
- You’ll always play a barre with your index finger.
- Barre chords have no open strings (meaning you can move them up and down the neck).

So why bother? The uke has four strings, we have four finger, right? Not quite. Anyone who has tried playing an E chord will know the frustration of cramming multiple fingers on the same fret. Barre chords make playing chords easier (once you get the hang of them) and allow for stretches you couldn’t perform otherwise.

The Number One Tip

As ukulele players, we are a bit spoilt with a small neck and gentle strings. That means we can play with your fretting hand wrapped around the neck (like the picture on the right). Players of most stringed instruments can’t get away with that and have to play with the thumb on the back of the neck. Take a look at Jacqueline du Pre and Bola Sete for two random examples.

Most of the time, you can get away with wrapping your hand around the neck. But not when you’re playing barre chords. Then it’s really important to bring your hand round so your thumb is on the back of the neck (like the picture on the left).

That does two things:

1) It gives you more squeezing power.
2) It makes your other fretting fingers arch higher over the strings. This makes them less likely to accidentally catch on the other strings and mute them. This can be a big problem with the Bb shape.

Other Tips

If you’re still struggling, try these tips. They don’t work for everyone but they can help:

Bring Your Elbow into Your Side: I can’t figure out why this works, but it does. Most people play with their fretting elbow out from their body. Bring it into your side and you should find it easier.

Rotate Your Index Finger a Little: Some people find that the ridge on their finger at the knuckle means it’s hard to play a good barre chord. If that’s true for you, try rotating your finger anti-clockwise a little so that you’re fretting more with the side of your finger.

A Bit of Re-enforcement: If you need a little extra strength in your barre, you can bring another finger in to help. This is particularly helpful with the C# chord shape (on the right).

Checking Your Barre Chord

Once you’ve got your barre chord in place it’s important to check that every string rings clearly. Play one string at a time. If one of them doesn’t sound right check to see if any other finger is touching it slightly. If not, try adjusting the pressure and position of your fingers until everything sounds right.

Breaking the Rules

As with all rules, the ones I set out before are made to be broken.

You can use a barre to good effect in playing the D chord (with an open string). I almost always play D by fretting the g and C strings with my index finger like this.

And you can play a barre with you middle finger. For example, you can play an Am7 chord 2433, like this.

A Demonstration

Here’s Diane Rubio’s masterful chord solo on Under Paris Skies. She uses many barre chords. Watch closely and you’ll see the thumb at the back of the neck, the re-enforcer and her using the middle finger as a barre.

More on Barre Chords

Once you’re a dab-hand at barre chords you might want to learn what barre chords go where with the CAGFD system.

UPDATE: Richards Tips

Richard left these tips in the comments:

May I suggest two further tips, noticed from my own teaching, that might help.

The first is shown very clearly in your first photograph: the index finger needs to be quite straight to barre effectively. That way you can get a firm pincer grip with the thumb. A number of my students start out with the finger bending at the second knuckle, so that the finger wraps around the corner of the fingerboard. This has the effect of pulling the top two joints away from the strings and also weakens the finger’s ability to push hard against the strings.

The second tip might help with getting a good ringing sound from each string, especially where the crease of the knuckles means that it is hard to press the middle two strings effectively: Feel that the finger is pushing down all along its length; especially imagine that there is a weight on top of the first joint (the one nearest the tip), so that it really flattens out against the strings.

The Basic Idea

You bend a string by pushing it upwards (for the E- and A-strings) or pulling it down (g and C) whilst staying at the same fret. This raises the pitch of the note. It looks like this:

Technically, you should bend the note up one fret’s worth where the tab has ’1/2′ at the top and two frets worth where there is a ’1′. However, nylon strings don’t take to bend as kindly as steel strings so you’re doing very well if you can accurately get a two step bend. I usually use bends on the uke to transition smoothly between two notes. Using it like a slide except it allows for a slower and more smooth transition.

A Couple of Tips

Finger Support: Use your ring finger to bend have your middle and index fingers behind it so you get extra bending power. In the example above, I needed my index finger to play the next note so I’m only using my middle as back-up.

Thumb Positioning: Bring your thumb over the top of the neck. That gives you much more squeezing power and it can also be used to stop the g- and C-strings from sounding – which they can do as your bend will rub up against them.

Use It

Patsy Cline/Willie Nelson – Crazy
WIUO – The Israelites
B-52s – Love Shack
Wayne Federman – Electric Ukulele Medley
Brian Hefferan – Mama Bear Bounce

When I posted Diane Rubio’s version of Under Paris Skies it prompted some discussion of her vibrato technique (which she chipped in on). So I thought it was about time I put up a post about it.

Vibrato is making the note quiver by varying the pitch slightly. You hear it a lot in the big diva singers. They’ll hold a long, high note then make it wobble. Rather than singing the note straight they glide between singing slightly higher than the note to slightly lower than it. Recreating that effect on an instrument gives it a more expressive, human feel. One you’ll hear all the time in blues guitar solos. If you’re wanting to do any solo work on the ukulele, it’s well worth learning a couple of vibrato techniques.

Classical Style

Players of classical string instruments like cello and violin will create vibrato by moving back and forth slightly along the string – making the pitch go from slightly higher than the note to slightly lower than the note just like the vocal vibrato. It works very well on fretless instruments, but is also used on classical guitar and ukulele.

You do it by rocking your finger back and forth with the fret. Here’s the technique done slowly then more rapidly.

There are plenty of advantages to playing vibrato this way. It’s very suited to the uke’s nylon strings, it’s a subtle effect and it can be done with full chords like this:

Guitar Style

In guitar playing, vibrato is created by bending and releasing the string. You do it by pulling the string down (for the C-string – as in the video – or the g-string) or pushing it up (E- and A-strings). Here it is slow then fast:

This technique isn’t quite so friendly with the nylon strings. It creates a bit more noise. On the upside, you can get a much wider and wilder vibrato with it by doing larger bends more quickly. It’s also the ideal vibrato to use on bends like this:

When to Use Vibrato

Don’t go too overboard with the vibrato. Like most techniques, it’s most effective when you use it sparingly. The best place to bust it out is on the long notes at the end of a phrase. Also vary the speed and, with the guitar-style vibrato, width of the vibrato. You can do that even on one note. Try starting with a slow vibrato then speeding it up as the note fades.

There’s more than one way to play any chord. You can find different versions of every chord up and down the neck (known as ‘chord inversions’). And it’s well worth using them. Playing different inversions makes any song more interesting. Particularly if you’re playing with other ukuleles. Having different people play different inversions will open up the sound.

The other day I posted this video of Bosko talking about the CAGFD system with Jim D’Ville – which is the way he thinks about chord inversions. It’s a tricky concept to get across in a short video so it did cause a bit of confusion. He has a full explanation here, but I think it’s a really useful way of thinking about inversions so here’s my shot at explaining it.

For the sake of this post, I’ve simplified the CAGFD system down to FAC. Partly because those are the most useful chord shapes but mostly because it sounds a bit like a rude word. I’ve focused on the major chords here. If you think this post is useful and you want me to tackle the minor and 7 chords in the same way, leave a comment. I had a hard time working out how to explain things clearly in this post so if there’s anything you don’t get, ask in the comments and I’ll try my best to straighten it out.

Making Moveable Chord Shapes

Any of the simple chord shapes you know can be changed into a moveable chord shape (any chord where there are no open strings). All you have to do is replace the nut with your index finger.

Once you have a moveable shape you can move it up and down the fretboard and it will always retain its flavour (major, minor, 7, whatever).

F Shape

Take the F chord. First off you need to free up your index/pointer finger. To do that use your ringer finger to fret the g-string at the second fret and your middle finger to fret the E-string, 1st fret. So you have this:

Move both those fingers up a fret (so your ring finger is at the third fret and middle finger is at the second). Then barre across the first fret with your index finger so you get this:

If you imagine the index finger as the nut, you can see you’re using the same shape as the F chord.

You can move this shape up the neck and it will always be a major chord.

A Shape

You can do the same thing with the A chord shape. Start by freeing up your index finger by using your middle (C string, first fret) and ring finger.

Then move everything up one fret and barre across the first fret with your index finger so you end up with this:

So it’s like an A chord shape with your index finger taking the place of the nut.

This time your barre finger is only holding down the A and E strings so you can do a half bar like this if it’s more comfortable for you:

C Shape

The same thing goes for the C chord shape. Fret the A-string, third fret with your pinkie. Move it up a fret. Barre across with your index finger and you get this:

Note: You don’t have to hold your middle and ring fingers like a total wazzock as I do in the picture.

Major Chords – FAC

Once you’ve got the chord shapes, next you need to know where on the neck to play them.

Each of the shapes has the root note (the one the chord is named after e.g. the root of the F chord is F, the root of Cm7 is C) in a particular place. It’s in the same place no matter where you use the shape.

All you have to do is match that note in the chord chord with the position of the note you want on the fretboard.

F Shape

The root note in the F shape is on the E-string.

A Shape

The root note of the A shape is on the g and A-strings. (Both the notes are exactly the same – play them together and you won’t able to tell the difference).

C Shape

In the C shape the root notes are on the C and A strings.

Fretboard Knowledge

Learning all the notes on the fretboard is a daunting task. 12 frets and 4 stings gives you 48 notes to memorize.

But you can use the FAC shapes just by knowing the notes on the A and E strings. And to start with just learn the notes that crop up most often in ukulele playing. That cuts your learning down to a more manageable 10 notes.

A-String

E-String

If you need a chord that isn’t one of those most common notes it’s pretty easy to work out from what you do know. E.g. E is one fret below F, Bb is one fret above A etc.

Putting It Together

Here’s an example using the C chord.

Start out with the C chord that we all know.

The C shape has the root note on the A-string. And, checking against the diagram, the A-string, 3rd fret is a C note.

Moving on to the A shape. The A shape also has the root note on the A-string. So you make the A shape making sure you’re playing the A string at the third fret.

The F shape has the root note on the E-string. And the C is at the 8th fret on the E-string. So make the F shape so that your middle finger is fretting the E-string at the eighth fret.

Note that your index-finger barre is at the 7th fret here.

All those C chords are completely interchangeable. Wherever you see a C on a chord chart you can use any of those that take your fancy.

And that’s what you do to find inversions of any chord:

- Pick one of the chord shapes.
- Find the location of the root note of the chord.
- Match it to the note on the fretboard.

If you found this lesson useful, please do consider getting a copy of Bosko and Honey’s Ukulele Safari CD – currently all the money from the CDs is going towards the Japan & Pacific Disaster 2011 Appeal. Alternatively you can donate directly to the Red Cross:

American Red Cross
British Red Cross
Red Cross Australia

Strum blocking is a way of playing single notes with strums. You block off the strings you don’t want to sound so only one note rings.

There are a few advantages to doing this. It makes for a much smoother transition between chords and single notes in terms of tone and in terms of playing. It also gives you much more attack and makes it easier to play quickly.

The first thing you need to get down is how much pressure to put on the strings. You want to rest your hand on the strings hard enough so they don’t ring but soft enough that you’re not fretting them. Test it out by resting your fretting-hand fingers on all the strings and strumming. If you hear a sharp click like the first half of this MP3, you’re doing in right. If you hear some tones coming through like in the second half, press a little harder.

MP3

The toughest part is finding the fingers to cover the strings. There aren’t any hard and fast rules here, but this is what I do.

If the note is on the A-string and I’m using my index finger to fret, I’ll use my thumb to block g-string, my middle on the E-string and ring on the C-string (with my pinkie floating around as an extra bit of cover. Like this:

If I’m using my ring finger on the A-string, I’d probably barre across the strings with my index like this:

Just because a finger is being used for fretting, doesn’t mean it can’t be used for blocking as well. Here I’m fretting the C-string with my index finger and using the underside of it to block the E and A strings.

In this situation I’d usually use my spare fingers to double up on the strings as an extra bit of safety.

Try out a few different finger and string combinations until you’re happy you’ve got the basic idea. Then move on to the examples.

Example 1

This example is all down strums.

Example 2

Here we’ve got down and up strums. And you’re alternating between block strums and fully muted strums.

Example 3

Here’s the main riff of Rockabilly Roustabout slowed down.

Example 4

And this is the part where you have to switch quickly between chords and single notes.

Example 5

Finally, here’s the tab for the strum-blocking section of Rockabilly Roustabout

Example 5 Tab

For this post I’ll be using Ode to Joy because the melody is very simple and you can play it against one chord (in this case C). Here’s the snippet:

MP3

You’ll have to forgive any sniffles, coughs and hocked loogies you can pick up on these MP3s. I’m down with a nasty cold at the moment.

Melody and Strums

The most common way to combine melody and chords is to strum the chord and add the melody note on top of that.

In this case, we can strum the open g, C and E strings (make up a C chord) while we play the melody on the top string.

MP3

To make the melody note stand out make sure it’s the last note you hit. So when the melody is on the A string use a down strum, when it’s on the g-string use an up strum. Because the melody here is all on the A-string, you use all down strums. I’m using my thumb for the strums and the single notes but for more complicated pieces varying your strumming and picking will make things more interesting.

Check out Mark Occhionero arrangement of Blue in Green for an idea of what you can do with this technique.

Melody and Harmony and Strum

You can spice up the chord soloing idea by harmonizing the melody. Here I’m harmonizing with notes a third below the melody.

MP3

Back-up Picking

Here we’re adding in a simple fingerpicking pattern behind the melody. The picking hand is one finger per string (thumb on g-string, index on C-string, middle on E-string, ring on A string).

MP3

There are all sorts of patterns you can use for this type of accompaniment. Take a listen to Rick Hulett’s arrangement of Falling Slowly for some ideas.

Alternate Picking

Fingerpicking again but this time, rather than having a dedicated finger for each string, the thumb flips between the g and C strings. On the guitar this type of playing is referred to as Travis picking or Cotten picking.

Here’s a typical pattern with the thumb playing the g and C strings, the index on the E and the middle on the A.

And here’s how you could use the pattern to play Ode to Joy.

MP3

Here are a couple of tunes played in this way.

Which is the Best?

The one that sounds best to you.

There isn’t a right answer. Try them all out (and try it campanella style).

I’ve already put up two arrangements of Ode to Joy and neither of them sound anything like any of the arrangements on this post. If I was going to pick one for this tune, I’d go with the alternate picking. Which I never even thought of trying before this post.

There are so many ways of arranging any tune the only way to go is choose the one that suits you best rather than blindly copying the way it works for someone else.

Some of these are written from a devil’s-advocate perspective and I haven’t made my mind up on some issues. So feel free to disagree with any or all of these in the comments.

1. It’s easy to play the ukulele.

There was a lot of this talk at Ukelear Meltdown. Their website embarrassingly declares that the uke can be, “mastered in a matter of months.” But that’s not as embarrassing as the act took to the stage saying how easy it was to play the uke, then went on to fluff chord changes so badly he ground to a complete halt on a couple of occasions.

The ukulele might be a relatively simple instrument to pick up and get going on but to make it an instrument you can do wonderful things on is, as with all instruments, very difficult.

For more of this argument, check out 10 Reasons It’s Easier to Play the Guitar than the Ukulele

2. Ukulele means ‘jumping flea’ in Hawaiian.

The story of Edward ‘Jumping Flea’ Purvis and his love of the instrument has become the default translation, but it has plenty of competitors. And it didn’t take hold until long after the ukulele pioneers were long dead. And Queen Liliuokalani herself said ukulele means ‘gift from afar’.

John King, who is the foremost scholar on this sort of thing, refers to George Kanahele’s five competing stories of how the ukulele was named.

It’s also worth noting that, as well as ‘flea’, one of the definitions of ‘uku is, “small, tiny.” which would seem to be a more likely candidate for naming. And there’s a theory it developed from the Hawaiians’ previous instrument of choice the Ukeke.

3. Ukuleles should be taught in schools.

The most worrying aspect of the current ukulele boom is how much their use has taken off in schools. Schools tend to be very bad at imparting a life long love of anything – I can’t think of a single thing I was introduced to in school that I still enjoy. I dare say if I’d been forced to play the uke at school I wouldn’t be playing it now.

If schools inculcated a life long love of a musical instrument, the recorder would be the most popular instrument in the country.

4. Ukulele festivals are a good idea.

I don’t want to rag on Ukelear Meltdown again – plenty of people obviously loved it – but it has convinced me to reduce my ukulele festival outing plans this year (possibly as far as zero).

It’s safe to say I have a higher ukulele-tolerance-threshold than most. But even I wouldn’t choose to listen to only ukulele music for three days straight. And there does seem to be a tendency to include acts for the instrument they use rather than any talent.

A ukulele festival really needs a very diverse bill to be interesting – something some of the line-ups I’ve seen this year don’t have.

5. The ukulele is a good instrument to learn before progressing to guitar.

While being able to play the ukulele is going to give you a good grounding for playing the guitar, the ukulele isn’t just a guitar with training wheels. It’s worth learning in its own right. There’s a vast gulf between what is most effective on a ukulele and what is most effective on a guitar.

If you want to play the guitar, learn the guitar.

My argument does collapse when you look at a list of people who started on ukulele before “progressing” to guitar: Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Brian May, Dick Dale.

6. Koa is the best wood for ukuleles.

Koa ukuleles come with a big premium these days. Just compare the prices of a Martin 2K and a Martin 2M.

It does look nice but does it sound any better than mahogany? Not to my ears.

7. Tenor ukuleles are louder.

Not always. The size of the uke is relatively unimportant compared to factors like wood, thickness and lightness of construction.

8. ‘Ukelele’ is a misspelling.

Not according to Merrium Webster or pretty much any dictionary you care to consult. ‘Ukelele’ is a perfectly acceptable variation.

9. You should write ‘ukulele with an ‘okina.

Some people are very vociferous about the use of the Hawaiian ‘okina when writing ukulele, even editing it in to people who choose not to use it. The second half of this article makes a great job of fighting pedantry with pedantry by pointing out that if you’re using ‘ukulele as a foreign word in an English text you should have it in italics.

10. Record labels are shooting themselves in the foot attacking YouTube covers and lessons.

If I was the head of a record company and desperate to preserve my moribund way of doing things, I’d be banning every tutorial, tab and YouTube cover as well. Anything to stop people finding out that a) you don’t need and A&R guy’s approval to make music and b) making music is more fun than listening to it.

Last Minute Addition: There aren’t enough ukulele competitions around.

This one was inspired by Ukulala’s post today about the benefits of ukulele competitions.

As a reader, I’m am very bored of ukulele competitions. There’s no real value to them in the long term. I’m never much interested in entering a competition where there’s a prize I could just buy if I wanted.

From the blogging perspective, competitions might provide a nice boost in traffic for a few days but they aren’t a substitute for putting in the hard work and building a site worth visiting.