Now that you have the strumming patterns, chords, and know the best way to hold your ukulele, it’s time that you put it all together into some songs. Don’t worry; we aren’t going to have you try anything too complicated. The two songs in this chapter are fun to play, you likely know the lyrics by heart already, and they are a perfect way to increase your confidence so you can go on and learn some truly complicated pieces.
A Quick Tip
Keep in mind that when you are plucking an open string, it means you are not holding your finger on any fret on that particular string. Just plucking it as it is, or open.
Happy Birthday
First, let’s look at “Happy Birthday”, a song that everyone knows. Once you have this one in your repertoire, you will find that friends and family will always ask you to bring your uke with you to the parties so you can play while everyone sings along. You may also watch my video lesson for Happy Birthday by following this link: http://goo.gl/riCJFs Let’s look at a couple of ways to play the song.
Simple Single Note Technique
If you would like a very simple version of this song to play, where you don’t even need any chords, here it is! All you need to do is:
Part One:
• Pluck the number four string 2x
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• Pluck the number one string 1x
• Pluck the number four string 1x
• On the first string, place your finger on the third fret and pluck the string 1x
• On the first string, place your finger on the second fret and pluck the string 1x Part Two:
• Pluck the number four string 2x
• Pluck the number one string 1x
• Pluck the number four string 1x
• On the first string, place your finger on the fifth fret and pluck the string 1x
• On the first string, place your finger on the third fret and pluck the string 1x Part Three:
• Pluck the number four string 2x
• On the first string, place your finger on the tenth fret and pluck the string 1x
• On the first string, place your finger on the seventh fret and pluck the string 1x
• On the first string, place your finger on the third fret and pluck the string 1x
• On the first string, place your finger on the second fret and pluck the string 1x
• Pluck the first string open Part Four:
• On the first string, place your finger on the eighth fret and pluck the string 2x
• On the first string, place your finger on the seventh fret and pluck the string 1x
• On the first string, place your finger on the third fret and pluck the string 1x
• On the first string, place your finger on the fifth fret and pluck the string 1x
• On the first string, place your finger on the third fret and pluck the string 1x
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• Pluck the number four string
• Pluck the number one string
• Pluck the number four string
• On the first string, place your finger on the first fret and pluck the string 1x
As you can see, this is extremely simple, and you should be able to get the hang of it in no time at all.
Add some Chords
You only need three simple chords! G7, C, and F. They are all very simple, and you should know them well by now.
Part One:
• Pluck the number four string 2x
• Pluck the number one string 1x
• Pluck the number four string 1x
• On the first string, place your finger on the third fret and pluck the string 1x
• Now, you will play a G7 chord 1x Part Two:
• Pluck the number four string 2x
• Pluck the number one string 1x
• Pluck the number four string 1x
• On the first string, place your finger on the fifth fret and pluck the string 1x
• Now, you will play a C chord
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• Pluck the number four string 2x
• On the first string, place your finger on the tenth fret and pluck the string 1x
• On the first string, place your finger on the seventh fret and pluck the string 1x
• On the first string, place your finger on the third fret and pluck the string 1x
• Now, you will play an F chord Part Four:
• On the first string, place your finger on the eighth fret and pluck the string 2x
• On the first string, place your finger on the seventh fret and pluck the string 1x
• On the first string, place your finger on the third fret and pluck the string 1x
• On the first string, place your finger on the fifths fret and pluck the string 1x
• Now, finish it up with a C chord And Many More… Part Two
• Pluck the number four string
• Pluck the first string
• Pluck the number four string
• On the first string, place your finger on the first fret and strum up and down with your strumming hand.
Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Another favorite, and one that sounds amazing on ukulele, is “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”. Even though you will see that it is a relatively simple song, it sounds quite impressive when you play.
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A good tip, if you’d like to try it, is to buy a “Low G” for your number four string, as it can make this song sound even fuller. This is how IZ played it. If you don’t have it, don’t worry; you can still play without it and simply go with your regular G.
Now, let’s learn how to play it!
How to Strum
You have a few options. You can keep it rather simple and use all down strums if you would like. However, you don’t have to keep it quite this simple if you don’t want to. In fact, it’s better to change up your strum pattern and add something more interesting, as it will give the song more of an authentic sound.
Consider using the following strumming pattern – down, down, up, up, down, up, the Calypso. Yes, this is a bit more complex, but when you nail it, you are going to love the way this song sounds.
You can still get more complex as your skills and your confidence grow. Use some thumb plucks similar to what you would use for the Calypso strum pattern. Keep in mind that as you are learning to play, you can modify and alter the strum. If you can’t get that Calypso feel right now, you will be able to soon enough. Just keep practicing.
What Chords Do You Need?
To play the song, you will need to have certain chords mastered. The chords you need are C, Am, F, F9, G, E7. We’ve covered how to play all of these chords earlier, so go back a chapter to refer to the chord diagrams if needed. In addition, this song includes an E minor.
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To play the E minor, you will place your index finger on the second fret of the first string, your middle finger on the third fret of the second string, and your ring finger on the fourth fret of the third strong. You will play the fourth string open.
Remember to use the Calypso strum pattern throughout for each of the chords. Now, let’s see how to put all of those chords together.
The Intro
Each one of the chords will follow into the next chord after you play the Calypso strumming pattern.
It’s a very good idea to watch some videos or listen to some tracks of people playing this song on uke so you can get a good idea of just how the rhythm goes.
Understanding that rhythm is the key to help you really sell this song.
You can also add an extra bit to the introduction as an option if you would like. This is from Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s very popular rendition of the song. Here’s how it goes.
Now you will play the strum pattern for each of these chords twice.
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Do you need to have the extension of the intro? It’s not necessary, but it does add another dimension to the song.
The Chorus
This is the part that everyone knows and loves. Again, you will play the strum pattern twice for each of the chords.
• C = 2x
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That’s all there is to the verse, and by the time you’ve mastered this part… guess what?
You’ve mastered the entire song. As you can see, even though it might sound complex, it’s still relatively simply to play. With just a little bit of practice, you will find that you really can play this song.
Now that you have a couple of solid songs under your belt, you should feel very good about learning even more songs on the uke. Who knows, you might even want to start writing your own songs at some point!