Uke & Guitar – Lyrics & Chords – Tablature – Audio Samples – Solos – Duets – Trios – Ensembles
“If you cannot teach me to fly, teach me to sing!” ― J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan
“Endeavour to play easy pieces well and with elegance; that is better than to play difficult pieces badly.” ― Robert Schumann, Advice to Young Musicians
“There is something intimate about playing a duet. It’s touching the soul of another person without ever touching the flesh.” ― Courtney M. Privett, Arrow of Entropy
These are easy uke and guitar songs that should help you get started on your musical career! Most of our music has multiple parts for ukulele and guitar because our emphasis is on playing together, so find a partner and form a duet! Add another and you’ve got a full-sounding trio! Add yet another, and a singer, and you’ve got a band!
Attention Music Teachers!: Our music is highly adaptable for study and performance by large ensembles. Take some time and avail yourself of the resources we have to offer on this website!
Also click on our TUTORIALS page for useful playing and practicing tips.
“I was captured by music at a really early age. I was really captured by it. Everything about it. It was my mother… It was my father… It was my plaything. It was my toy. It was the best thing in my life.” ― Jeff Buckley
“You all have a gift. It’s free. It’s the gift of song.” ― Christine E. Schulze, The Silver Stag
“When you play, never mind who listens to you.” ― Robert Schmann
“To play a wrong note is insignificant; to play without passion is inexcusable.” ― Ludwig van Beethoven
“Play the music, not the instrument.” ― Author Unknown
LIST OF ALL SONGS ON THIS WEBSITE as of Feb. 1, 2024:
SUGGESTION: Many songs have multiple files. If you use the Search feature on this website it will only take you to specific files, one at a time. It is much better to scroll down the web page to the song so that you can see all of its associated files for all instruments in their full context, with the relevant comments and performance tips. It is well worth the extra effort.
Okay, let’s get started . . .
If you’re a beginner just trying to figure this stuff out, start with this song:
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: NEWBIE
There ― you did it! Now give yourself a big round of applause:
And if you’re feeling ambitious, here’s a version of the song where you play the melody and harmony together at the same time:
VERY COOL!
Check out these fun ukulele chord charts in bookmark form. Print them out on card stock or laminate them. Share them with your friends!:
Here’s a sample:
“Through music we may wander where we will in time, and find friends in every century.” ― Helen Thompson
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER
“Music helps us drift away to places of tranquility, happiness, sadness, & imagination.” ― April Mae Monterrosa
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“Until we meet again . . .”:
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER
PERFORMANCE NOTES: A veritable ukulele classic! This sentimental beauty is ideal for a group sing-along. Keep this one nice and slow; don’t hurry it. Ukesters should strum with the thumb or fingers where the neck meets the uke’s body for that smooth round Hawaiian sound. All downstrokes will work just fine.
Guitar 3 gets its own paragraph. It simulates the sound of a Hawaiian slide guitar. It incorporates triads (3-note chords), 1/2-step slurs and a strong vibrato, hence all the squiggly marks in the tablature. Light-gauge strings help to make the vibrato easier to execute. A heavy plastic pick used near the bridge gives the chords a brighter, cleaner sound which cuts through the other instrumental parts.
(Go to the VIDEOS Page to see our club performing this song live!)
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ARTICLE: This Ancient Hawaiian Philosophy Will Change Your Life and Make the World a Better Place: http://theweek.com/articles/616109/ancient-hawaiian-philosophy-change-life-make-world-better-place
Google this song to find out what it’s really about. You’ve been warned.:
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER
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“If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph”:
THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED
FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
WAS MUSIC
― Kurt Vonnegut
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER
PERFORMANCE NOTES: Play this beautiful hymn slowly, with feeling; don’t hurry it. This one is not a “strummer”; rather, the accompanists should lightly “tickle” select strings for effect. The thing to remember is that “the melody is king.” This is one of those songs where the members of the ensemble should listen to and “feed off of one another.”
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“I feel so strongly that deep and simple is far more essential than shallow and complex.” ― Fred Rogers (“Mr. Rogers”)
Also spelled “Aura Lea,” this American Civil War era piece has a pretty melody with some nice harmony for the second uke. Some guy named Melvis? Nelvis? (I dunno) borrowed the melody for a song he called “Love Me Tender.” Perhaps you’ve heard of him.:
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER/INTERMEDIATE
PERFORMANCE NOTES: Lots of nice stuff in this one. If you find Uke 2 too difficult, try Uke 3, which is a simplified countermelody that follows the contour of Uke 2’s harmony.
Guitar 1 is the same method book melody in the key of C I’ve taught to dozens of students over the years. You guitar players who already know it will enjoy playing it against all that nice harmony in the Ensemble WAV file. Guitar 2’s countermelody fills in nicely and adds a lot of emotion.
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DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER
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“Music is only love looking for words.” ― Lawrence Durrell
“Sweet William on his deathbed lay, for the love of Barbara Allen . . .”
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER
PERFORMANCE NOTES: This is a beautiful ballad that goes back many centuries. Put some art into it when you play it.
Porky Pig does a g-g-g-great v-v-version of this song as Friar Tuck in a riotous Looney Tune with Daffy Duck as Robin Hood. It’s insanely funny.
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DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER
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“The only truth is music.” ― Jack Kerouac
“All I’d ever done was sing songs that were dead straight and expressed powerful new realities. I had very little in common with and knew even less about a generation that I was supposed to be the voice of.” ― Bob Dylan, Chronicles, Vol. 1
“The answer my friends, is . . .”:
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER
PERFORMANCE NOTES: There are innumerable versions of this iconic song out there performed by everyone under the sun. Even ol’ Bob himself played and recorded many different versions in different keys with different performers at different times. Our club version is a basic one in the key of G that will serve as a solid foundation for your own interpretation and development.
If you don’t sing, this might be a good place to start. Even if you think you have a lousy voice, try it anyway! You might surprise yourself. “Blowin’ in the Wind” is a very forgiving song in this regard. There’s no such thing as singing this song poorly.
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DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER/INTERMEDIATE
PERFORMANCE NOTES: Notice the tempo change in the middle of the song. The chorus should be played faster and louder than the verse.
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Is this the greatest cowboy song of all time?:
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER
PERFORMANCE NOTES: This arrangement sounds great! The iconic “loping” guitar riff evokes the Wild West like nobody’s business. In the uke duet version we’ve added a modified uke strum which incorporates the shuffle of the guitar part.
Play it nice and slow. You can make this one a fun audience participation number at campfires by adding baritone and bass “bum-ba-dee-dahs” and high-pitched coyote howls in the distance.
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DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER/INTERMEDIATE
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“Family, friends, music, love…are sweeteners that garnish and ease the stress of life.” ― Ikechukwu Izuakor
This fun bit of Americana sounds great with four-part harmony plus guitar and singing:
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER
PERFORMANCE NOTES: There’s a whole lotta harmony goin’ on in this arrangement. Layers of ukes make this one fun to play. The lyrics are fun, too.
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GBUC Obscure Cultural Reference #187:
Hint: 2001
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER
PERFORMANCE NOTES: This is one of those beautiful slow waltzes that I like to play with a slight hint of dementia. To accomplish that you can give it a lilt and swell by ever so slightly varying the tempo and volume.
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“Music is the best means we have of digesting time.” ― W. H. Auden
“Daylight come, and me wan’ go home . . .”:
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“My heart, which is so full to overflowing, has often been solaced and refreshed by music when sick and weary.” ― Martin Luther
“Here, I give you my phone number; when you worry, call me ― I make you happy . . .”:
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“A painter paints pictures on canvas, but musicians paint their pictures on silence.” ― Leopold Stokowski
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER
PERFORMANCE NOTES: Sentimentality is the way to go when playing this simple song. Is there a harmonica player in the house?
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DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER
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DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER
PERFORMANCE NOTES: Uke 2 adds a little “choo-choo train” fill. Listen for it.
The lady playin’ the guitar in the image is Elizabeth Cotten, who wrote this song when she was a girl. She played a normal right-hand-strung guitar left-handed, which means she played it upside down. This also meant she had to develop an unorthodox fingerstyle technique: she played the melody with her thumb and picked the bass and harmony notes with her fingers.
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“Making music together is the best way for two people to become friends.” ― Hermann Hesse, The Glass Bead Game
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER
PERFORMANCE NOTES: This is one of those famous tunes meant to be sung or played “in the round,” where multiple voices sing or play the same melody but start and finish at different times.
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DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER/INTERMEDIATE
PERFORMANCE NOTES: This is a catchy little number that should be better known than it actually is. The chromatic chord shifts are a unique feature of the harmony. You can play it at varying tempos, depending on mood and preference.
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DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER/INTERMEDIATE
PERFORMANCE NOTES: Look at all those open string notes Ukes 2, 3 and 4 get to play! Easy, right? Have fun!
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“Hippity, hoppin, Easter’s on its way . . .”
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER/INTERMEDIATE
PERFORMANCE NOTES: Another Johnny Marx holiday classic, so play it with the same energy and feel as a happy Christmas song.
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From the Urban Dictionary: Top Definition. hippity hoppity: music what older folks think young urban youths listen to. Father: “Hey son, what you listen to, some of that hippity hoppity?
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER/INTERMEDIATE
PERFORMANCE NOTES: You don’t have to constantly strum throughout this song. Be creative, and keep it simple! On the first verse just bang on the chord on the first beat of each measure. Use accents and rests for effect.
This is not a kids’ song; it was written as a serious dance number. Be sure to give it a sassy Big Band Era swing feel. Get up off your butt and dance when you perform this number!
In the uke duet the melody player gets a choice between Uke 1 High Melody (hard to play) and Uke 2 Low Melody (easier to play).
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More great songs continued below . . .
SOME STUFF TO THINK ABOUT:
NOTE: Ukes 1 and 2 stand alone as a duet. If you find Uke 2 too difficult to play, try one of the other uke parts. You have many options.
PONDER THIS: Studying the Full Score will give you perspective and insights into how the different instrumental parts work together in the ensemble.
IDEA: You can switch back and forth between different parts while you play a song. Maybe you’re strumming Uke 4 chords but you want to plug in a countermelody bit from Uke 2 for two measures. Go for it! Mix and match; be creative!
CONSIDER: If you are able to play melodies on the uke you should also be able to play the guitar. Ukulele is a great “gateway” instrument for other stringed instruments.
HAVE YOU NOTICED?: Often the uke chords are voiced on three strings instead of all four so that they don’t conflict with the melody. Also, less is more.
IMPORTANT POINT: Sometimes a uke or guitar chord will NOT precisely match the chord notation above the music. This is not a mistake! Here’s an example which occurs often: The chord notation says Dm7 but the chord the uke actually plays is a Dm. This simply means that the 7th of the Dm7 chord is being played by some other instrument at that point in the arrangement, and that in this particular case the uke part sounds better in the overall mix playing a Dm chord rather than a Dm7 chord. The overall harmony at that point in the piece is based on a Dm7 chord, but that fact may not necessarily be reflected in each instrumental part.
BETTER THAN NOTHING: If you don’t have a bass you can play the bass part on a guitar. It will be one octave higher but it will still sound good.
ATTENTION GUITAR PLAYERS: You can play the uke parts too! Just put a capo @ 5th fret and you’ll be playing in the same key. OR, if you want you can play the uke part as written without a capo, but note that you will be playing in a key a 4th (2 and 1/2 steps) lower. (By the way, a baritone ukulele is tuned exactly the same as the first four string of a guitar [ D G B E ]. In this context you could just think of a guitar as a baritone uke with two extra “bass” strings.)
GOOD NEWS: Jazz chords are complex and hard to learn and play on most instruments but ukulele is the happy exception. With only four strings you can still achieve the “quality” of jazz chords with only a little extra effort.
LISTEN: The WAV files are a valuable learning tool! Open and play the WAV file to hear how the song is supposed to sound. Read the score while listening to it. Count and/or follow it with your finger. With practice you’ll be able to play your part along with the recording at the proper tempo.
TIP: If you’re starting to accumulate a lot of pages of music, it would be wise to invest in a decent binder and some sheet music protectors. The successful people in this world are often not smarter or more talented than us, but they are better organized.
ALSO: Check the TUTORIALS Page for more helpful, tips, resources and inspiration.
NOW GET BUSY!
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“May your song guide you home.” ― Sophia Elaine Hanson, Vinyl
When we played this song at Century Ridge we were surprised how many people sang along on the chorus. It makes us feel good!:
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER/INTERMEDIATE
PERFORMANCE NOTES: Nice and easy does it; not too fast. Play it at a tempo so that every word, every syllable, can be clearly heard. Like “Amazing Grace,” it’s one of those “perfect” songs.
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DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER
PERFORMANCE NOTES: A lovely lullaby from the African-American tradition. Render it with care and soul.
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DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER/INTERMEDIATE
PERFORMANCE NOTES: Another great upbeat song in the round. With a little practice you’ll find it easy and fun to play, but beware — without rehearsing and keeping track of where you are in the song it can become a “trainwreck” at the end.
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“It was the moment I realized what music can do to people, how it can make you hurt and feel so good all at once.” ― Nina LaCour, Hold Still
“Because you’re mine . . .”:
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER/INTERMEDIATE
PERFORMANCE NOTES: Each verse of this iconic song was sung in a different key; that’s why Johnny said, “People ask me why I always hum whenever I sing this song — it’s to get my pitch.” We simplified it and kept it in the key of A. You’ll notice that the ukes play E7 while the guitar plays E. That’s because an E chord on a normally tuned uke is voiced too high for this song. We often have to make compromises like that because of the limitations of the instruments.
Uke 4 is interesting. It’s a strange barbershop quartet-style countermelody. It adds color and interest but should be played much softer than the other instruments. Again, working within the limited (and high) register of the ukulele without compromising the spirit of the song was a challenge.
Don’t play it too fast, and sing it like you mean it. Sung with a nice baritone this classic song has a poignant strength and weakness at the same time. This is one great country ballad. You tell ’em, Johnny . . .
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DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER/INTERMEDIATE
Well, here it is, by popular demand:
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER/INTERMEDIATE
PERFORMANCE NOTES: NEWSFLASH! Contrary to popular belief, this is not a ukulele song! The original recording was played on guitar with no capo; he plays a simplified version on guitar with open chords and a capo@4th fret (see the image above) when he performs it live. Another thing about the original: it’s in the key of B (a very uke-unfriendly key). The association of this song with the ukulele is so strong, however, that many folks assume it’s in the neighboring uke-friendly key of C, which is what you’ll find in almost all songbooks and web resources. The Green Bay Ukulele Club is no exception, although we’ve also provided uke and guitar chords for the key of B so that you can jam and sing along with the original recording.
The song uses several different strum patterns, which are notated next to the section headings by symbols with the numbered beats in grey font below. Downstrokes are on the downbeats (grey numbers) and upstrokes are on the upbeats (between the grey numbers).
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“If everyone started off the day singing, just think how happy they’d be.” ― Lauren Myracle, Shine
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: NEWBIE
PERFORMANCE NOTE: If you’re an absolute newbie, start with “Happy Birthday” first and then come back and do this one next. It’s a fun and easy, upbeat, up-tempo audience participation song.
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“It’s raining, it’s pouring. Facebook is getting boring; so off to bed to rest my head, but I’ll probably be back in the morning . . .” ― Unknown
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER
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“. . . took a trip on a sailing ship, and when I reached Jamaica, I made a stop.”:
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“If you talk bad about country music, it’s like saying bad things about my momma. Them’s fightin’ words.” ― Dolly Parton
“Son of a gun, we’ll have big fun . . .”:
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER/INTERMEDIATE
PERFORMANCE NOTES: One of the greatest country songs of all time by the “Shakespeare of Country Music.” Just two chords! The song is simple but the melody is actually complex and is more challenging to play than you might think. I suggest you learn how to sing it first before trying to tackle playing the melody on the uke or the guitar. You can also simplify the melody if you wish; as long as you follow the contour of the melody and accurately hit the “peaks and valleys” with the correct notes you’ll do passably fine, especially with folks singing along.
Uke 4 comes in on the Chorus with a really cool strum. Get rowdy, stay loose, and move around in your chair or get up and dance when performing this catchy number. Now everybody sing!
Now, wasn’t that fun?!
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“Music is the moonlight in the gloomy night of life.” ― Jean Paul Friedrich Richter
A beautiful Japanese melody. Kojo No Tsuki means “Moon over Castle Ruins”:
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER/INTERMEDIATE
PERFORMANCE NOTES: Uke 1 sounds like a traditional Japanese banjo-like instrument (Shamisen). To emulate its sound you should play with a plastic pick and with downward strokes pick the string close to the bridge. In fact, to get that sharp percussive effect, the pick should hit the bridge and the string simultaneously. Pretty cool, huh?
The ensemble starts with a uke duet, and then with each verse more instruments enter. The last verse has some interesting syncopation and elaboration.:
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“To speak your heart out, nothing can be better than night and acoustic guitar!” ― Dinakar Phillip
Kum-Bah-Yah, Kum Ba Ya, Kumbaya, etc. However you spell it, it means “Come By Here.”:
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER
PERFORMANCE NOTES: There are 4 ukes harmonizing the melody in this arrangement. The melody is also reinforced by two guitars playing the melody one and two octaves lower respectively. If you can get a group of people to play this together, try starting with a solo instrument on the first verse and then add a new instrument with each successive verse. Play it slowly, with reverence.
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DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER
PERFORMANCE NOTES: This charming contemporary love song is a simple ukulele strum tune using the three primary chords in the key of C (C, F, and G) so it is perfect for beginners of all ages. Beware of the tempo changes; in certain sections the strum slows down.
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DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER
PERFORMANCE NOTES: A simple traditional German melody. Uke 3 doubles the melody an octave higher for that nice music box effect, and we also added more harmony with ukes 4 and 5.
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DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER
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“If we are exhorted to play simple melodies with beauty rather than difficult ones with error, the same should be applied to writing; simple words, greater effect.” ― Sonia Rumzi
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: NEWBIE
PERFORMANCE NOTES: The uke duet is easy to read and easy to play. It is a very good song for a parent to play along with a young child. Uke 2 is a simple alternating bass part with a repetitive tick-tock feel which is ideal for helping beginners learn how to keep a steady tempo.
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DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER
PERFORMANCE NOTES: In the ensemble you’ll notice that Guitar 2 and the Bass wait a bit and then come in with resounding “hallelujahs” at the right moments. If you’re playing a smaller arrangement such as a uke duet you won’t have that luxury so you’ll have to play those sections louder to get the same effect.
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“Oh, dream maker, you heart breaker . . . wherever you’re goin’, I’m goin’ your way . . .”:
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: INTERMEDIATE
PERFORMANCE NOTES: Many ukulele versions of this Henry Mancini masterpiece already exist on the internet in the key of C, so why should I make one more? Because in this version the melody and the uke accompaniment have all of the inflections and nuances of the original.
Also, I’m hoping that you’ll check out our version of “Moon River” for advanced players (including the famous guitar part) in its original key, transcribed right from the famous scene in the movie “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” on this website. You can find it on the BEST FREE SHEET MUSIC page. It’s awesome!
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“When you play music you discover a part of yourself that you never knew existed.” ― Bill Evans
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER/INTERMEDIATE
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A lovely “farewell song” from New Zealand during the era of the two world wars:
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER/INTERMEDIATE
PERFORMANCE NOTES: Render this slow waltz with the longing, sadness (and respect) appropriate for the time and place.
Guitar 3 has some challenging triads (three-note chords) that should be shaken with a tight vibrato a la “Aloha Oe.”
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“Away, I’m bound away . . . across the wide Missouri”:
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER/INTERMEDIATE
PERFORMANCE NOTES: This arrangement has some majesty to it, so play it nice and slow. If you need inspiration, take Highway 90 to Chamberlain, South Dakota and look west across the Missouri River. This is a BIG country!
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A Stephen Foster classic:
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER/INTERMEDIATE
PERFORMANCE NOTES: This sounds great on a banjolele. Use a nice light strum on Uke 3. Less is more.
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“All music is folk music. I ain’t never heard a horse sing a song.” ― Louis Armstrong
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: INTERMEDIATE
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DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER
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“Some songs are never just ordinary songs, they become the memories you collect in your life.” ― Seekerohan
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER
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DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER
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“We grown-up people think that we appreciate music, but if we realized the sense that an infant has brought with it of appreciating sound and rhythm, we would never boast of knowing music. The infant is music itself.” ― Hazrat Inayat Khan
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER/INTERMEDIATE
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You’re Doing It Wrong #84:
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER/INTERMEDIATE
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“Music is a treasure and a love and a delight. It clears people’s souls and lifts them high.” ― David Rodigan
“Then he shall be, a true love of mine . . .”
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER
PERFORMANCE NOTES: This traditional romantic ballad has exquisitely beautiful lyrics. Get some friends together so you can play all the harmonies. Or, try accompanying the melody with a different countermelody for each verse. In a pinch, you can convert a guitar into a uke by using a capo at the 5th fret. Go for “Baroque!”
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“Music is the mediator between the spiritual and the sensual life.” ― Ludwig van Beethoven
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER/INTERMEDIATE
PERFORMANCE NOTES: I absolutely adore chord substitutions like the one in measure 15 where what would have been an Em chord on beat 3 is replaced by a sweet-sounding G7 chord. It’s unexpected but it sounds so right.
If you are interested in music theory the thing you should do is identify those special moments in a piece of music that appeal to you and find out what makes them tick. Ask yourself what makes it happy, or sad, for instance. Aspiring songwriters should especially be mindful of this. Circle, check or bracket your sheet music at those locations, and/or keep a notebook and jot down details of your favorite bits of music, and incorporate them in your own explorations.
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DIFFICULTY LEVEL: INTERMEDIATE
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DIFFICULTY LEVEL: INTERMEDIATE
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“Music is the social act of communication among people, a gesture of friendship, the strongest there is.” ― Malcolm Arnold
“And the dreams that you dare to . . . oh why, oh why can’t I . . ?”:
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER/INTERMEDIATE
PERFORMANCE NOTES: This is the ultimate “Izzy” version of this famous song, which was originally titled “Over the Rainbow.” On the recording the big guy used a uke with a low G string. (NOTE TO GUITAR PLAYERS: You can emulate the low-G tuned uke in the recording EXACTLY by using a capo at the 5th fret and playing the uke chords.)
This song is the reason why many people have learned to play and love the ukulele.
Here’s another resource you might find useful. We’ve tabbed out the melody on the guitar to help you learn how to sing it the way Izzy sang it. Harmony is provided, but the strum is omitted for clarity. The “oohs and aahs” start on measure 6; the lyrics start on measure 14.:
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DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER/INTERMEDIATE
PERFORMANCE NOTES: We’ve incorporated some of the nice qualities of the Marty Robbins version of this iconic traditional cowboy song in our arrangement. The melody follows the inflection of his voice in the recording. If you are a newbie and want to play a more stereotyped and simplified version of the melody using just quarter notes feel free to do so. Play it slowly; it’s a sad ballad about a dying cowboy.
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Look at the spunky little guy at the bottom of the image. Precious!:
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER/INTERMEDIATE
PERFORMANCE NOTES: Give this iconic waltz a swelling side-to-side feel to create that fun carnival atmosphere. Don’t forget to sing out and hit the chords loud and clear on the strike count at the end of the song.
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A catchy tune, regardless of your politics:
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER
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“Children’s voices – even those who couldn’t carry the tune – are always appealing.” ― Anne McCaffrey, Dragonseye
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER
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“Muh donkey walk, muh donkey talk . . .”
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER/INTERMEDIATE
PERFORMANCE NOTES: Play this one brightly and uptempo; make the chords and notes bounce. That’s what all the little eighth-note rests are for. It’s a silly and fun song.
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“Music in the soul can be heard by the universe.” ― Lao Tzu
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER
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DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER/INTERMEDIATE
PERFORMANCE NOTES: A beautiful waltz that will make you a better player. Start softly and increase the volume when the melody rises to its peak at the end of the song.
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“Music is an outburst of the soul.” ― Frederick Delius
Click on the VIDEOS tab to see the Green Bay Ukulele Club jam this song. The tempo picks up with each verse, and by the end it becomes a fast “breakdown.”:
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER
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DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER/INTERMEDIATE
PERFORMANCE NOTES: A lovely ballad made famous by The Carter Family. Chet Atkins said this was the first song he learned as a kid. The meaning and spirit of the beautiful lyrics suggest that the song should be played slowly with tenderness and care. This is definitely old-school country/folk at its finest.
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DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER/INTERMEDIATE
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“You are the music while the music lasts.” ― T. S. Eliot
“The average person goes to his grave with his music still in him.” ― Oliver Wendell Holmes
Warm greetings to our new friends from far-away places like Iceland and Tasmania!
(We’re still waiting to hear from North Korea, though . . .)
