Jingle Bells on ukulele for beginners

A quick little tutorial of how to play jingle bells on the ukulele. This is a beginner course. Have fun!

If you're feeling saucy, instead of a G, play a G7. It sounds more ukulele-ish. Okay, ready go!

The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on the Open Fire)

A tough song to play, the Christmas Song has a jazzy feel to it. Listening to it isn't all that difficult, but it's definitely an "intermediate" song to learn. I heard the Mindy Gledhill version of this song the other day and decided that that was the version I would learn. If you're unfamiliar with that version, look it up. Or look here:





Here is a very quick tutorial of my take on this song. It is not 100% spot on, but it will get you far enough that few people will try to beat you with paper and bows if you play it.

Of course, if you run the risk of posting anything on Youtube or the internet in general, be prepared for people who think less of your abilities.

Hope this is helpful.

Ukulele tutorial: In the Jungle (the lion sleeps tonight)

Here is a very quick tutorial using the chords we know: C, F and G. There are other "a wee-ma ways" to play it, but this is a good starting point.

Keep practicing!

Learn to play you are my sunshine

A fun song to learn for a beginner: You are my sunshine.

I use the following chords: C, F and G. Other respective combinations include, but are not limited to:

G, C and D

E, A and B

A, D and E

D, G and A

I've been focusing on playing major chords. With this song, and many others, you can replace the last chord in the sequence with a major 7th. So for example, in the video I focus on playing C, F and G. You can replace the G with a G7. It sounds a little closer to the mark.

Okay, that's all.

Never getting back together

This is a great song to practice on the ukulele. You get to practice strumming, chucking, picking and just changing chords. I've put together a little video to help you out.

Again, the chords are C, G, D and Em7. Go for it!

12 Bar Blues on the ukulele

In case you're wondering, I'm not the only person who provides a tutorial on the 12 bar blues. I hope my tutorial is clear enough to keep you from running away.

The video will help you count out this progression, but let me just write it out real quick.

What's a bar? A bar is a measurement in a song. I think most "popular" songs have a four count, but occasionally you'll find a song with a three count. Three counts are most commonly recognized in a waltz. There are other counts, but you're not going to see those in any music I'm going to teach.

We are focusing on a four count bar, and of course, the "12 bar blues" is going to be 12 counts of four. Make sense so far?

To start the practice, focus only on downstrokes, and count it out. "1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4 . . ."

Using the chords C, F and G, the progression goes:

C: 4 bars

F: 2 bars

C: 2 bars

G: 1 bar

F: 1 bar

C: 2 bars

repeat.

You can do this progression with these other major chords (respective to C, F and G):

E, A and B

G, C and D

A, D and E

D, G and A

The benefit of playing the songs with different chords is how high or low your voice can go.

A few examples of songs with this progression:

Can't Buy Me Love
Hound Dog
Great Balls of Fire

There's more examples, so let me leave it up to you to tell me what they are.

Chord Learnin'

It is important at some point that we learn all the major chords, whether you are planning on using them or not. Spoiler alert, you will use all of them all the time. Get over it.

Tutorial number 1: learn D and E. the funny thing is, these chords are identical, just on a different fret. Cool.

Tutorial number 2: Learn A and B. Guess what, these chords are also identical, only less obvious for the casual observer.

So what else truly needs to be said after such great knowledge has been dropped? Nothing. Watch these videos, practice, and remember me when you sign your record deal.

Practicing Chord Changes

A challenge we all face when learning an instrument is making it sound good when we change chords. Personally, I enjoy songs that have one or two chords in them, and you don't have to change very often at all (reference a Johnny Cash song).

Here's the bad news, even the most popular songs (often the easiest songs to play) have more than one chord in them, so you need to practice chord changes. So here is an exercise you can work on with the four chords we all know by now: C, G, A minor and F.

Start with C and strum, then change to G. Then go back to C. Then to G. Back and forth, forth and back.

Next go from G to F and back again. Back and forth, back and forth.

As you do this, your fingers are going to start remembering what the chord feels like, and you won't have to think about it nearly as often.

Personally, my goal when changing chords, is to change my finger positions between strums. In other words, the strings from my playing a C will still be ringing as I change to the G. The transition sounds much smoother that way.

Remember, start slow, practice lots, and soon you'll forget how hard you worked when you're rocking the uke in front of billions of adoring fans, or whoever your intended audience is.

Singing in the shower

I posted a video of a song I wrote and my grandma of all people suggested that it would be better if I had been fully clothed in the shower while I sang it. Odd, but the more I thought of it, the more it made sense. I mean, I did write it in the shower, and the acoustics are better in there...

Here is my "Ukulele Song". It encompasses the formula for the greatest song ever written. It's simple, really. The sad news is that I may not have the ability to write hit song lyrics...

First, to appeal to the masses, the music has to be simple, not complex. This may be a difficult concept to grasp, but go ahead and listen to a "popular" music channel on the radio, and you'll find 4 out of five songs repeat the same thing over and over and over and over again, usually about the same thing everyone sings about. 

Second, you need a chorus that people can sing along to. The lyrics in the verse rarely matter, simply because when someone requests a song, they say "play the 'chorus' song." Ever heard that? How about "Play that song that goes "hey-yay, hey yay yay yay . . ."". That's Train's "Hey soul sister."

Third, and relevant to the second point, use as few words as possible in your chorus. The more "hey's", "yay's", "ho's" and "yo's" you use makes people more willing to sing along. Think about it.

Fourth, transitions are key. You can't simply play the same progression over and over. You have to add some kind of transition in your song. Bridge before the chorus is a good example of this.

Have two verses, and then in place of a third verse, either add a solo, or if you can't solo, like me, just add a different format to the third verse. Wrap up the song with a few passes of the chorus, and end it however you like. Not too long, but enough to give them what they needed.

The formula for the hit song goes: Intro, verse, bridge, chorus, verse, bridge, chorus, interlude, chorus, chorus.

Song writers, you may not agree with this, but if you happen to want to write a popular song, which should not be confused with a good song, use this formula.

Here is my own "Ukulele Song," which will be a HUGE hit, as it demonstrates the hit song formula.