Gamify your music-making with my free Ukulele Bingo Cards! Use the pre-filled page to inspire your ukulele practice, or use the blank sheet to create your own.
Read MoreDesign Your Music-Making This Summer with This Happy and Free Digital Download
Summer is quickly approaching, bringing a lot of wonderful opportunities to play our ukuleles. Today I’m sharing a very happy (and free) digital download to help you make the most of your music-making this summer, and there are a couple different ways you can use it.
Read More"This Train is Bound for Glory," a Video Tutorial with Free Download for Beginning Ukulele
There is a grand tradition of folk singers and musicians repurposing a melody to create a new song, and This Train is Bound for Glory is just one example. This Train shares a melody with The Crawdad Song, though the songs feel very different. The Crawdad Song has an easy-breezy quality to it, but This Train has much more of a raucous, rock-and-roll energy. Even though we’re using the same combination of chords and the same melody, we have two very different songs!
Read More"Come All Ye Fair and Tender Ladies," a Beautiful Three-Chord Song for the Ukulele
"Come All Ye Fair and Tender Ladies" is a beautiful ballad that's great for helping us build up our strumming endurance. For this tutorial, I share six of my favorite verses and a strum that pairs very nicely with ballads like this one. If the key of G isn’t a great fit for your vocal range, use my chord chart to easily change the key to one that is. And just for fun, here's a bonus verse that I will often sing in place of verses four and five.
Bonus Verse
I wish I (G) was on some tall mountain
Where the ivy rocks are black as (D) ink
I'd write a (Am) letter to my lost true (G) lover
Whose cheeks are (Am) like the morning (D) pink
DOWNLOAD THE PDF FOR FREE WHEN YOU SIGN-UP FOR MY NEWSLETTER!
Want to hear what the more Irish version sounds like? Check out this beautiful rendition by Lumiere.
One more thing: folk songs are not precious or sacred. If there’s something you don’t like about this song (or any other folk song), change it! To modify and re-mix elements of folk songs is to participate in a grand tradition of music-makers that dates back centuries. Listen to different artists singing this song and see if there are any other verses you'd like to include! Or, of course, you could contribute your own verses or use this song as inspiration for your own melody. Dolly Parton’s “Little Sparrow” is a great example of how to use a traditional folk song to create something new.
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Sing and Strum "Joy to the World" in Two Different Keys, A Christmas Ukulele Tutorial
One of the things that appeals to me about Christmas music is that it is, essentially, a type of folk music. Each year we hear many of the same songs, and we often have our own favorite versions of those songs. And of course, new versions of those classic carols and pop songs get recorded every year. Today I'm sharing a song that was written three hundred years ago—it’s sung by artists and choirs around the world, and it’s one you may already know by heart.
Read More"Don't This Road Look Rough and Rocky," An Easy Three-Chord Ballad for Beginning Ukulele
What is it about sad songs that make them so fun to sing? “Don’t This Road Look Rough and Rocky” is a three-chord ballad that packs a lot of melodrama and melancholy into its chorus and three verses, and it was one of the very first songs I memorized the chords and lyrics to.
Read MoreI'll Fly Away — An Ukulele Play-Along Video for Beginners
During overwhelming times such as these, we can take comfort in strumming songs that have been played by generations of humans who have survived their own hardships. Spirituals in particular tend to help us cope with life when it feels like the sky is falling, and I'll Fly Away is an easy three-chord folk song that sparks my hope for the future.
Read MoreAn Easy Three-Chord Song That's Perfect for Summer Ukulele Strumming
Summer is the perfect time to take our ukuleles outdoors and find a place to strum in the sun. My latest play-along song is a fun one to play indoors or out, and it gives us a lot of flexibility in terms of choosing our tempo. I normally like to play it pretty fast, but for this video I chose to play it at a more relaxed speed.
Read MoreThe Marching Song of the First Arkansas Colored Regiment — A Song for Juneteenth 2020
The song I’m sharing in honor of Juneteenth is an update to Julia Ward Howe’s Battle Hymn of the Republic. The Marching Song of the First Arkansas Colored Regiment was written by Lindley Miller, the captain of the regiment, in 1864. The song uses the same melody as Battle Hymn but comes from the perspective of the soldiers. And my goodness, it is powerful! As David Walls succinctly put it, “All in all, this song is one of the best outlines we have concerning the hopes and expectations of the black soldiers of that era.”
Read MoreBattle Hymn of the Republic — Ukulele Tutorial for Beginners
Singing The Battle Hymn of the Republic reminds me that there have always been people willing to sacrifice for what is right.
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50+ Ways to Entertain Your Kids During the Coronavirus Pandemic
Please excuse this break from my usual ukulele-related content to address what’s become an immediate pressing issue for my community…
Yesterday I learned that my kids’ school is closing and, starting on Monday, we’ll be doing remote learning with the kids at home. My peers and I are trying to figure out what this means on a practical level. How will we manage our own work, assist our children with their school work, endure prolonged social distancing, and maintain our sanity, all at the same time? It’s a tall order, isn’t it? I cope better when I feel prepared, and planning for how I will manage the kids and our schedule helps me feel composed in this very unpredictable reality. You’ll find that many items on this list of ways to keep your kids entertained as we live through the Coronavirus pandemic are geared for elementary-aged kids (my kids are 9 and 7 years old) but many of them can be adjusted depending on the developmental stage of your kids. Here we go…
Read MoreEasy Ukulele Play-Along Video Tutorial for "When the Saints Go Marching In"
I love songs that are well-known and easy to learn, and “When the Saints Go Marching In” is both. I’ve set the song in the key of C using the C, F, and G7 chords—the first three chords most beginners start out with—which makes it incredibly approachable for new players. The video is accompanied by chord diagrams and lyrics, and after the play-along section I provide some history on the song, discuss why it’s such a great option for players of all skill levels, and offer up a few different challenges for more seasoned players. Play along with me, won’t you?
Read MoreHow to Achieve Your Ukulele Goals in 2020
Have you set any ukulele-related resolutions this year? January’s coming to an end, but there’s plenty of time for making music. Read on for my tips to help you achieve your uke goals this year. Ready? Let’s dig in!
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Another Free Printable: Blank Ukulele Tablature Sheets
Today I’m sharing a PDF file of blank ukulele tablature pages for ukulele. I was inspired to create this post when I was watching a YouTube tutorial that featured an intricate fingerpicking pattern.
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Why do I look so proud? 🤷🏻♀️
Your Action Plan for Learning Any New Song (with a Free Download)
Have you ever tried to play along to a ukulele tutorial on YouTube and become overwhelmed? Then this post is for you! I’ve created a printable to help you formulate a plan of action for any new song you’re trying to learn. Most songs can be tackled by going through the same five steps. Let’s walk through each one:
Read MoreA Song to Commemorate Juneteenth - Free PDF Download with Ukulele Chord Chart and Lyrics
Update 6/15/20 to add a little historical conte†: After the Civil War, many African-Americans were imprisoned and forced to work building railroads or in mines. Take This Hammer is a prison work song men would sing as they worked on the railroad line. This song has common chord progressions and very simple lyrics but don't let that fool you— it’s a powerful song that feels incredibly relevant for our time. Strumming and singing Take This Hammer is a dynamic way to connect to the past while we go marching on, and I hope you find a little time to make music this week. Let's play in honor of all who have marched toward freedom's light.
In honor of Juneteenth (June 19th, a day that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States), I thought I’d share one of my very favorite American folk songs. Take This Hammer is a song to sing when you’re feeling fed up, down and out, or ready to break free from something that’s weighing you down. Lead Belly’s recording is probably the version that’s imitated the most but, like many folk songs, Take This Hammer has been covered by hundreds of artists, so it’s always interesting to listen to multiple versions and hear how differently artists can interpret a song.
In the audio clip above, I’m playing Take This Hammer on a tenor ukulele with a low-G string in the key of A with A, A7, D, and E7 chords, paired with a strum you can learn from a YouTube video by TenThumbs Productions. How will you play it?
Track Your Progress with My Weekly Play Log (Free PDF Download!)
Even when I’m having a good run of playing my ukulele daily, I can feel a little disorganized. I was pondering this last night, then realized I would feel so much better if I was simply tracking my playing and making notes of what I was working on. It sounds incredibly obvious to me now, but it was a big a-ha moment at the time!
I used to maintain practice logs when I took piano lessons as a kid, but haven’t used one since. And since so many uke players are learning how to play on their own, I thought creating a weekly play log might be a helpful tool for me to share here on the blog. So here it is!
I hope this Weekly Play Log helps you:
Read MoreMy Favorite One-Chord Song for the Ukulele
In this video, I share one of my very favorite folk songs, Li’l Liza Jane. It can be played as a one-chord song, and its beautiful melody and playful lyrics make it a really fun one to play and sing. One-chord songs are great for beginning ukulele players who are still getting comfortable making chord shapes, strumming, and singing at the same time, but they're also great if you're working on a new skill such as a more complex strumming pattern, fingerpicking pattern, or riff.
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Free Printable: Ukulele Binder Cover Pages
Yesterday I suggested you put all of your song printouts and handouts into sheet protectors and stick them in a three-ring binder. Today I’m offering four free printables to help you keep your music organized and looking pretty. There’s a beach scene (for your island music), a geometric option (for your modern tastes) , a watercolor floral design (for pop music), and a beautiful meadow (for your folk tunes).
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How to Organize Your Chord Sheets and Songbooks
Close friends and family members know that I love to tidy. I read organizing books for fun, I enjoy cleaning out closets, and I get energized by finding new homes for the things my family no longer needs or uses. An organized life makes for an easier life, and an organized music system makes for easier playing. There’s nothing more annoying that trying to find a lost song sheet or not being able to find your beginner’s handbook!
Make playing your ukulele easier by taking a little time to organize your materials with these tips for organizing your printed chord sheets, songbooks, and digital files…
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