It’s true that with just a few chords and a simple strumming pattern you can play hundreds of songs on ukulele.

But maybe you’ve noticed it’s one thing to strum the chords and another thing to sound musical.

This idea of musicality is really interesting to me because what I often find it’s the small, subtle things you add to your playing that make the biggest impact!

In this new video, I take the chorus of Tom Petty’s famous rock song I Won’t Back Down and apply THREE strumming tricks to a beginner chord progression and strumming pattern to instantly add energy to the song.

Chord melody is a style of ukulele playing where you strum the chords and fingerpick the melody at the same time.

Often chord melody arrangements feature modern pop songs you would normally sing but instead play solo on ukulele.

However, you can also play what I like to called chord melody vamps, where you take a repeating chord progression and improvise a melody with those chords to create a beautiful-sounding solo piece played on your ukulele.

In this video, discover a fun and easy way to play your own improvised chord melody vamps on ukulele.

I show you how to play a few chords with a mellow-sounding strumming and picking technique, while adding in improvised melodies.

By the end, you’ll be playing your ukulele in a creative, beautiful-sounding way!

Today, let’s jam out and strum this beginner-friendly ukulele chord progression.

Playing with others is one of the best ways to learn how to keep a steady strumming rhythm and stay on track with your chord changes.

In this video, I give you three beginner ukulele chords and a familiar beginner-friendly strumming pattern that we’ll use to jam out and play along together.

Grab your ukulele, tune it up, and let’s begin!

Today I challenge you to a 3-level metronome exercise to assess and improve your internal sense of rhythm on ukulele.

If you’re able to complete all three levels of this exercise, then, it’s safe to say you have a strong internal sense of time!

But even if you can’t, you can take this exercise and begin to improve your internal tempo clock. By practicing this exercise, you become better at strumming your ukulele with steadiness and feel.

Let’s take a look!

If you just started playing ukulele, then you need to know these beginner ukulele chords.

It’s just a matter of time before you’re learning a song with these chords.

Believe it or not, in the free 14-video lesson course Learn to Play Ukulele Today, I teach you how to play four distinct songs using just four of these essential ukulele chords.

In this lesson, learn the ten most important ukulele chords every complete beginner needs to know on ukulele. It’s not an exaggeration to say these chords are used to play hundreds of songs, so if you know these, you’re well on your way to making music! Watch the video to get tips and tricks on how to play these chords.

One of the great pleasures of teaching ukulele the last decade has been seeing students successfully learn to play ukulele in their 70s, 80s, or even 90s.

Because ukulele is an instrument for everyone, many of these students see success through their determination, but I’ve learned there are unique challenges at this age.

Namely, stiff or uncooperative fingers.

If you find yourself with stiff fingers, then one of the best things you can do is take a brief five minutes as you pick up your ukulele to warm up the fretting hand, strumming hand, and the mind.

By doing so, most importantly, you get yourself into a relaxed state. Sometimes we unintentionally bring the stress of the day into our practice. By warming up, we take an intentional moment to focus on the feeling of playing relaxed. And when you’re relaxed, you make the most out of your practice and set yourself up for the best likelihood of success.

In this video lesson, I teach you five simple exercises you can use before you play ukulele to get the hands, fingers, and mind ready to play.