One of the most loved ways of playing ukulele is in the style of chord melody sometimes referred to as solo fingerpicking.
In this advanced style, you strum and pick the rhythm and melody of the song at the same time.
Today I give to you a free arrangement of O Shenandoah one of five chord melody arrangements I teach in the new 5 Chord Melody Songs course in Club Ukulele.
Watch the video and take a listen now.
[Continue Reading...]You have a ukulele!
That feeling of learning an instrument for the first time is pure excitement. There’s nothing quite like it. However, that excitement can also be met with the feeling of overwhelm and a big fat question:
Where do I even begin?
With your ukulele in hand, what do you do now? How do you take this strange alien object called the ukulele and turn the sound it makes into beautiful, inspiring music?
If you’re a beginner and don’t know where to start, here are the four options you have before you to learn how to play ukulele.
[Continue Reading...]One of the most popular ways of playing ukulele is in the style of chord melody – sometimes referred to as solo fingerpicking.
Chord melody is a style of playing ukulele where you strum the chords and pick the melody at the same time.
Both Jake Shimabukuro and James Hill come to mind as masters who have brought so much attention to this way of playing ukulele with chord melody songs like Hallelujah and Billie Jean.
A lot of my students will ask:
“How do I arrange a chord melody song for ukulele?”
You too might have a desire to play in this style. Perhaps singing and strumming isn’t your thing but picking the melody is. If that is you, then, here’s what you eventually need to know to arrange and come up with your own chord melody songs.
[Continue Reading...]Sometimes in life it might feel like your dog is your only friend.
That’s what this song is about!
With the sheet music and ukulele tab, try your hand at picking the chords for Little Old Log Cabin In The Lane played in the country and bluegrass style.
Listen to a performance of Little Old Log Cabin In The Lane fingerpicked on the ukulele. Instead of strumming the chords of the song, pick an uptempo syncopated country and bluegrass picking rhythm. I teach you how to play this song in Lesson 4 from the advanced-level Country & Bluegrass Pickin’ course in Club Ukulele.
[Continue Reading...]Performing ukulele as a soloist is a great feeling.
One way to be a solo ukulele player is by fingerpicking the ukulele. There are many ways to fingerpick the ukulele. One beautiful way is to fingerpick arpeggio-based pieces.
Arpeggio pieces can be original compositions, like the one you learn in this lesson, or they can be based on Spanish and classical guitar pieces that have been arranged for ukulele. Arpeggio pieces feature a rhythmic and melodic intricate sound.
Take a listen to a performance of Arpeggio Study In A Minor – a piece based entirely around a repeating arpeggio picking pattern.
[Continue Reading...]One of my musical mentors Danny used to practice drums early in his career every day for eight hours… or until his fingers were bleeding.
“You’re kidding me,” I laughed the first time he told me this.
He wasn’t kidding.
Yikes!
I’ve learned a lot from Danny and his work ethic. For him, he wanted to be a career musician and his discipline allowed him to do just that.
But, if you’re anything like me, chances are you don’t have eight hours a day to practice or the desire to play until your fingers are bleeding!
Fortunately, there’s an easier way.
Playing ukulele is about experiencing the joy of making music.
If playing ukulele is about experiencing joy, then, why does practice sometimes feel so overwhelming?
Here are the most common reasons I know from my own experience and from talking with you.
See if you relate:
Let’s get beyond these frustrations and find a better, simpler way to practice.
[Continue Reading...]Practice can get a bad rap.
For me, it’s conjures up scary images from university of slaving away in a dark, sound-isolated practice booth that smelled like leftover body odor from the last person who was in there sweating it out.
A standard music practice room – what I like to call the “stink box”
Practice actually stunk!
However, I’ve discovered it doesn’t have to be this way. Practice can be fun, while also being intentional and focused, allowing you to achieve your goals of making the music you want to make on the ukulele.
However, most of us don’t know how to practice.
Effective practice that helps you improve starts with:
Let’s look at how to discover these and come up with a rock-solid method for practicing the ukulele.
[Continue Reading...]Have you ever wondered how to make any chord across the ukulele fretboard?
All it takes is some simple ukulele chord theory.
A lot of ukulele players don’t realize there isn’t just one way to play a single chord on the ukulele. You can play chords in multiple positions and places on the fretboard.
Sometimes when playing the ukulele you want to find a way to add variety to the sound. Playing chords in different positions is a great way to do this.
In today’s intermediate-level lesson, you take the first step to being able to play any major, minor and diminished chord across the ukulele fretboard by tapping into the power of a three-note chord called the triad.
You start off today by learning the G major triad in three positions: root position, first inversion, and second inversion.
[Continue Reading...]Become a ukulele soloist this Christmas and learn a beautiful, intricate-sounding Christmas song played in the style of solo fingerpicking.
In this lesson, you learn a chord melody or solo fingerstyle rendition of Away In a Manger.
To play this song, you combine the chords and melody at the same time.
There’s so much to learn!
In the following video, take a listen to Away In a Manger now.
[Continue Reading...]There are those songs that just have a way of getting you in the Christmas spirit.
We Wish You a Merry Christmas is one of those songs for me.
In this lesson, you learn to strum the chords and sing We Wish You a Merry Christmas.
This song has a fun rhythm and challenging chord changes (in a good way) to help improve your skills and get you in that holiday spirit!
Let’s begin!
[Continue Reading...]