I've got to say. You've done an excellent job so far!
Welcome to the last lesson in this 3-lesson Fingerpicking Tricks Mini-Lesson Series.
I believe in saving the best for last, so I can't wait for us to get started.
In this lesson, you learn to play a beginner-friendly piece in the solo fingerpicking style on the ukulele.
Solo fingerpicking (often referred to as chord melody) is a style of fingerpicking that allows you to strum and fingerpick the melody of a song that is normally sung. This style of playing the ukulele has been made famous by Jake Shimabukuro, James Hill, and more.
This means you don't have to be a good singer to play and enjoy your favorite songs on the ukulele.
In this lesson:
The style of solo fingerpicking combines strumming and fingerpicking on the ukulele.
Watch the following video from the Fingerpicking Tricks online video lesson course where I explain solo fingerpicking:
In solo fingerpicking, the melody from a song that is normally sung is taken and harmonized with chords. In this way, you can play a "solo version" of a song that is normally sung without singing by fingerpicking and strumming the song.
For this style, it's essential to harmonize the melody of the song with chords to get a rich, full sound. Often times the melody of a song is played on the bottom A-string or top g-string with those notes being harmonized with lower notes in the chord that fall on the E-string and C-string.
The idea is to make the notes in the melody of the song to be the highest notes that ring out in the chords you play. This allows the melody to really stand out above the lower harmonizing notes. This is easier shown in an example than described in words.
Continue reading to jump into learning a song in the style of solo fingerpicking.
You learn to play the solo fingerpicking piece Blue Bells Of Scotland. First, listen to how this piece sounds in the following video:
In the next video, I show you how to play this song.
Blue Bells Of Scotland is a famous Scottish folk song that is normally sung. The melody is simple enough to be harmonized with chords and played in the style of solo fingerpicking on the ukulele.
First, make sure you have the ukulele tab for this song out in front of you.
Download the sheet music and ukulele tab for Blue Bells Of Scotland.
This song is slightly more difficult than the previous songs you've learned. Don't worry if it takes you longer to get the hang of this song.
Also, keep in mind that this song appears towards the end of the full Fingerpicking Tricks online video lesson course.
However, there are some tips that makes this song easier to approach.
Take a look at the sheet music and tab for Blue Bells Of Scotland. There are a few things worth noting:
Notice the squiggly arrows next to certain chords in the ukulele tab. Up arrows indicate to strum down across the notes in the chord. Down arrows indicate to strum up across the notes in the chord.
For the down strums, I like using the flesh-side of the thumb, and for the up strums, I like to use the flesh-side of the index finger.
The direction in which you strum across the notes in a chord is determined by where the highest note in the chord is located–that is to say: the melody note. When the melody note is positioned on the bottom A-string, you strum down as to allow the melody note ring out as the last note strummed in the chord, so as to provide emphasis on the melody note. Likewise, when the melody note is positioned on the top g-string, you strum up to allow the melody note ring out as the last note strummed in the chord.
Whenever notes are "stacked up" on top of each other in the music staff or ukulele tab, this creates a chord. Sometimes the melody of the song falls on the E-string, which means if you wish to harmonize with a lower note you can only do so with the C-string. This creates a two-note chord, as seen in measure 3 of Blue Bells Of Scotland.
As the music indicates, strum down across these two-note chords. Be careful so you don’t accidentally strum the bottom A-string or top g-string.
As you can see, the chords of this song are written above the music staff for reference purposes. These chords are written above to indicate the chords that the melody of the song harmonizes with. Just because a chord is written above the music does not necessarily mean you play that chord's "normal" chord shape or position.
For example, on the third beat of the first measure, there is an F chord. You might think you can just play a regular F chord, however, as indicated in the ukulele tab, the F chord position, while similar to a “normal” F chord, includes your ring finger pressing on the 2nd fret of the bottom A-string. Your ring finger is positioned in this way on the 2nd fret of the bottom A-string (on a B note) for the chord because the melody note–a B note–falls on this F chord.
As a side note: If you wanted to be technical, in the example in the previous paragraph, you’re technically playing an Fadd#4 chord on the third beat of the first measure, but the melody line in the fourth beat of the measure resolves down to an A note, which makes the chord a regular F chord.
If that last bit doesn't make sense to you, don't sweat it! This is additional detail for those that might want it.
In looking at the music, you notice there is a start repeat sign at the beginning of the first measure and an end repeat sign at the end of the fourth measure. This indicates you should repeat this section once.
Blue Bells Of Scotland is played like so:
You did it!
I threw a lot at you in this lesson. Remember, practicing just 15 minutes per day helps you see the most progress.
If you find yourself still working on Lesson 1 or Lesson 2, don't worry. Continue to work on those before diving too deep into this lesson. It's not uncommon to need to revisit previous lessons and brush up on your skills.
For this lesson, practice the following:
Even though this concludes the 3-lesson Fingerpicking Tricks Mini-Lesson Series, your lessons don't have to stop here.
Later this week, I will show you how you can continue learning fingerpicking on the ukulele in multiple styles. Look out for an email from me later this week.
Until then, keep up the great practice!
How's this lesson going for you? Post your comment or question below.