Today, you learn to play your first song on the ukulele.
Are you ready?
I think you are!
You’ve put forth an excellent effort into learning to play the ukulele so far.
In this two-video lesson:
- Discover the steps to learning a new song
- Review the strumming pattern you learned in a previous lesson
- Learn how to play “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” with ease
First, take a listen to Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and hear how it sounds.
Next, grab the sheet music and ukulele chords for this song.
Download the sheet music and chord chart for Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. [PDF]
Even though this is a simple song, learning this song helps you master three essential basics to playing ukulele:
- Changing between chords smoothly
- Strumming with consistent, even timing
- Singing and playing at the same time
These are challenges every ukulele player faces and this song helps you to overcome these challenges easier.
Remember one of the biggest mistakes you can make as a new ukulele player is to rush the process. Take your time and have fun!
Okay, now it’s your turn to learn how to play Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star!
Sidenote: In the video above, I give you an alternative way to strum down across the strings. Some prefer to strum down across the strings with the index finger and some prefer the middle or ring fingers.
To make learning this song easier, I recommend breaking it up into three steps:
- Learn the Chords. The first step to learning a song is to look over the chord chart or arrangement of the song and practice the chords in the song. Review the chords used to play this song in the previous lesson here.
- Learn the Rhythm. The second step to learning a song is learning the strumming pattern used to play the song. Practice the strumming pattern till you can play it without a thought!
- Play Through the Song Without Singing. The third step is to play through the song’s chord progression without singing. Ensure you can change between chords smoothly.
Once you’ve done these three steps, you’re ready to start humming or singing out the melody of the song.
If you find your strumming and chords fall apart once you start singing, then, that is an indicator to hold off on singing and continue to practice the strumming and chords.
Right now, you’re in the process of building muscle memory. Eventually, with enough practice, your fingers will know exactly where to go for each chord without thinking about it!
Great job!
Note: The videos for this free lesson were selected from the Strum Your First Four Songs course in the Club Ukulele online video lesson membership. I’m giving you these premium videos for no cost because I want you to see how you can make music on the ukulele. To get the full step-by-step, easy-to-follow course and over a dozen other courses for beginner to intermediate ukulele players, join Club Ukulele today.