With Saint Patrick’s Day right around the corner, there’s no better time to learn to pick the chords of the famous Irish ballad Danny Boy.

You use a delicate pinch picking pattern to express this song. The pinch pattern creates a rich sound with harmony to provide underlying support for the singing.

Get the ukulele chords, fingerpicking pattern and ukulele tab for this intermediate-level song in the sheet music below.

Click here to download the sheet music and ukulele tab for Danny Boy.

Take time to learn the chords used to play this song.

In this arrangement of Danny Boy, use a pinch picking pattern played to a count of four. A pinch happens when you simultaneously pluck two strings at the same time–in this case, the top and bottom strings on the first and third beats of the measure.

After practicing the chords and picking pattern, practice picking through the song’s chord progression without singing to ensure you can switch between chords and maintain the picking without stopping.

Once you can do that, begin to hum and sing out the melody of this beautiful and lovely song!

Learn to Fingerpick with Fingerpicking Tricks

If this pattern is too difficult for you to play, or if you’re new to fingerpicking, then, I’m here to help.

In the Fingerpicking Tricks online video lesson course I teach you pattern-based fingerpicking on the ukulele which allows you to pick complex pinch picking patterns like this one.

With small, easy steps you have what you need to learn how to fingerpick the ukulele in multiple styles including pattern-based picking, arpeggio-based picking, melodic-based picking, and chord melody.

Why don’t you join me?

Learn to fingerpick. Take your fingerpicking skills to the next level on the ukulele, learning fingerpicking pieces in four distinct styles.

Learn More

Yes, ukulele is for everyone!

No matter how old or young you are, and even if you’ve never played music before in your life, you can learn how to play ukulele… today!

I’m about to show you how easy it is to play your first song on ukulele with step-by-step, easy-to-follow online ukulele lessons.

For some of you, this will be the first time you make music in your entire life.

Learning to play ukulele starts with the right foundation which is exactly what you do starting in this lesson right now.

In this lesson, learn how to play ukulele with 8 easy steps:

1. Buy a Ukulele Right For You
2. Get in the Right Mindset to Play
3. Tune Your Ukulele
4. Hold Your Ukulele
5. Play Your First Ukulele Chord
6. Strum Your Ukulele With This Important Strumming Pattern
7. Play Your First Easy One-Chord Song On Ukulele
8. Take Your Skills and Learn Three More Easy Ukulele Songs

Note: Click any of the links above to skip to that section. For example, if you already know how to tune your ukulele you might skip to “How to play your first ukulele chord with ease”.

With seven bite-sized video lessons, you have everything you need to learn how to play ukulele right now. And at the end of the lesson, I’ll show you how you can continue and learn three more songs on ukulele with me.

Let’s begin!

1. Buy a Ukulele Right For You

The first and most important step to playing ukulele is to get a ukulele.

It doesn’t matter if you borrow a friends, go to the music store, or buy a ukulele online. Don’t overthink it. Just get a ukulele!

If you’re not sure what ukulele to buy, feel free to reference my handy ukulele buying guide where I provide tips and insight into the best ukuleles for beginners and how to choose a ukulele that is right for you.

2. Get in the Right Mindset to Play

If you’ve never made music before, put aside your fears and doubts about playing.

You can do this!

Watch the video where I introduce myself and offer specific encouragement to new ukulele players.

My name is Brett McQueen and I’m a lifelong ukulele player and author of Ukulele Exercises For Dummies and the founder of this website and I’m excited to teach you to play ukulele.

Why You Can Learn to Play Ukulele Today Even If You Have No “Natural” Musical Talent

A lot of beginner ukulele players fail before they even pick up the instrument.

You say to yourself:

“I wasn’t born with natural musical talent.”

Or,

“I’ve failed at playing an instrument before and I’m probably going to fail again.”

Whenever you tackle a new challenge like learning ukulele, it’s a big deal! It’s normal to face your own self doubt or fear. Don’t be hard on yourself and go into it with an open mind.

Remember playing ukulele is about having fun!

At first, the ukulele might feel like a holding a foreign alien object. How is this little instrument capable of making such a beautiful sound? In fact, a beautiful sound you create!

Take a quick minute to familiarize yourself with your new instrument by reading about the parts of the ukulele and the different ukulele sizes.

For what it’s worth, I’ve taught students in my online courses who are over the age of 90. If they can do it, you can do it too.

Now that we’ve gotten introductions out of the way let’s get your ukulele tuned and ready to play.

3. Tune Your Ukulele

Tune your ukulele to standard reentrant tuning where the strings are tuned to g-C-E-A from top to bottom.

In this video, discover how to tune your ukulele quickly and easily.

This tuning method works for almost any ukulele including soprano, concert and tenor ukuleles.

One of the most underestimated secrets to making your ukulele sound amazing is to tune it!

You don’t want to skip this step.

When it comes to stringed instruments like the ukulele, it’s important to check the tuning every 10 to 15 minutes of playing. Small errors in tuning can create quite a dreadful sound for you and your listeners. You always set yourself up for success with an in-tune ukulele.

Fortunately, it’s easy to keep the ukulele in tune. For the fastest tuning, I always recommend using a chromatic tuner like the Snark SN-6 ukulele tuner I use in the video.

If you have a baritone ukulele or have more questions about the notes you tune to or about alternate tunings, get the full ukulele tuning guide here.

4. Hold Your Ukulele

To hold the ukulele, cradle the body of the ukulele in your right arm, while the part of your forearm, closest to the elbow, applies a little pressure to the top of the ukulele, so it is held snug against your body. Then, support the neck of the ukulele in the crevice of your left hand where your thumb meets your index finger.

Watch this video to learn how to hold the ukulele in the most comfortable playing position.

You’ll soon see how holding the ukulele in a comfortable position allows you to change chords smoothly and to keep the strumming going steadily.

5. Play Your First Ukulele Chord

Learn to play a C chord where you place the ring finger of your fretting hand on the 3rd fret of the bottom A-string and let the top three strings ring open.

In this video, I show you how to play the C chord cleanly and clearly without buzzing.

The first most important chord you must know on the ukulele is the C chord.

This is where it all begins!

To play a C chord, place the ring finger of your fretting hand on the 3rd fret of the bottom A-string. Let the top three strings ring open.

Once your fingers are in position, go ahead and strum down across the strings. Don’t worry about the exact strumming technique for now. We look at that together in the next step. At this point, make sure every string rings out nice and clear.

Keep in mind you might experience some soreness of the fingertips in the first weeks of playing ukulele. To remedy this, give yourself adequate breaks for your fingers to heal up between practice sessions. Eventually the tips of your fingers will build calluses making chords easier to fret.

6. Strum Your Ukulele With This Important Strumming Pattern

To play this essential and important strumming pattern, strum down strums while counting out loud to a count of four.

If there is one strumming pattern to rule them all, it’s this one.

Although simple, it’s a very effective pattern, especially whenever you’re learning a new song for the first time. In fact, this is a simple pattern I use to express and perform Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah on ukulele.

Watch the video and strum the C chord to a count of four with all down strums.

Note: The above notation indicates to strum down to a count of four. The numbers “4/4” at the very left of the music staff indicate the pattern is played to a count of four. The letter “d” below the notation indicates to strum down. The letter “C” above the first beat indicates to strum a C chord.

Repeat this strumming pattern as you count out loud. Keep the strumming and counting as consistent and even as possible.

Give that some practice.

Believe it or not, you’re ready to play your first song on ukulele!

7. Play Your First Easy One-Chord Song on Ukulele

Take the C chord and the simple down strumming pattern rhythm to play this simple, familiar song on the ukulele.

Watch the video and take a listen to Are You Sleeping now.

When it comes to learning a new song on the ukulele, I like to break things into small easy steps. Watch the following video to learn how to play this song.

Click here to download the sheet music for Are You Sleeping.

The first step to learn this song is to review the chords in the song. For this song, a quick glance at the sheet music and ukulele tab shows there is a C chord.

Make sure you’ve practiced the C chord.

The second step is to review the strumming pattern in the song.

Again, make sure you’ve practiced this strumming pattern.

The third and final step to learning a new song is to play through the song’s chord progression without singing. This means you follow along in the music for Are You Sleeping and play and count out loud as I show in the video.

Once you can do this, then, it’s just a matter of humming or singing out the melody to this song!

You’re Building a Solid Foundation

Now you might not win a Grammy with your performance of Are You Sleeping just yet but that’s okay!

Just in this lesson you’re already building a foundation that puts you far ahead of most students.

You’ve learned:

• How to tune the ukulele accurately to produce the best sound
• How to hold the ukulele comfortably in a supportive, relaxed playing posture
• How to position your fingers to play your first chord
• How to strum and count a steady, consistent strumming pattern rhythm
• How to play your first song

You’ve already tackled a lot! Give yourself a pat on the back for all your fantastic effort.

8. Take Your Skills and Learn Three More Easy Ukulele Songs

You did it! You’re playing ukulele. Now, take your knowledge and learn three more easy ukulele songs.

If you’ve made it this far, you’ve completed the first lesson in the four-lesson Learn to Play Ukulele Today video lesson course.

There’s still three more lessons where I teach you more things like:

• How to learn more ukulele chords
• How to change chords smoothly
• How to vary a strumming pattern
• How to play three more memorable ukulele songs (including a beautiful Hawaiian ukulele song)

To get the three additional lessons delivered to your inbox, just enter your email below:

After doing so, you will receive a confirmation email. Click the link in this email to get the lesson book delivered directly to your inbox. If you don’t see this email, please check your spam or junk mail filter and ensure that “UkuleleTricks.com” is whitelisted.

Please note: I take your privacy very seriously. I promise never to spam you or distribute your email to a third party.

One of the most challenging chords to master for beginner ukulele players is the Bb major chord (said “B flat”).

To play a Bb chord, position your ring finger on the 3rd fret of the top g-string, middle finger on the 2nd fret of the C-string, and use the index finger to barre or press down on both bottom two strings at the 1st fret.

With notes on all four strings and a challenging barre position, the Bb chord can be problematic, especially if you have arthritis, but it’s a chord you need to know how to play because it gives you the opportunity to learn a whole bunch of new songs in the key of F, Bb, and more.

I’ve written on playing a Bb chord on ukulele before, but in this video lesson, let’s go a bit more into depth and get three tips and tricks for how to confidently play the Bb chord, and after the video at the bottom of this post, get a fantastic bonus tip from a fellow student for how she tackles the Bb chord with arthritic fingers.

Remember a chord like this one takes practice and repetition in order for your hands and fingers to build the muscle memory required to execute the chord cleanly every time. Take it slow and you’re sure to see improvement!

A Bonus Tip From a Student With Arthritis

After I posted the video lesson on the Ukulele Tricks YouTube channel, I receive an awesome tip from a senior ukulele player who has to get creative with ukulele chords because of their arthritis.

This student says:

Brett – as a senior uke player, my arthritis has bent my fingers, so barring chords is out of the question…. even just holding two strings. I’ve found I have to modify everything. So, for Bb, I just play the GCE strings – so much easier. Equally for the wicked E, which is impossible for arthritic hands, I either substitute with an Em, Em7 or E7, depending on the song. I’ve found that you have to go with what works, and not what is ‘correct’ – best advice given to me by a very pro player.

What this person is suggesting is an alternate Bb chord position that is played like so:

In this alternate Bb position, place your ring finger on the 3rd fret of the top g-string, middle finger on the 2nd fret of the C-string, and index finger on the 1st fret of the E-string. Either mute or do not strum the bottom A-string, so it does not ring out.

To mute the bottom A-string, chances are your index finger from the position will be touching or resting on the bottom A-string to prevent it from ringing out. Be careful though not to press too hard or the bottom A-string might buzz. You’ll be required to adjust accordingly to prevent this string from ringing out.

Sometimes thinking about alternate positions can be helpful to tackling those challenging chords. Don’t be afraid to modify chords and look up alternate positions in the Ukulele Tricks Chord Library. There’s no shame in that and at the end of the day you have to find what works best for you!

A musician should only sound like what they do, and no two musicians sound the same. It’s an individual-feel thing, you know?

– Dave Grohl, from the band “Foo Fighters”

Thwhack!

Imagine getting smacked with a ruler every time you hit a wrong note or made a mistake.

No, this didn’t happen to me, but my father and aunt would tell me about their strict piano teacher growing up.

“She was a mean old bird,” my dad would say.

I grew up in a musical family, and by musical, I mean every holiday and family get-together was spent around the piano with ukuleles or guitars in hand playing folk songs, hymns, or carols.

Fortunately, my family members decided to take a different approach when it came to me learning. The philosophy was there are instruments sitting around, so why not pick one up and start playing!

By the time I was six, I would play duets on the piano with my mom or strum the chords to I’ve Been Working On the Railroad on ukulele.

Thank God I had no one to take out a ruler and give me a nice “thwhack” if I made a mistake.

Why Bad Habits and Mistakes are Overrated

One of the biggest reasons I love teaching the ukulele so much is that it’s an instrument for rule breakers.

Think about it.

You have more traditional Hawaiian ukulele artists like Israel Kamakawiwoʻole (“IZ”) known for “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” and then you have Jake Shimabukuro who shreds “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” all the while you have James Hill who drums and plays Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” on ukulele.

Rule breakers.

“Impression, Sunrise” by Claude Monet

One of the most famous painters and founder of French impressionism Claude Monet was widely rejected by critics. His paintings were considered ugly and unfinished. For quite some time, people thought he was a joke. He painted while living most of his life in poverty.

But you know what? That didn’t stop him. He created.

Again. Rule breaker.

This is why when I teach I don’t like to get worried about bad habits and prim and proper technique.

I’ll get asked:

“Brett, what is the right way to strum?”

If you ask me, I’ll tell you three different ways to strum that are perfectly fine, all the while giving you one way that I think you’ll benefit most from to help you along.

My goal is for you to find your voice with the ukulele.

As you venture into making music on the ukulele, I want to encourage you:

Don’t be afraid. Break the rules.

Find new ways to play the same chord. Find new ways to strum. Find new ways to pick.

Don’t be afraid of forming bad habits. Make mistakes.

Create.

It’s better to play, create, and express than be perfect.

Learning to play ukulele is about experiencing the joy of music.

“But I Still Want to Learn the Right Way to Play!”

It’s been said in order to break the rules you have to know them first.

The rules, skills, and techniques for playing give you a framework for thinking about creating.

This is exactly why I’ve spent thousands of hours creating step-by-step video lesson courses like Strumming Tricks, but from my students I’d rather have:

• Creativity over strict technique
• Singing loudly with friends out of key over playing it in perfect pitch
• Discovering a new sound versus playing it the “right” way

If you’re just beginning, don’t stress.

You’ll make mistakes. You’ll form some bad habits.

But it’s okay.

It’s better to start creating noise today and just let it work itself out over time.

And for heaven’s sake, no, I won’t smack you with a ruler!

Note: Today I introduce you to our guest Neil from Sublimelody who brings us a simple and clear visual guide to understanding the relationship between the notes of the music staff, ukulele fretboard and piano keys.

Is it easier for a ukulele player to learn piano notes or a pianist to learn ukulele notes?

And how are the notes of the ukulele fretboard related to the notes of the piano?

In this lesson, you discover:

• The relationship between musical notes and the notes of the ukulele fretboard
• The relationship between musical notes and the notes of the piano
• The relationship between the notes of the ukulele fretboard and the notes of the piano

Let’s dive in.

1. Musical Notes and the Notes of the Ukulele Fretboard

The chart below shows you the connections between the musical notes and their corresponding strings and frets on a soprano ukulele.

Let’s assume we’re in standard tuning:

• 1st string is A
• 2nd string is E
• 3rd string is C
• 4th string is G

We use the treble clef in ukulele sheet music known as the music staff. Each note on the music staff usually has two or more corresponding string/frets on the ukulele fretboard.

Let’s look at three examples of how to use the diagram above to identify a music note and its corresponding string/fret:

1. Where is this note (C4) on the fretboard?

According to the diagram above, there is only one position: the open 3rd string – the C-string.

2. Where is this note (G4) on the fretboard?

This time we can find the note G4 in three different places on the ukulele fretboard:

• Open 4th string – the top g-string
• 3rd fret of the 2nd string
• 7th fret of the 3rd string

3. Where is this note (C5) on the fretboard?

Look at the diagram above and you’ll see there are four places on the ukulele fretboard!

• 3rd fret of the 1st string
• 8th fret of the 2nd string
• 12th fret of the 3rd string
• 5th fret of the 4th string

From a piano learner’s point of view, this may seem complex because to play C5 alone we have four positions to choose from.

It may be helpful to think of each string as a mini keyboard. This means there four keyboards on the ukulele!

Now, let’s see how musical notes and piano keys are connected.

2. Musical Notes and the Notes of the Piano Keyboard

The diagram above shows you the musical notes on both the bass and treble clefs of the music staff as well as their corresponding keys on the piano keyboard.

You’re overwhelmed by so many notes, aren’t you?

Don’t worry, let’s take a closer look.

As opposed to the ukulele, each note on the sheet music has one corresponding key. If I want to play the C5 note, I just find the only one C5 key and press it.

From a ukulele player’s point of view, the piano keyboard is just like one string. Each key is similar to a ukulele fret.

However, this “string” is much longer and has a wider pitch range than a ukulele.

While I don’t encourage you to memorize all the notes and positions of the diagram above, you can see that with a little effort it would be possible for a ukulele player to learn piano notes.

If you want to learn more about how to read piano notes and keys, click here to visit the original guide with many illustrations and the interesting “metal flip strategy” to help learn how to read music.

Now, let’s move to the final section.

3. Connecting the Notes of the Ukulele Fretboard and Notes of the Piano Keyboard

Combining the two diagrams above we have the following chart:

I will leave this chart here alone for your exploration.

I’m sure that you now know how musical notes, ukulele frets, and piano keys are connected.

If you have any question about this guide, just leave me a comment below.

If you would have told me eight years ago that over 10,000 amazing ukulele players would be learning along with me I would have never believed you.

In 2010, I had just graduated from college after studying music and theology.

I knew I loved music but I wasn’t sure what was next.

During a music internship in college, I was given a ukulele as a parting gift. I was thrilled because I grew up playing ukulele since I was six years old when my grandfather taught me how to play I’ve Been Working On the Railroad.

Me, my dad, and grandfather jamming out in my younger years

One morning in late 2010 I woke up with the bright idea to record myself with this new ukulele teaching how to play Somewhere Over the Rainbow on ukulele.

I nervously posted it to YouTube and could have never believed what would happen next.

If you would have told me 8 years later the video would go on to amass nearly 1 million views I would have never believed you!

I had no idea what would happen after recording that video and how it would connect me with so many amazing ukulele players like yourself who have learned to play ukulele because:

• You had a lifelong dream of playing an instrument
• You wanted to bring more happiness to your life
• You dreamed of strumming some tunes with your kids or grandkids
• You wanted to teach others and change their lives for the better

Watch the video above to hear my story of how Ukulele Tricks came to be and how you’ve played such a special part.

Tell me your story of how you came to learn ukulele by posting a comment on the video here.

You’re tuned up and ready to play!

It’s time to learn your first ukulele chords.

You might be surprised to know that with just these few ukulele chords you can play hundreds of songs on the ukulele.

These ukulele chords for beginners are where every ukulele player should begin.

Watch the video to discover these chords.

Use the Ukulele Tricks Chord Library to discover even more chords.

How to Play a C Major Chord on Ukulele

To play the C major chord, place the ring finger on the 3rd fret of the bottom A-string. Let the other strings ring open.

How to Play an Am Chord on Ukulele

To play the A minor chord, place the middle finger on the 2nd fret of the top g-string. Let the other strings ring open.

How to Play an F Major Chord on Ukulele

To play the F major chord, place the middle finger on the 2nd fret of the top g-string and index finger on the 1st fret of the E-string. Let the other strings ring open.

How to Play a G7 Chord on Ukulele

To play the G7 chord, place the middle finger on the 2nd fret of the C-string, index finger on the 1st fret of the E-string, and ring finger on the 2nd fret of the bottom A-string. Let the other string ring open.

How to Practice These Chords

For each chord, take the time to position the fingers of your fretting hand to play the chord. Upon doing so, take the thumb from your strumming hand and individually pluck each string of the ukulele to make sure every note of the chord rings out nice and clear.

When you are comfortable with each chord, practice changing from each chord with simple down strums: C to Am to F to G7.

Remember chord positions require a degree of strength and dexterity in the fretting hand to successfully perform the chord. Practice and repetition is required to develop muscle memory.

With your dedicated practice eventually changing between these chords will require little to no effort or thought!

How to Play Songs With These Chords

If you enjoyed learning these chords and would like to make music with them, the next step is to join me in the free Learn to Play Ukulele Today video lesson course where I teach you how to play four different songs with just these four chords.

When you’ve learned your first chords on ukulele, it’s time to start strumming!

With strumming, it’s all about keeping a steady, consistent rhythm.

To help ourselves keep a steady rhythm, in this lesson, you count out loud to a count of four: 1, 2, 3, 4, and so on, and you learn to strum on the most popular strumming patterns – the calypso strum.

Watch the video to hear the calypso strum and learn how to play it.

The Calypso Strum

To play the calypso strum on ukulele, strum down, down up, up, down up while counting 1, 2 and, and, 4 and.

Practice this strumming pattern while playing a C major chord placing the ring finger on the 3rd fret of the bottom A-string and letting the other strings ring open.

How to Practice the Calypso Strum

Learning to strum is all about repetition.

First, strum this pattern while counting out loud, like I do in the video. I recommend setting a timer for a minute and strum for the duration of the minute. Aim to keep your counting as even as possible, meaning you aren’t speeding up or slowing down.

Then, practice strumming again without counting. If you lose the rhythm, go back to counting out loud.

Lastly, practice switching chords. For example, switch from a C chord to a G7 chord on the first beat of the measure. To play a G7 chord, place the middle finger on the 2nd fret of the C-string, index finger on the 1st fret of the E-string, and ring finger on the 2nd fret of the bottom A-string. Let the other string ring open.

When you switch chords, there should be no pausing or hesitating between the chord changes. If you find yourself pausing, go back and practice your chord positions and go back to the previous steps above.

How to Play Songs With This Pattern

It’s one thing to know chords and it’s another thing to know this strumming pattern, but how do you put all that together to play actual songs?

That’s exactly what you do in the free Learn to Play Ukulele Today video lesson course where I teach you how to play a beautiful Hawaiian song using this strumming pattern.

Enter your email address below to join me in the free course:

Note: This is a guest post by Eduardo of MusicianAuthority.com.

What happens when you combine one of the most heartwarming instruments in the world and one of the most influential bands ever?

Today, we are talking about playing songs by The Beatles on the ukulele!

I’ve put together a list of 10 Beatles easy ukulele songs for beginners and provided a few tips for learning and playing them.

Let me tell you, putting this kind of list is no easy task! There are so many great hits by The Beatles to choose from but today we’ll list 10 that are quite unforgettable.

Be sure to have your ukulele ready while going through this article. If you don’t have a ukulele, you can take a look at some recommended options here.

I’ve also picked out some wonderful Beatles ukulele covers from YouTube to go along with the article. I think all of them are worth listening to, both as a way to learn the songs more easily and to get inspired to play more ukulele!

Please enjoy this article, and if you end up recording your own Beatles ukulele cover (or if you have any questions!), I’d love to listen… and by the way, for help with the chords you can open up this ukulele chords guide for easy reference. It will come in handy as you go through learning new songs.

Beatles Easy Ukulele Songs for Beginners

1. Hey Jude

Released in 1968 and credited to both McCartney and Lennon, “Hey Jude” is one of the top 10 Greatest of All Time according to Billboard.

There are a few basic ukulele chords in this song, but it’s a rather beginner friendly tune because you can get started by just playing down strums very easily as you get more comfortable with the song. The thing that makes it a great song to learn and practice is the catchy and easy to remember lyrics.

It’s an enjoyable tune you can get started on learning to sing and play ukulele at the same time. This is a great song for developing the ability to sing a little more independently from your strumming.

The best strategy is to take it slow. If you’re having a hard time singing along, practice the strumming and singing separately! It’s perfectly alright to practice with a recording to get the timing of the melody in your head.

Then, you can practice singing while tapping the rhythm on your thigh or a desk before adding the strumming back in. Get comfortable with it by taking it a step at a time. These tips will keep you on the right track, just stay focused and have lots of fun.

Here’s a great cover of “Hey Jude” with such a crisp ukulele sound.

2. In Spite of All the Danger

“In Spite of All the Danger” is another great place to start playing The Beatles on the uke– after all, it’s where The Beatles started playing The Beatles!

Paul McCartney and George Harrison, part of the group then called “The Quarrymen”, wrote this song together in 1958.

When you’re first starting on the uke, a lot of your strums tend to be “Down” strums. Adding the “up” strum at a softer volume take some time to get used to – but because of the strong “Down” presence in this song, you’ll get a feel for how to accent your Down strums and play a little more gently on your Up strums.

Check out this awesome father-son uke-guitar duo playing “In Spite of All the Danger” for some inspiration! But before playing along, don’t forget to tune your ukulele!

3. Act Naturally

Alright, this isn’t technically a Beatles song (it was written by Buck Owens in 1963). But the Beatles made it famous in 1965 on their album Help!, showcasing the vocal talent of Ringo Starr.

This song feels like it was written for the uke. It’s got a relaxed, folky feel. It’s also a great way to get your inner percussionist involved in your uke playing.

The Beatles had their drummer sing this song for a reason: it’s not as easy as it seems to keep the vocals in time!

Most people who sing this song tend to slow themselves down. You can avoid this by practicing slowly with a metronome, and also by recording yourself. That way, you can play back the recording and hear whether you’re singing the words in rhythm. You can increase the tempo on the metronome as you get more comfortable.

I love the way this gentleman acts naturally in his uke cover:

4. Let It Be

“Let It Be” was The Beatles’ last single before Paul McCartney left the band. Today, this song has become part of the Great American Songbook, right alongside other 70s tracks like Mrs. Robinson.

This song uses one of the most common groups of chords in contemporary music, so it’s a great staple. Its popularity also makes it ideal for practicing expressive playing – once you’ve learned the chords, be bold! Don’t be afraid to experiment – try different speeds, rhythms, or accents to give “Let It Be” your own creative twist.

The ukulele player in this video takes the song at her own pace, playing it at a key tailored to her voice, and includes a couple subtle flourishes that make her version unique.

5. Yellow Submarine

If you have three people in a room, you’ve got four interpretations of the 1966 classic “Yellow Submarine.” But when he was asked about the song, Paul McCartney maintained that there wasn’t a special secret meaning to it.

“It’s a happy place… that’s all,” he said. “We were just trying to write a children’s song.”

Without sharp chord changes, this song doesn’t come together so well. So, it’s perfect for teaching yourself how to pick up speed and learning how to change ukulele chords quickly.

Don’t start at the actual speed of the song (about 110 BPM). Instead, start at a much slower speed, say, 85 BPM. When you have mastered it at that speed, gradually increase your speed by five beats per minute each time.

It’s kind of like lifting weights: doing an exercise properly with less weight is a thousand times better than doing it improperly with too much. If you start at a manageable speed, you’ll get to your goal speed much faster, and you’re less likely to strain your muscles or get frustrated and give up.

If you’re curious about this method or how your muscle memory works, you can learn more about how to effectively build it on this other article I wrote.

Here’s another top-notch ukulele cover from someone who seems like he’s having a lot of fun. Notice the style. This is called fingerpicking. If you want to take a course on learning how to fingerpick the right way and get really good at it, you should take a look at Fingerpicking Tricks.

6. Eleanor Rigby

“Eleanor Rigby,” also from the album Yellow Submarine, marked a subtle turning point for The Beatles as they moved from being a live pop music group to a more studio-oriented group. Pete Townsend from The Who also cited “Eleanor Rigby” as an inspiration.

Eleanor Rigby is an unusual pop song, particularly because it uses a lot of syncopation. Syncopation is just a fancy word that means “rhythms that fall in surprising places.” As you learn the song, you’ll notice that the “strong beats” in the vocal melody don’t always fall right in step with the strong beats in the strumming pattern. That’s one of the things that gives this song such a memorable sound and drives the melody forward.

If you’re having trouble lining your strumming up to your singing, you might not be ready to bring the singing in yet. You might need more time building muscle memory so that your strumming feels natural! When I learned this song, I practiced the strumming and chord changes on their own until they felt comfortable; then, I added the singing back in.

For inspiration, check out this uke version – its a simple version with a soft voice!

7. Obla-di, Obla-da

“Obla-di, Obla-da” is a lighthearted song with a great message. It also highlights the Beatles’ reggae influences, which makes it great for bringing an “island feel” into your playing – very appropriate for the ukulele.

“Chunking” (a.k.a. muting your strings to create a percussive sound, rather than strumming) really adds to the strumming pattern in this song. Here’s my two-step process for making the “chunk” sound:

STEP ONE: Before your strum, rest the base of your palm on the strings near the bridge. While you usually strum closer to the neck, for a muted strum, you want to strum lower on the uke, because otherwise, all the notes could become sharp!

STEP TWO: Strum with your finger(s) curling inward toward the strings, making sure all the strings are evenly muted.

For inspiration, I love the sound of this carefree cover from YouTube:

8. Octopus’s Garden

Ringo Starr said he got the idea for “Octopus’s Garden” from his first experience eating squid, which happened in 1968 on a boat that belonged to comedian Peter Sellers. According to Ringo, he had ordered fish and chips, but he was served squid instead – and, in 1969, we got “Octopus’s Garden.” I included this song in my article on easy ukulele songs and included an audio covering the suggested strumming pattern.

This song can help you get the hang of faster chord changes: the speed of the strumming doesn’t leave much time for dawdling between chords!

As you practice, try to think of the next chord shape before the time comes to switch the chords – so that while you’re playing a phrase, you’re already mentally preparing to move your hand to the new position.

This does take practice, and you might want to practice the strumming by itself before adding the vocal melody. One thing that can help, while you’re practicing, is to actually say the name of the chord on the beat you put your fingers down. This way, your brain is reinforcing the chord change verbally as well as kinesthetically.

I was transported to a summer campfire by this woman’s cover of “Octopus’s Garden”:

9. You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away

“You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away” is The Beatles’ tribute to Bob Dylan. It’s also a good way to learn to play something that really sounds like folk music.

Most of the time, if you tap your foot along to a song, you’ll feel yourself tapping in groups of 2 or 4, with the emphasis on the first tap. But folk music is often felt in groups of 3 – that’s one of the things that makes “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away” feel so folky.

Don’t believe me? Try tapping quickly along with the strums of the song. If you pay attention, you’ll find yourself tapping in groups of 3, with the emphasis on the first tap of each group.

As you practice and listen to this song, keep that feel in the back of your mind. It’ll help you bring out the musicality of the songwriting.

10. We Can Work it Out

“We Can Work It Out” is remarkable because it was a true Lennon-McCartney collaboration. Even the lyrics seem to reflect that!

For many beginners, this song can be the perfect cumulative project, putting together several of the concepts that the other songs on this list highlight individually.

If you can play this, pat yourself on the back and move on to a different article – because you’re now an intermediate player, not a beginner… and you can create your own Beatles ukulele cover!

For now, I’ll leave you with this nice cover. This style in the video is fingerpicking, like the video on #5. If you want to get started with the absolute basics for fingerpicking, take a look at 3 Easy One-String Ukulele Songs Fingerpicked written by Brett.

Eduardo is the founder of MusicianAuthority.com, where you can find resources such as a ukulele chord video library to learn the chords and ukulele tabs to follow along your favorite songs.

There comes a point in a ukulele player’s journey where one must face head on, with courage and bravery, that dreaded and difficult-to-play E major chord on ukulele.

By learning the E chord on ukulele, you unlock a whole new world of playing songs on the ukulele with the most notable song using the E chord being Hey Soul Sister by Train.

Don’t worry because together in this lesson we look at three of the best ways to play the E major chord on ukulele. I provide you with three variations of E major and give you the pros and cons of each, so you can learn how to play the E chord and determine which one is easiest for you.

Watch the video and learn how to play E major on ukulele.

How to Play the E Major Chord on Ukulele: Variation #1

To play the E major chord on ukulele in this first variation, place the middle finger at the 4th fret of the top g-string, ring finger at the 4th fret of the C-string, and index finger at the 2nd fret of the bottom A-string. Let the E-string ring open.

How to Play the E Major Chord on Ukulele: Variation #2

To play the E major chord on ukulele in this second variation, perform a barre by pressing your index finger on the top g-string, C-string, and E-string on the 4th fret and place the little finger on the 7th fret of the bottom A-string.

How to Play the E Major Chord on Ukulele: Variation #3

To play the E major chord on ukulele in this third and most popular variation, perform a barre by pressing your index finger on all four strings on the 2nd fret and perform a barre by pressing your ring finger on the top g-string, C-string, and E-string on the 4th fret.

Be sure to watch the video to get tips for playing this tricky position.

How to Play the E Major Chord on Ukulele: Variation #4

This fourth variation of the E major chord is the same chord as Variation #3 but uses a different fretting hand position.

To play the E major chord on ukulele in this fourth variation, place the middle finger at the 4th fret of the top g-string, ring finger at the 4th fret of the C-string, little finger at the 4th fret of the E-string, and index finger at the 2nd fret of the bottom A-string.

I recommend using this Variation #4 if you have small hands and fingers, but for those of us with larger hands and fingers (like myself), learning Variation #3 is better.

Was This Chord Too Hard to Learn?

The E major chord on ukulele is infamous for being the hardest chord to play on ukulele.

If you’re a beginner and this was too difficult, don’t be discouraged. I recommend starting in the free Learn to Play Ukulele Today video lesson course where I teach you easy ukulele chords and how to apply those to strum and play actual songs.

Enter your email address below to join me in the free course:

Teaching over 10,000 students in the Strumming Tricks online video lesson course has given me direct line of sight into your biggest beginner ukulele challenges.

It’s normal to feel discouragement and even frustration as you’re first learning.

It can even feel like you’re the only one facing those challenges or like there’s something wrong with your capacity for making music.

More often than not, you aren’t alone.

See if you’ve faced any of these top five beginner ukulele challenges.

1. Getting a Ukulele (Making the Decision to Learn)

Deciding to learn to play ukulele is no small decision.

For some of you, you’ve gone most of your life having never picked up a musical instrument. You might think you just aren’t a musical person or that you weren’t given the “lucky” musical gene.

Or, perhaps you’ve tried to play music before but have royally failed.

Some of you have even been told by a past music teacher that you just don’t have what it takes to play music.

A student of mine shares a bad experience with a music teacher who discouraged him from making music

Facing up to these internal or external criticisms can be crippling to learning – even before you’ve picked up the instrument!

No wonder it can feel difficult to muster up the courage to go to the music store to find a ukulele to buy.

To help with this, I’ve assembled a ukulele buying guide to help you find the best ukulele and you can join me in the free Learn to Play Ukulele Today video lesson course once you have your new ukulele.

At this step, it’s important you don’t overthink your decision to learn to play ukulele.

Yes, you can do this.

Just get a ukulele!

I’m here to show you how to play.

2. Dealing With Sore and Clumsy Fingers

Once you’ve managed to get a ukulele, it’s off to learning your first ukulele chords.

Chances are the simplest chords will feel like the hardest thing you’ve ever done with your hands and fingers.

If you’re older and manage arthritis, it can feel even more difficult.

When first learning to play ukulele chords, it takes the pads of your fingers a couple weeks of consistent, regular practice to build up calluses.

Remember learning chords requires a whole new set of muscles which often will be lacking in strength and dexterity.

The best thing you can do when first learning to play ukulele is to commit yourself to repetition and regular practice sessions.

In the beginning stages, you’ll be eager to play all the time, but if you notice the pads of fingers becoming too sore to successfully fret chords, then, take a day off and come back to it. Your fingers will have a chance to rest up and get stronger.

And for those of you with arthritis, be sure to speak first with your doctor before playing, and be patient with yourself. I have many students who manage to play with arthritis but patience and short practice sessions will be key to your success.

3. Finding Time to Practice

Life is busy, and while enthusiasm to play ukulele can help you get started, something more is required to become a proficient ukulele player.

Practice.

Jumping from YouTube video to YouTube video can help, but there’s more to practice than discovering the latest YouTube video from yours truly.

Playing ukulele in a way that produces results, or allows you to make the music you dream of playing, requires a plan.

Yes, practice isn’t sexy, but it doesn’t have to be dreadful.To help make things easier, read my lesson on “How to Practice Ukulele When 15 Minutes is All You Have” to discover a fun and enjoyable way to structure your practice sessions to see the fastest results.

4. Singing and playing at the same time

When you’ve learned chords and how to strum, it’s time to play songs.

You probably want to sing it out nice and strong but once you do everything all kind of falls apart.

Why is it that?

It’s important to realize that singing and playing at the same time can hang up even the most advanced ukulele players. For example, I’ve been playing ukulele for over 20 years, and every now and then I’ll be learning to play a new song, and as soon as I start to sing out loud I lose the strumming or forget what chords I’m changing to and from.

If you think about it, singing and playing at the same time requires you to perform multiple things at once very proficiently and in perfect synchronization.

Your fretting hand has to automatically know what chord to change to next without hesitating or pausing.

Your strumming hand has to keep that steady pattern going without reverting to some other strumming pattern.

Oh, and then, you have to sing the song in tune and in time!

Whew. That’s a lot.

In the Strumming Tricks course, I tackle the problem of singing and playing at the same time head on, but the important thing to remember is that it takes time to proficiently perform all these different tasks. Spend the time and practice needed for each step before putting it all together.

5. Learning to Play the Songs You Love

To play the songs you love on ukulele, there are three key steps:

1. Learn the song’s chords
2. Find the right strumming pattern for the song
3. Put the chords and strumming together to sing and play the song

That’s all there is to it. Easy, right?

Sadly, it isn’t that simple!

One of the mistakes new ukulele players make is trying to learn songs that are too difficult, like trying to learn how to play Hey Soul Sister which incorporates one of the hardest ukulele chords – the dreaded E chord.

As you begin, it’s important to progress and master the easy songs first before moving on to the harder ones.

Learning easy songs first allows you to gain confidence and the skills needed to understand a song’s count and how a strumming pattern is created from this. The first songs I recommend learning on ukulele are in the free Learn to Play Ukulele Today course.

If you’re struggling to make music on ukulele, then, there’s no better step than to join me in the course.

Enter your email address below:

I am left-handed and I’ve been playing ukulele for over 20 years.

But I don’t play left-handed.

Well, technically, I use my left hand all the time when I play ukulele, but I don’t play “left-handed” in the traditional sense, and if you’re a lefty, I don’t think you should learn to play ukulele left-handed either.

To play left-handed, you use the left hand to strum and right hand to fret chords.

Many famous musicians have played their stringed instrument left-handed like Jimi Hendrix, Paul McCartney, or Justin Bieber.

The famous guitar player Jimi Hendrix shredding his left-handed guitar using the left hand to strum and right hand to fret chords

This is opposite to playing ukulele right-handed, the most common way, where you use the right hand to strum and left hand to fret chords.

If you’re a brand new lefty ukulele player and trying to decide to learn “left-handed” or “right-handed”, here are my two main reasons for why I tell new students to learn to play ukulele “right-handed” even if you’re a lefty and the two exceptions to consider.

Reason #1: Equal Use of Your Dominant and Non-Dominant Hand is Required to Play Ukulele

If you’re a lefty, it’s a bit of a myth to think learning to play left-handed will be easier for you.

This is because equal use of your dominant hand (your left hand if you’re lefty) and non-dominant hand (your opposite hand) is required to play ukulele. There’s never a time where you’re using your left hand more than your right hand or vice versa when playing. To play the ukulele, it’s a 50/50 split using both hands.

In fact, I believe lefties have a distinct advantage in learning the ukulele “right-handed”, where you use the left hand to fret chords and right hand to strum, because as a lefty, chances are you’ve already built a degree of dexterity in your left hand that doesn’t exist in your right hand simply because you write with your left hand. This slight edge can make fretting chords easier.

Now, I don’t want to make it sound like it will be a walk in the park. Chords will be a challenge to learn no matter what hand you use, but the point is, they won’t be significantly harder to learn using your left hand to fret chords and right hand to strum.

Reason #2: Learning “Right-Handed” Makes it Easier to Follow Instructional Material

What a lot of beginner lefties don’t consider is the fact that the majority of ukulele instruction, songbooks, chord diagrams, tabs, and scale diagrams, are taught from a “right-handed” perspective.

I know. It isn’t fair being a lefty living in a right-handed world.

This means if you decide to learn to play “left-handed” you have to do some more mental heavy-lifting to make the material compatible for your perspective. Some don’t mind this, but many find this to be burdensome and an additional barrier to learning to make music.

While I’ve added left-handed ukulele chord diagrams to the Ukulele Tricks Chord Library, you make it easier on yourself learning “right-handed” where you fret chords with the left hand and strum with the right hand.

And to be fair, some lefties who have joined me in the Strumming Tricks online video lesson course have told me they like how the video “mirrors” their fingers, but many left-handers who decide to learn to play “right-handed” are happy they went this route.

When You Should Learn to Play Ukulele “Left-Handed”

There are two specific cases where I recommend learning to play ukulele left-handed.

First, if you have a physical disability, missing fingers, or arthritis that prevents specific movement or functionality in your left hand, and your only option for playing ukulele is to use your left hand to strum and right hand to fret chords, then you absolutely should learn to play left-handed.

In this way, playing left-handed is your last resort option when you wouldn’t be able to play ukulele otherwise.

And secondly, if you already started to play ukulele left-handed and are achieving success, don’t change things now. In other words, if you’ve been playing left-handed for more than a week, continue on being a unique, one-of-a-kind, left-handed ukulele player.

One of the perks of being a left-handed player is that you’ll always stand out and be popular when playing with other musicians!

Learning the ukulele fretboard unlocks a whole new way of experiencing the excitement and joy of making music on the ukulele.

When you understand the relationship of notes across the fretboard, you can do things like:

• Figure out where to fingerpick the melody of a song on the fretboard
• Discover how to build chords across the fretboard
• Riff and improvise solos across the fretboard (like in the blues or jazz)

But to do these things, it all starts with learning the C major scale on ukulele.

Today, you learn the first position of the C major scale (there are a total of five C major scale positions).

Watch the video to learn the C major scale on ukulele and keep reading to learn the music theory behind the scale.

Why Start With Learning the C Major Scale on Ukulele

Why start with the C major scale?

Why not the blues scale? Why not the pentatonic scale?

What you might not know about the C major scale is that it contains all natural notes.

Natural notes are the white keys on the piano or the first seven letters of the alphabet:

A, B, C, D, E, F, G

Since the C major scale contains all natural notes, this means if you learn C major scale positions across the fretboard, you automatically learn where all natural notes are across the fretboard!

If you know where the natural notes are, it’s easy to modify these “home base” positions later on to create scales in other keys by adding in sharps or flats.

How to Play a C Major Scale in Position #1 on Ukulele

Let’s build a C major scale now.

In a major scale, there are just seven notes (eight if you include the octave note).

It’s easy to make a major scale in any key with a simple formula based on whole step and half step intervals.

The major scale formula is:

whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half

A whole step interval is a note two frets away, like from the 2nd fret of the C-string to the 4th fret of the C-string.

A half step interval is a note one fret away, like from the 4th fret of the C-string to the 5th fret of the C-string.

See an example of this in action by making a C major scale starting on the open C-string, which is a C note, known as the root note of the scale.

C Major Scale played on the open C-string of the ukulele

Now that you know the formula and how to make a major scale it’s more efficient to play the C major scale on the bottom three strings of the ukulele.

C Major Scale played on the bottom three strings in Position #1 of the ukulele

Pay specific attention where the notes are written on the music staff and where those notes are positioned on the fretboard.

From your fretting hand, assign the index finger to fret notes that fall on the first fret. Assign the middle finger to fret notes that fall on the second fret. Assign the ring finger to fret notes that fall on the third fret.

See this position indicated in the following fretboard diagram.

C Major Scale Position #1 ukulele fretboard diagram

Memorize this position and take it to heart. As you pluck each note of the position, say the note name out loud to put it to memory. By learning the C major scale, you’ll learn the natural notes across the fretboard.

If you know the natural notes, it’s easy to figure out where the sharps and flats are (more on that later).

A Note About the Top String

You might be wondering:

“Why isn’t the top g-string of the ukulele in this scale position?”

The main reason is because in standard tuning the top g-string is tuned higher than the middle two strings. This means you are unable to play the scale position linearly or from the lowest to highest note.

For this reason, we learn the scale positions on the bottom three strings and then incorporate the top g-string very easily later on.

You’re On Your Way to Mastering the Ukulele Fretboard

Memorizing and learning scales isn’t easy.

It takes energy to commit a scale to memory. Take your time and enjoy the process of learning.

By learning the C major scale, you learn where all the natural notes are on the fretboard, which provides a solid foundation for you to make various scales like the blues scale, pentatonic scale, bebop scale, and more in various keys across the fretboard.

Watch out because next week I will post the next C major scale position.

There are often several different ways to play the same ukulele chord.

In fact, you can search for many of these ukulele chord variations in the Ukulele Tricks Chord Library.

A perfect example of this is the easy-to-play Hawaiian D7 ukulele chord versus the more difficult standard D7 barre chord.

When you play a different variation of a ukulele chord, it’s still the same chord because it has the same notes contained in the chord, but those notes are often rearranged in a different order or in a different octave.

Some variations are easier to play than others.

And some variations create a different timbre or texture to the chord (bright vs. mellow).

But some variations are more preferable than others in certain circumstances.

In this lesson, let’s compare the Hawaiian D7 ukulele chord and the D7 barre chord and figure out which one is the best to use.

How to Play the Easy Hawaiian D7 Ukulele Chord

To play the Hawaiian D7 ukulele chord, place the index finger on the 2nd fret of the top g-string and the middle finger on the 2nd fret of the E-string. Let the other two strings ring open.

As many new ukulele players find, this is the easiest way to play a D7 chord on ukulele.

From the top g-string to the bottom A-string, this chord has the following notes which are found in a D7 chord (D-F#-A-C):

A-C-F#-A

Keep those notes in mind because you’ll use this knowledge to compare with the standard D7 barre chord.

How to Play the Standard D7 Barre Ukulele Chord

To play the standard D7 barre ukulele chord, take the index finger and barre or press down on all four strings at the 2nd fret. Place the middle finger on the 3rd fret of the bottom A-string.

This version of D7 is harder to play but is well worth the practice (you’ll see why in a minute).

From the top g-string to the bottom A-string, this chord has the following notes which are found in a D7 chord (D-F#-A-C):

A-D-F#-C

Now, let’s compare these two chords and figure out which one is better to use.

Why the Standard D7 Barre Ukulele Chord is the Better Chord to Play

You’re playing a song and you come across a D7 chord.

Which chord variation do you play?

I always recommend to beginner students in the Strumming Tricks online lesson course to stick with the standard D7 barre ukulele chord. Yes, even though it’s harder to play.

But why?

If you remember, the easier-to-play Hawaiian D7 chord has the following notes in the chord:

A-C-F#-A

What do you notice about that arrangement of notes?

I notice two things:

1. The Hawaiian D7 chord does not have all the notes in a D7 chord. This variation is missing the root note of the chord – a D note!
2. The “seventh” note of the D7 chord is placed as the lowest note in the chord. Notice how the “seventh” note, or the “C” note, is played on the open C-string, making it the lowest note that rings out in the chord.

Because the Hawaiian D7 chord is missing the root note of the chord and because the seventh note is the lowest note in the chord, this variation is not always suitable for most songs.

The easier-to-play Hawaiian D7 chord variation is best used in songs played in the key of C major.

This is because of that low open C-string note that rings out through the chord. In songs where the key is in C, meaning the root note or “home base” is a C note, this Hawaiian D7 variation has a pleasing sound and works great.

But where things get a little “wonky” is when you try to apply the Hawaiian D7 variation to songs that are not in the key of C. For example, if you played the Hawaiian D7 variation in a song like Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane the chord can sound “off” and like it doesn’t fit with the song.

This is why I always recommend beginners to go the extra mile and learn how to play that standard D7 barre chord.

Yes, it’s more challenging to learn and to play, but you can be sure whenever you come across a D7 chord in a song that it will always work and sound amazing.

If you struggle with barre chords like D7, you definitely want to watch this video lesson.

One Last Note About the Hawaiian D7 Chord

If you’re more advanced and familiar with music theory, you might be tracking along and thinking:

“Wait a minute! The Hawaiian D7 chord is actually an F# diminished chord!”

You are right.

This position contains the notes F#-A-C which are the three notes in an F# diminished triad.

This is yet another reason why the standard D7 barre chord should be your chord of choice for the majority of songs you play.

Last week we looked at how to play a C Major Scale in Position #1 on ukulele. Today we continue on and learn C Major Scale in Position #2 farther up the fretboard (there are a total of five positions).

By learning the notes of C major scale in all positions, you learn all natural notes on the ukulele fretboard (A, B, C, D, E, F, G), or any note that is not an accidental (sharp or flat). When you learn all the natural notes, it’s easy to figure out where the other notes are later.

Learning the C major scale is the foundation of learning the notes of the ukulele fretboard and opens up future possibilities like:

• How to fingerpick the melody of a song on the fretboard
• How to build chords across the fretboard
• How to riff and improvise solos across the fretboard (like in the blues or jazz)

Let’s learn Position #2 now.

Watch the video to learn the C major scale in position #2 on ukulele and keep reading to discover the scale diagrams and notes in the position.

How to Play a C Major Scale in Position #2 on Ukulele

You’ll remember from learning C major scale position #1 that the beginning note of the scale was a ‘C’ note or the root note of the scale. Even more so, the end note of the scale was also a ‘C’ note but played an octave higher.

This produced an ascending and descending major scale sound.

But for position #2, the starting and end note of the scale is a ‘D’ note or the second scale degree in a C major scale.

C Major Scale Position #2 sheet music and ukulele tab

This means the scale position starts and ends on a D note giving it a different sound that doesn’t quite sound like a normal ascending and descending major scale.

This can throw a lot of beginners off.

This is why it’s important to know that even though this scale position starts and ends on a ‘D’ note, this is still considered a C major scale position because it contains all notes found in a C major scale: C, D, E, F, G, A, B.

And where Position #1 spanned frets 1 to 3 on the fretboard, Position #2 spans frets 2 to 5 on the fretboard.

C Major Scale Position #2 ukulele fretboard diagram

For the fretting hand, this means you assign the index finger (represented by the number 1) to the 2nd fret, middle finger to the 3rd fret (represented by the number 2), ring finger to the 4th fret (represented by the number 3), and little finger to the 5th fret (represented by the number 4).

In every scale position, you should always know where the root note of the scale is. This is because the scale always wants to resolve back to the root note. When it comes to soloing later on, knowing where the root note of the scale is key. Because this is a C major scale, the root note is the C note. In the above fretboard scale diagram the “filled in” dark circle on the 3rd fret of the bottom A-string indicates the root note of the scale – the C note.

How Learning Scales Helps You Solo

If you’ve followed along with me through this lesson and the previous lesson and learned these positions, give yourself a pat on the back!

Learning scales across the ukulele fretboard is not easy.

Mentally, it’s a challenge to remember all the notes. Physically, it’s a challenge for the fretting hand to know which finger to use to fret which note of the scale position.

Be patient with yourself and know that it takes time.

You’re probably wondering how learning scales like this equals you riffing and soloing across the fretboard.

After learning these five C major scale positions, we will look at riffing and soloing, but for now, it starts here with the goal of:

1. Learning the natural notes of the ukulele fretboard. If you know where the natural notes are, it’s easy to “fill in” the sharps and flats later.
2. Remember the fretting hand finger positions for each position. These positions repeat across different keys so building this muscle memory is key.
3. Hearing and listening to the small differences in sound between each position. This ear knowledge is later used for super advanced jazz modal theory and soloing.

Trust the process of learning these scales. The work you put into learning and memorizing these positions will give you a strong upper hand in understanding the ukulele fretboard.

It all starts here!

Keep up the good effort and I’ll see you in the next lesson where you learn how to play position #3.

So far we’ve looked at how to play C major scale in position #1 and position #2 on the ukulele fretboard. If you haven’t already completed those lessons, do that before moving forward!

In this lesson, continue to learn C Major Scale Position #3 on ukulele.

By doing this, you learn the natural notes across the ukulele fretboard (A, B, C, D, E, F, G). If you know these notes, it’s easy to fill in the sharps and flats later. In addition, learning these notes is the basis of playing melodies, solos and riffs on the ukulele.

The C major scale is where it all begins!

Learn how to play Position #3 now.

Watch the video to learn the C major scale in position #3 on ukulele and keep reading to discover the scale diagrams and notes in the position.

How to Play a C Major Scale in Position #3 on Ukulele

In the first position, the scale started and ended on a C note – the root note of the C major scale.

In the second position, the scale started and ended on a D note – the second scale degree in a C major scale.

For this third position, you continue with the theme of working up the fretboard and start and end the scale on the F note – the fourth scale degree. This means even though this scale position starts and ends on an F note, it’s still a C major scale position because it contains all the notes of a C major scale (C, D, E, F, G, A, B).

C Major Scale Position #3 sheet music and ukulele tab

C major scale in position #3 spans the 5th to 8th frets.

For the fretting hand, this means you assign the index finger (represented by the number 1) to the 5th fret, middle finger to the 6th fret (represented by the number 2), ring finger to the 7th fret (represented by the number 3), and little finger to the 8th fret (represented by the number 4).

C Major Scale Position #3 ukulele fretboard diagram

Pay specific to attention to where the root note of the scale falls – the C note on the 8th fret of the E-string.

Why Learning Scale Positions is so Important

Learning the ukulele fretboard has to start somewhere and this is where it all begins.

When you understand scales, you can do things like:

• Figure out how to fingerpick the melody of a song on the fretboard
• Discover how to build chords across the fretboard
• Explore how to riff and improvise solos across the fretboard (like in the blues or jazz)

All of these things don’t happen at once but you’re taking the essential important steps to move towards these.

Learning scales requires a lot of hard work and effort with memorizing these positions and committing them to muscle memory. This is first required before you do those things above. Remember these scale positions require lots of repetition to become a part of your playing.

In fact, make the positions you’ve learned so far a regular part of your practice warm up each day. In a week, you’ll be surprised at how well you can navigate between the positions across the fretboard!

There’s still two more C major scale positions to learn. I’ll post those next week.

By now you already have C major scale in position #1, position #2, and position #3 under your belt. It’s important you get those positions under your belt before moving forward with the last two positions.

In this lesson, learn how to play C major scale in position #4 on the ukulele.

But first, why all these positions?

Why can’t you just learn one position and call it a day?

For one, by learning the C major scale in all positions across the ukulele fretboard, you learn the natural notes of the fretboard (A, B, C, D, E, F, G). If you know where these important notes are, it’s easier to learn other scales later, especially those with sharps and flats.

Secondly, by learning multiple positions of the C major scale, you make it easier to play certain single-note passages in pieces of music (like those in Fingerpicking Tricks) or solos and riffs (more on that later).

Thirdly, learning the notes of the fretboard can help you build chord variations across the fretboard to find a new sound.

Overall, by learning the C major scale in multiple positions across the fretboard you build an important foundation for understanding your instrument and for soloing later.

Let’s look at this fourth position!

Watch the video to learn the C major scale in position #4 on ukulele and keep reading to discover the scale diagrams and notes in the position.

How to Play a C Major Scale in Position #4 on Ukulele

Let’s do a quick review on the C major scale so far:

• In the first position, you started and ended the scale on a C note – the root note of a C major scale.
• In the second position, you started and ended the scale on a D note – the second scale degree of a C major scale.
• In the third position, you started and ended the scale on an F note – the fourth scale degree of a C major scale.

In this fourth position, you start and end the scale on a G note – the fifth scale degree of a C major scale.

This means even though this scale position starts and ends on an G note, it’s still a C major scale position because it contains all the notes of a C major scale (C, D, E, F, G, A, B).

C Major Scale Position #4 sheet music and ukulele tab

C major scale in position #4 spans the 7th to 10th frets.

For the fretting hand, this means you assign the index finger (represented by the number 1) to the 7th fret, middle finger to the 8th fret (represented by the number 2), ring finger to the 9th fret (represented by the number 3), and little finger to the 10th fret (represented by the number 4).

C Major Scale Position #4 ukulele fretboard diagram

Make a note where the root note of the scale is located – the C note on the 8th fret of the E-string.

You’ve Almost Learned All the Natural Notes on the Ukulele Fretboard

If you’ve been tracking along and have learned the C major scale in the first four positions, then, you’ve almost learned all the natural notes of the ukulele fretboard.

Make it your goal to memorize and learn each of these positions.

It’s hard work to dedicate the discipline required to learn the C major scale. It takes mental effort and physical effort from your fingers to remember where to go. If you put in this work now, you open yourself up to possibilities in the future like:

• Soloing on the ukulele
• Figuring out the melodies of songs on the ukulele fretboard
• Building chord variations across the fretboard
• Coming up with riffs

And more…

There’s one more position to learn which I’ll have for you next week. Until then, practice these positions as you make your way up the fretboard.

Learning the notes of the ukulele fretboard takes a lot of discipline and effort, but it’s nothing you can’t accomplish!

In this lesson, you learn the fifth and final position of the C major scale on the ukulele fretboard.

So far we’ve looked at C major scale in four other positions:

• C Major Scale Position #1
• C Major Scale Position #2
• C Major Scale Position #3
• C Major Scale Position #4

You’ll want to learn the other positions first before learning this last position.

Upon completing this lesson, you’ll know the natural notes of the ukulele fretboard (A, B, C, D, E, F, G) and where to find them. With this knowledge, you can eventually go on to learning other scales in other keys, playing solos, finding melodies, coming up with riffs, and more. But first, it all starts with learning and memorizing these C major scale positions.

Learn this fifth and final C major scale position now!

Watch the video to learn the C major scale in position #5 on ukulele and keep reading to discover the scale diagrams and notes in the position.

How to Play a C Major Scale in Position #5 on Ukulele

Let’s first review the other positions you’ve learned:

• In the first position, you started and ended the scale on a C note – the root note of a C major scale.
• In the second position, you started and ended the scale on a D note – the second scale degree of a C major scale.
• In the third position, you started and ended the scale on an F note – the fourth scale degree of a C major scale.
• In the fourth position, you started and ended the scale on a G note – the fifth scale degree of a C major scale.

In this fifth and final position, you start and end the scale on an A note – the sixth scale degree of a C major scale.

This means even though this scale position starts and ends on an A note, it’s still a C major scale position because it contains all the notes of a C major scale (C, D, E, F, G, A, B).

C Major Scale Position #5 sheet music and ukulele tab

Note: If you’re a keen student, you might notice that the above scale position is also known as A natural minor – the relative minor key to C major.

C major scale in position #5 is trickier than the other positions in that it spans the 9th to 12th frets.

This means if you have a smaller sized ukulele like a soprano or concert you might run out of room for your fingers on these frets! Not to worry because that’s to be expected – just do your best. I find that this fifth scale position is easiest played on a tenor ukulele.

Pay close to attention to the fretboard scale diagram below to where you assign the fingers of the fretting hand to fret the notes of the scale. The number 1 indicates the index finger, number 2 the middle finger, number 3 the ring finger, and number 4 the little finger.

C Major Scale Position #5 ukulele fretboard diagram

Make a note where the root note of the scale is located – the C note on the 12th fret of the C-string.

Here’s Where You’re Headed Next

With that, you’ve learned the final C major scale position on the ukulele fretboard!

Give yourself a nice pat on the back for all your effort.

If you’ve followed along with me for this C major scale lesson series, then, you’ve successfully learned the natural notes of the ukulele fretboard. Natural notes are the letter notes indicated by the first seven letters of the alphabet A, B, C, D, E, F, G. Now that you know these notes, it’s possible to learn scales in other keys with sharps and flats as well as learn melodies, riffs, and solos.

Learning scales takes hard work and practice to commit all the positions to memory, but what you often find is that from this foundation, these scale positions will “repeat” themselves in other ways, meaning, the hard work and effort you put into learning these positions only helps you as you progress forward.

More on that later.

Until next time, keep up the great work!

Today we’re playing Lady Gaga’s famous song Million Reasons on ukulele.

This emotive and powerful ballad has just four ukulele chords making it a perfect song for beginners to learn on ukulele. With simple down strums in the verse and full-sounding down-up strums in the chorus, you have the ability to make this song sound dynamic and emotional when just played as a solo ukulele player.

I perform this song on baritone ukulele, but you can also perform it on a standard-tuned ukulele without a problem (I include both versions of chords below).

First, listen to my performance, and then, once you’re ready dive into the ukulele chords for this song below (skip ahead and go right to the chords).

“Million Reasons” by Lady Gaga Baritone Ukulele Cover

Watch the video to hear me play Million Reasons on the baritone ukulele cover and get the baritone ukulele chords on the screen so you can play along with me.

In the video above, I chose to transpose and perform Million Reasons in the key of F. Lady Gaga originally recorded this song in the key of C. As a male singer though, I found it easier to sing in the key of F, however, if you’re a female singer, you may wish to play this song in the original key of C. I’ve included both versions below.

You can also play along with me using your standard-tuned ukulele, but you’ll need to look up the standard ukulele chord diagrams for the chords F, Dm, Bb, and C in the Ukulele Tricks Chord Library.

Baritone Ukulele Chord Diagrams for “Million Reasons”

Here are the baritone (D-G-B-E) ukulele chord diagrams for the chords I used to play this song.

To play an F major chord on baritone ukulele, take the index finger and press down or barre the bottom two strings at the first fret, place the middle finger on the 2nd fret of the G-string, and ring finger on the 3rd fret of the top D-string.

To play a Dm chord on baritone ukulele, place the index finger on the 1st fret of the bottom E-string, middle finger on the 2nd fret of the G-string, and ring finger on the 3rd fret of the B-string.

To play a Bb major chord on baritone ukulele, place the middle finger on the 3rd fret of the top D-string, ring finger on the 3rd fret of the G-string, little finger on the 3rd fret of the B-string, and index finger on the 1st fret of the bottom E-string.

In the video, I perform a variation of this finger position where I wrap my thumb around to press down on the 3rd fret of the top D-string and then place my middle finger on the 3rd fret of the G-string, ring finger on the 3rd fret of the B-string, and index finger on the 1st fret of the bottom E-string.

To play a C major chord on baritone ukulele, place your middle finger on the 2nd fret of the top D-string, index finger on the 1st fret of the B-string, and little finger on the 3rd fret of the bottom E-string.

Standard Ukulele Chord Diagrams for “Million Reasons”

Here are the standard-tuned (g-C-E-A) ukulele chord diagrams for the chords I used to play this song.

To play the F major chord, place the middle finger on the 2nd fret of the top g-string and index finger on the 1st fret of the E-string. Let the other strings ring open.

To play the D minor chord, place the middle finger on the 2nd fret of the top g-string, ring finger on the 2nd fret of the C-string, and index finger on the 1st fret of the E-string. Let the other string ring open.

To play the Bb major chord, perform a barre by pressing your index finger on the E-string and bottom-A string on the 1st fret, ring finger on the 3rd fret of the top g-string, and middle finger on the 2nd fret of the C-string.

To play the C major chord, place the ring finger on the 3rd fret of the bottom A-string. Let the other strings ring open.

“Million Reasons” by Lady Gaga Ukulele Chords

The chord chart below matches the chords in the above video in the key of F, but I’ve also included the chords for the original key of C in brackets. For standard-tuned ukuleles, look up the chord diagrams in the chord library.

MILLION REASONS

       F [C]	
You're giving me a million reasons to let you go
       Dm [Am]
You're giving me a million reasons to quit the show
       Bb [F]
You're givin' me a million reasons

Give me a million reasons
C [G]
Givin' me a million reasons

About a million reasons

F [C]
If I had a highway, I would run for the hills
       Dm [Am]
If you could find a dry way, I'd forever be still
	   Bb [F]
But you're giving me a million reasons

Give me a million reasons
C [G]
Givin' me a million reasons

About a million reasons

Bb [F]   F [C]     Dm [Am]
I bow    down to   pray
		  C [G]
I try to make the worst seem better
Bb [F]         F [C]      Dm [Am]
Lord,     show me     the way
                       C [G]
To cut through all his worn out leather
Bb [F]         F [C]   		  Dm [Am]	    C [G]
I've got a     hundred million    reasons to walk  away
    Bb [F]  			      F [C]
But baby, I just need one good one to stay

F [C]
Head stuck in a cycle, I look off and I stare
     Dm [Am]
It's like that I've stopped breathing, but completely aware
	      Bb [F]
'Cause you're giving me a million reasons
Bb [F]
Give me a million reasons
C [G]
Givin' me a million reasons
C [G]
About a million reasons

F [C]
And if you say something that you might even mean
     Dm [Am]
It's hard to even fathom which parts I should believe
	      Bb [F]
'Cause you're giving me a million reasons
Bb [F]
Give me a million reasons
C [G]
Givin' me a million reasons
C [G]
About a million reasons

Bb [F]   F [C]     Dm [Am]
I bow    down to   pray
		  C [G]
I try to make the worst seem better
Bb [F]         F [C]      Dm [Am]
Lord,     show me     the way
                       C [G]
To cut through all his worn out leather
Bb [F]         F [C]   		  Dm [Am]	    C [G]
I've got a     hundred million    reasons to walk  away
    Bb [F]  			      
But baby, I just need one good one to 

Dm [Am]      Bb [F]        F [C]
Sta - a -    a - a - a -   ay
	 C [G]
Baby I'm bleedin', bleedin'
Dm [Am]      Bb [F]        F [C]
Sta - a -    a - a - a -   ay
			   C [G]
Can't you give me what I'm needin', needin'
Bb [F]	   F [C]	  C [G]		   Dm [Am]
Every heartbreak makes it hard to keep the faith
    Bb [F]
But baby, I just need one good one
Bb [F]
Good one, good one, good one, good one, good –

Bb [F]   F [C]     Dm [Am]
I bow    down to   pray
		  C [G]
I try to make the worst seem better
Bb [F]         F [C]      Dm [Am]
Lord,     show me     the way
                       C [G]
To cut through all his worn out leather
Bb [F]         F [C]   		  Dm [Am]	    C [G]
I've got a     hundred million    reasons to walk  away
    Bb [F]  			      
But baby, I just need one good one, good one
Bb [F]
Tell me that you'll be the good one, good one
Bb [F]		      Dm [Am]
Baby, I just need one good one to
Dm [Am]      Bb [F]        F [C]
Sta - a -    a - a - a -   ay

I haven’t had this much fun lately learning to play a song as I did learning Justin Bieber’s Love Yourself.

In this heart-felt and soulful tune, you play unexpected chord variations for the verse giving the song it’s signature sound and instant recognition. With a subtle strumming hand slap, you create a percussive rhythm that carries the song’s melody. By the time you get to the chorus, you play the same chords but change the variation to create a fuller sound.

I chose to perform this song on baritone ukulele for two reasons. For one, Love Yourself is played in the key of E, and the key of E is a much more player-friendly key on the baritone ukulele versus a standard-tuned ukulele. And secondly, the baritone’s smooth, mellow sound lends itself well for this particular song’s soulful style.

First, listen to my performance, and then, once you’re ready dive into the ukulele chords for this song below (skip ahead and go right to the chords).

“Love Yourself” by Justin Bieber Baritone Ukulele Cover

Watch the video to hear me play Love Yourself on the baritone ukulele cover and get the baritone ukulele chords on the screen so you can play along with me.

For this song, you’ll want to count out loud as I play along so you can hear what beats the chord changes happen on. It varies throughout the song creating a nice challenge as you’re first learning!

You can also play along with me using your standard-tuned ukulele, but you’ll need to look up the standard ukulele chord diagrams for the chords below in the Ukulele Tricks Chord Library.

Baritone Ukulele Chord Diagrams for “Love Yourself”

Here are the baritone (D-G-B-E) ukulele chord diagrams for the chords I used to play this song.

Verse Chords

For this first set of chords, you use these positions to play the verses, giving the song it’s signature sound.

To play the verse E chord on baritone ukulele, place the index finger on the 2nd fret of the top D-string, little finger on the 5th fret of the B-string, and ring finger on the 4th fret of the bottom E-string. Do not let the G-string ring open.

To play the verse B chord on baritone ukulele, place the index finger on the 1st fret of the top D-string, little finger on the 4th fret of the B-string, and index finger on the 2nd fret of the bottom E-string. Do not let the G-string ring open.

To play the verse C#m chord on baritone ukulele, place the index finger on the 1st fret of the top G-string and middle finger on the 2nd fret of the B-string. Let the bottom E-string ring open. Do not let the top D-string ring open.

To play the verse F#m chord on baritone ukulele, place the index finger on the 4th fret of the top D-string, little finger on the 7th fret of the B-string, and ring finger on the 5th fret of the bottom E-string. Do not let the G-string ring open.

Chorus Chords

You use this second set of chord positions to play the pre-choruses and choruses of the song starting at the lyric “My mama don’t like you” and so on.

To play the E chord on baritone ukulele, place the middle finger on the 2nd fret of the top D-string and index finger on the 1st fret of the G-string. Let the bottom two strings ring open.

To play the Bsus chord on baritone ukulele, place the middle finger on the 4th fret of the top D-string and ring finger on the 4th fret of the G-string. Let the bottom two strings ring open.

To play the C#m7 chord on baritone ukulele, place the middle finger on the 6th fret of the top D-string and ring finger on the 6th fret of the G-string. Let the bottom two strings ring open.

To play the A2 chord (sometimes referred to as Aadd9) on baritone ukulele, place the middle finger on the 2nd fret of the top D-string and ring finger on the 2nd fret of the G-string. Let the bottom two strings ring open.

“Love Yourself” by Justin Bieber Ukulele Chords

This song is written and played in the key of E major. If you’re playing on a standard-tuned ukulele, look up the chord diagrams in the Ukulele Tricks Chord Library.

LOVE YOURSELF

            E	       
For all the times that 
    B          C#m
you rain on my parade
	    F#m	  	     
And all the clubs 
	     E        B
you get in using my name
	      E 	      	 
You think you broke my heart, 
	 B		   C#m
oh girl for goodness sake
	      F#m     	
You think I'm crying, 
	    E 	       B
on my own well I ain't

		   E	     B	
And I didn't wanna write a song 
	     	     	
'cause I didn't want 
C#m
anyone thinking I still care
  F#m        E 		      B
I don't but, you still hit my phone up
	      E	       B		
And baby I be movin' on 
		C#m
and I think you should be somethin'
	      F#m 	
I don't wanna hold back, 
E   	          B
maybe you should know that

	      C#m7     A2 		  E
My mama don't like you and she likes everyone
	    C#m7   A2		     E
And I never like to admit that I was wrong
		 C#m7	      A2  
And I've been so caught up in my job, 
	     E   	     Bsus
didn't see what's going on
	  C#m7  A2	   Bsus
And now I know,  I'm better sleeping on my own

	      E           Bsus  C#m7 	     A2
'Cause if you like the way you  look that much
	E		       A2   E
Oh baby you should go and love yourself
	   E		 Bsus	
And if you think that I'm 
   	C#m7	   A2
still holdin' on to somethin'
E		       A2   E
You should go and love yourself

	     E		      B	       C#m
But when you told me that you hated my friends
	 F#m		  E 	      B
The only problem was with you and not them
	  E		   B  		  C#m
And every time you told me my opinion was wrong
	     F#m	    E 		 B
And tried to make me forget where I came from

		   E	     B	
And I didn't wanna write a song 
	     	     	
'cause I didn't want 
C#m
anyone thinking I still care
  F#m        E 		      B
I don't but, you still hit my phone up
	      E	       B		
And baby I be movin' on 
		C#m
and I think you should be somethin'
	      F#m 	
I don't wanna hold back, 
E   	          B
maybe you should know that

	      C#m7     A2 		  E
My mama don't like you and she likes everyone
	    C#m7   A2		     E
And I never like to admit that I was wrong
		 C#m7	      A2  
And I've been so caught up in my job, 
	     E   	     Bsus
didn't see what's going on
	  C#m7  A2	   Bsus
And now I know,  I'm better sleeping on my own

	      E           Bsus  C#m7 	     A2
'Cause if you like the way you  look that much
	E		       A2   E
Oh baby you should go and love yourself
	   E		 Bsus	
And if you think that I'm 
   	C#m7	   A2
still holdin' on to somethin'
E		       A2   E
You should go and love yourself

E  B  C#m  A
E  A  E
E  B  C#m  A
E  A  E

	    E 		   B 		C#m
For all the times that you made me feel small
	  F#m	  	   E	      B
I fell in love, now I feel nothin' at all
	E		 B	     C#m
I never felt so low when I was vulnerable
	F#m		E		 B
Was I a fool to let you break down these walls?


	      E           Bsus  C#m7 	     A2
'Cause if you like the way you  look that much
	E		       A2   E
Oh baby you should go and love yourself
	   E		 Bsus	
And if you think that I'm 
   	C#m7	   A2
still holdin' on to somethin'
E		       A2   E
You should go and love yourself

	      E           Bsus  C#m7 	     A2
'Cause if you like the way you  look that much
	E		       A2   E
Oh baby you should go and love yourself
	   E		 Bsus	
And if you think that I'm 
   	C#m7	   A2
still holdin' on to somethin'
E		       A2   E
You should go and love yourself