Easy Ukulele Songs. by Denise Gagné Contents Song Music Lyrics Chords Introduction, tips and tuning 2

Transcription

1 Easy Ukulele Songs by Denise Gagné ontents Song Music Lyrics hords Introduction, tips and tuning 2. Little Tommy Tinker Johnny One Hammer 8 0. unga Alafia Row, Row, Row Your Boat 9 G7 5. Adieu My omrades 9 6. This Old Hammer 0 7. Ten in the Bed Land of the Silver Birch 2 Dm 9. anoe Song 2 2 Dm 0. In the Land of Oz 2 Dm. Skin and Bones Em 2. The Ghost of Tom Em. otton Eyed Joe 4 4 A 4. Whistle Daughter 4 4 D 5. Little Liza Jane 5 5 D 6. The Wandering owboy 5 5 G 7. lementine Swing Low, Sweet hariot Hush Little Baby This Old Man 9 8 G7 2. He s Got the Whole World 20 9 G7 22. Rock-a My Soul 2 40 G7 2. Jack Was Every Inch a Sailor 22 4 G 24. Hey Lidee 2 42 D A 25. Old Texas 2 42 D A 26. ound a Peanut 24 4 D A 27. Boll Weevil Nobody Likes Me G D 29. Wade in the Water Dm A7 0. What Shall We Do With the Silly Sailor? Dm A7. Nothing But Peace G D 2. He is Born G D hord chart 48 Download Print Permission: The purchaser of this download is permitted to print ONE copy only of this publication. No sharing of this copy or the MPs included is allowed under international copyright law. Themes & Variations Box 2509 Deer Park PO, Red Deer Alberta T4R 2M2 tvinfo@telus.net Web Site: Toll ree Phone or ax: Printed in anada 205 over Design and musical arrangements by raig assils ISBN Number:

2 Introduction This collection of easy songs for ukulele is designed to get you singing and playing the ukulele in the very first lesson! The chords used in this collection are introduced through a series of 5 one chord songs. Mastering the chords before having to learn to change chords eliminates much of the frustration that young beginners face. After introducing the chords used, 5 easy two chord songs are given. If your students find it difficult to switch chords, divide the class into two groups and have one group play one chord and the other group play the other. Practice changing the chords slowly without looking at the fretboard. When students are able to feel where the fingers go, changing the chords will be easy. The last two songs in the collection use three chords. A D with recordings of all the songs is included. Students will learn the chords and how to change chords using the folk songs that are given in the collection. In addition to the songs in the collection we ve given links (in the proectable PD included on the D) to easy pop songs on YouTube that use the same chords. Students really enoy playing along with pop songs. Where possible, links to the original artists performance and to a video with the chords and lyrics are given. An inexpensive student book/d is available so your students can play along with all the folk songs and easily access the same YouTube links at home. This collection does not address reading notes and playing melodies - the focus is on learning songs to sing and strum. The ukulele originated in the 9th century as a Hawaiian interpretation of the machete, a small guitar-like instrument taken to Hawaii by Portuguese immigrants. Since then, the ukulele has been commonly associated with music from Hawaii, where the name roughly translates as umping flea, perhaps because of the movement of the player s fingers. The ukulele gained great popularity elsewhere in the United States during the early 20th century, and from there spread internationally. It has been popular with performing musicians, and also in music education.

3 Parts of the Ukulele Headstock rets Neck Ukulele is sometimes abbreviated to uke. The ukulele is a member of the guitar family of instruments. It has four strings that are played by plucking or strumming. Ukuleles are generally made of wood, though variants have been composed partially or entirely of plastic or other materials. There are four main sizes of ukulele: soprano (standard), concert, tenor and baritone. The soprano, concert and tenor are good sizes for the young beginner. 4 Tuning pegs Strings Sound hole Bridge Tenor Ukulele Body Soprano Ukulele

4 Playing hords The Left Hand The fingers of your left hand are numbered The left thumb goes on the back of the ukulele neck Press the strings using the tips of your fingers between the two frets 4 2 hord Diagrams The chord diagram is like a picture or map of the neck of your ukulele. It shows where to place the fingers to play a chord. The lines down represent the strings and the horizontal lines represent the frets. The numbered circles show you where to depress a string and which finger to use In this example, press down the first string at the third fret Use your third finger rets inger Strings 4 2 G E A 6

5 Strumming the hord The hord A chord is sounded when three or more notes are played at the same time. To play a chord, press the first string down in the third fret with the third finger Strumming You can use either your thumb or your index (pointer) finger to strum Some players like to use a felt pick Strum all four strings in a smooth downward stroke. Keep a steady beat as you strum The best place to strum is the sweet spot near the area where the neck meets the body strum strum strum strum strum strum strum strum / / / / / / / / Try some different strumming patterns on a chord. The letter d is for a down strum and u is for an up strum. d u d u d u d u d d u d du d u d d u d d d d u d u When you are playing a song, choose a strumming pattern that suits the style of the music. 7

6 Tuning the Ukulele Tuning the ukulele is easy, especially since there are many apps available to help with this. An excellent tuner for mobile devices can be found by searching for guitar toolkit. It has instrument specific tuners for all stringed instruments, chord guides and a great metronome. A good free tuner is n-track Tuner. There are many more free tuners available, but beware of in app purchases and plenty of adware. In large classes of students, it may be more efficient to line up the students, ukulele in hand, and tune them yourself than to try have students tune the instruments. At there is a ukulele tuner. Log in, and then select Ukulele from the menu on the left. lick on the tuning peg to start and stop the sound. This book uses tuning (standard) so click on Ukulele Tuner. Better quality ukuleles will stay in tune much better, so try to purchase good quality ukuleles. Always loosen the string and then tighten it up until it is in tune (from under pitch to on pitch). Instruct your students to never touch the tuning pegs once you have tuned the instrument. Open string tuning: or easy tuning. start at the G with a tuner and move up. The melody will sound a little bit like My dog has fleas. Play a chord to make sure the instrument is in tune with itself. Make music! The strings are tuned as follows: String 4: G String : String 2: E String : A 4 2 & c G E A Pop Songs to Play on Ukulele Playing pop music is a huge motivator for students. The Proectable PD file includes links to 2 pop songs with one, two, three or more chords that are easy to play. As soon as students are familiar with a few chords, try playing the pop songs that are included in the links. Links are included to the You- Tube channel, Easy Ukulele hords and Lyrics to learn the chords, and to the original performers videos. 8

7 Intro 4 bars 7. lementine & b 4. & b. In Light Drove How va - shoes morn - missed a she she I J. ting were ing my & b. & b ni - tops - splin - sis - ner es ter, ter. cav - was duck - missed for num - ust lem - and san - fell and dar - lin', Oh my ern, and lings her, a mine, ber nine, at nine, en - tine,. his dals in - daugh were to - for - got.. in like to how. dar - lin,' Oh my a a the I lived Her - Hit Till a ring her I ter for the my.. can - fair - wa - missed le - men - lem - en - foam - lem - ing en - J. yon y ter her, ex - and eve - how. min - box - foot kissed er es a - her for - with - gainst lit -. tine. tine. brine. tine. dar - lin' le - men - Oh. ca - her ry I ty - out a tle my tine. You are & b.... lost and gone for - ev - er dread - ful sor - ry le - men - tine. 7

8 Intro 2 bars 8. Swing Low, Sweet hariot 7 & b c. & b. & b low, J Swing. low, sweet. sweet.. char - i - ot, com-in' for to car -ry me. 7 char - i - ot, com - in' for to car - ry me. looked o - ver Jor -dan and what did I see, com-in' for to car -ry me 7. home. ine. home. 7. home. Swing & b... band of an - gels com-in' af -ter me, com-in' for to car -ry me 7 home. I A Swing 8

9 Intro 2 bars 2. He s Got the Whole World G7 & c G 7 & whole & whole G 7 & He's got the whole. world. world. world. in His hands He's got the. in His hands He's got the. in His hands He's got the whole world in His hands. He's got you and me brother in His hands, He s got the little bitty baby in His hands, He s got the little bitty baby in His hands, He s got the little bitty baby in His hands, He s got the whole world in His hands. He s got you and me brother in His hands, He s got you and me sister in His hands, He s got you and me brother in His hands, He s got the whole world in His hands. He s got the whole world in His hands, He s got the whole world in His hands, He s got the whole world in His hands, He s got the whole world in His hands.. 2

10 Intro 2 bars 22. Rock-a My Soul G7 & c Rock-a my soul in the bo -som of A - bra-ham, Rock-a my soul in the & & bo - som of A - bra-ham, G 7. Rock-a my soul in the bo -som of A - bra-ham, ine Œ. G 7 Oh, rock - a my soul. So high, you can't get o - ver it, G 7 &. So high, you can't get o - ver it,. So high, you G 7 & Œ.. can't get o - ver it, You horus: Rock-a my soul in the bosom of Abraham, Rock-a my soul in the bosom of Abraham, Rock-a my soul in the bosom of Abraham, Oh, rock-a my soul. 2. So wide, you can t get round it So wide, you can t get round it So wide, you can t get round it You must go in at the door. horus. So low, you can t get under it So low, you can t get under it So low, you can t get under it You must go in at the door. must go in at the horus door. 4. So high, you can t get over it So wide, you can t get round it So low, you can t get under it You must go in at the door. horus: Rock-a my soul in the bosom of Abraham, Rock-a my soul in the bosom of Abraham, Rock-a my soul in the bosom of Abraham, Oh, rock-a my soul. Spiritual 22

11 Intro 2 bars 28. Nobody Likes Me G D D m & b c D m & b G & # 4 2 No - bod-y likes & # Big, fat uic- y ones, & # Bite their heads off. & # Intro 2 bars I don't see how Wade in the Wade in the. wa. wa - ter, Wade in the wa -ter, chil-dren, 27 A m - ter, God's gon-na trou-ble the wa -. D m & b.... lap Do it me, your hands and to - geth - er sing your can't be Ev - 'ry-bod - y hates song. wrong. ti - ny lit - tle wig-gley ones. Suck their guts out. birds can live on me, Wade Wade in in Guess I'll go eat Watch them wig-gle and Throw the skins a - # worms three times a 29. Wade in the Water the the A m wa wa - - D worms. D way. G day! G squirm. Dm D m Am ter. ter. ter. ine

12 Intro 2 bars. Little Tommy Tinker Little Tommy Tinker sat upon a clinker. He began to cry. Ma! Ma! Poor little innocent guy. Intro 2 bars 2. Johnny One Hammer. Johnny plays with one hammer, one hammer, one hammer. Johnny plays with one hammer, then he plays with two. 2. Johnny plays with two hammers.... Johnny plays with three hammers Johnny plays with four hammers Johnny plays with five hammers... Then he takes a rest. Intro 2 bars unga alafia. Ahshay, ahshay.. unga Alafia unga alafia. Ahshay, ahshay. unga alafia. Ahshay, ahshay. unga alafia. Ahshay, ahshay. The teacher is permitted to reproduce this page for students in one school or institution.

13 2 2 Dm G E7 2 A m Em 2 Am 2 D 2 2 D7 G 2 Note: Some chords have been altered to fit smaller hands. 49 The teacher is permitted to reproduce this page for students in one school or institution.