This very important lesson will teach us three things: A interesting pattern, our first chord, and our first strums. This may seem like a lot, but if you learn the pattern at the beginning of the lesson, everything else will fall into place!
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to: Play our new pattern and attempt to strum a C Major chord.
This pattern teaches us many things. It is a wonderful warm-up, it works as an exercise for the fingers of our left hand, and it teaches us our first chord (and two bonus chords that we will use later!).
In this lesson, we ask "Do the chord charts make sense? We will start using chord charts A LOT now that we have learned our C chord, so it is a good time to review this concept. Also, we will experiment with two "Quick Activities."
This video explains how to read and use chord charts. We will go over the details of how to place our fingers correctly, and we will explain exactly what we are looking at when we see a chord chart. We will also give a quick reminder of the numbers for the frets and fingers.
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
Understand the information that chord charts contain
Attempt to play chords using chord charts
Learning all the number systems for ukulele can be confusing, so in this lesson we will review the numbers for frets, fingers, and strings. We will also do a "Quick Activity" that will have us teaching ukulele to others.
This lesson will teach us many of the details of how to do a proper strum. We will be introduced to both our thumb strum and our index finger strum. We will also learn where to strum on our strings and how hard we should play. We will also learn to avoid some common mistakes that beginners make.
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
- Perform a basic strum (with the thumb AND the index finger)
- Attempt to sing while strumming our ukulele
This video is a play-along for our Thumb Strum. We will se an example, and we will get a chance to perform our thumb strum with a melody.
This video is a play-along for our index finger strum. We will se an example, and we will get a chance to perform our index finger strum with a melody.
Here we will review how to use our fingers to make a proper thumb strum and index finger strum. We will also do one "Quick Activity."
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to: Perform a proper thumb/index finger strum in the correct spot on the ukulele.
This video gives us an up-close demonstration of how to use our fingertips to play chords properly. Will will learn how to avoid some common mistakes that beginner ukulele players sometimes make. We also discuss a few helpful tips at the end of the video.
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
- Play a proper C major chord using the tips of the fingers
- Play a proper D major chord using the tips of the fingers
- Play a proper G major chord using the tips of the fingers
- Play a proper A7 chord using the tips of the fingers
- Play a proper e minor chord using the tips of the fingers
In this lesson, we will ask ourselves why we are using our fingertips for chords rather than using the pads of our fingers. We will also experiment with two "Quick Activities."
*Please print the sheet music for "Wheels on the Bus" before you begin* This lesson will teach us how to play "The Wheels on the Bus" using our new Thumb Strum technique. "Wheels on the Bus" is a traditional American folk song written by Verna Hills.
*Print out the attached chord chart before you begin* This play-along video is in UkeVision. It will show us how to play "Wheels on the Bus" with our new Thumb Strum pattern.
*Print the sheet music for "Mary Had a Little Lamb" before you begin* This lesson will teach us everything we need to know to play "Mary Had a Little Lamb" with Thumb Strums. "Mary Had a Little Lamb" is an English folk song.
Please print out the attached chord chart for this song. This play-along video is in UkeVision. It will show us how to play "Mary Had a Little Lamb" on our ukulele with our new Thumb Strum pattern.
*Please print the sheet music for "Skip to My Lou" before you begin* Here we learn everything we need to know to play "Skip to My Lou" using our new Thumb Strum pattern. "Skip to My Lou" is a American partner-stealing dance from the 1800's.
*Please print out the attached chord chart before you begin* This play-along video is in UkeVision. It will show us how to play "Skip to My Lou" with our new Thumb Strum pattern.
In this video, we explain a few "chord progressions" that are used throughout this course and throughout music in general. The three common chord progressions that we discuss here are:
- I - V - I
- I - IV - V - I
- I - vi - IV - V - I
*Please print the sheet music for "This Old Man" before you begin* This lesson will teach us what we need to know to be able to play "This Old Man" with Thumb Strums. "This Old Man" is an English folk song.
*Please print out the attached chord chart before you begin* This play-along video is in UkeVision. It will show us how to play "This Old Man" with our new Thumb Strum pattern.
*Please print the sheet music for "Mary Had a Little Lamb" if you need another copy* Here we learn everything we need to know to be able to play "Mary Had a Little Lamb" with Index Finger Strums. "Mary Had a Little Lamb" is an English folk song.
*Please print out the attached chord chart if you need another copy* This play-along video is in UkeVision. It will show us how to play "Mary Had a Little Lamb" with our new Index Finger Strum pattern.
*Please print the sheet music for "Hokey Pokey" before you begin* This lesson will teach us everything we need to know to play "The Hokey Pokey" with Index Finger Strums. "Hokey Pokey" was originally a British folk dance.
*Please print out the attached chord chart before you begin* This play-along video is in UkeVision. It will show us how to play "Hokey Pokey" with our new Index Finger Strum pattern.
*Please print the sheet music for "Happy Birthday" before you begin* Here we demonstrate how to play "Happy Birthday" with both Index Finger Strums & Thumb Strums.
Please print out the attached chord chart if needed. This play-along video is in UkeVision. It will show us how to play "Happy Birthday" with our new Index Finger & Thumb Strum patterns.
*Please print the sheet music for "This Old Man" if you need another copy* Here we learn everything we need to know to play "This Old Man" with a combination of Index Finger Strums and Thumb Strums. "This Old Man" is an English folk song.
*Please print out the attached chord chart if you need another copy* This play-along video is in UkeVision. It will show us how to play "This Old Man" with both our Index Finger Strum and Thumb Strum patterns.
This video explains the basic concept of transposition, and explains why we will be learning two different versions of the song "This Little Light of Mine." One of these versions centers around the C major chord, and we say that one is "in C major." The other version centers around the F major chord, and we say that one is "in F major."
*Please print the sheet music for "This Little Light of Mine (C Major)" before you begin* This lesson demonstrates the details of the song "This Little Light of Mine (C Major)" "This Little Light of Mine" is a gospel song.
*Please print out the attached chord chart before you begin* This play-along video is in UkeVision. It will show us how to play "This Little Light of Mine (C Major)" with our new Index Finger Strum pattern.
*Please print the sheet music for "This Little Light of Mine (F Major)" before you begin* Here we learn how to play "This Little Light of Mine (F Major)." This is the same song that we just learned in C major, but we are now playing it in a different "key." "This Little Light of Mine" is a gospel song.
*Please print out the attached chord chart before you begin* This play-along video is in UkeVision. It will show us how to play "This Little Light of Mine (F Major)" with our new Index Finger Strum pattern.
In this lesson, we introduce the song "Down by the Riverside." We will also learn about the concept of transposing, and we will discuss learning some more advanced chords. I demonstrate the concept of transposing, which will give us a preview for other four videos attached to this lesson.
*Please print the sheet music for "Down by the Riverside (C Major)" before you begin* Here we will be learning "Down by the Riverside" in the original key of C major. "Down by the Riverside" is an American spiritual.
*Please print the sheet music for "Down by the Riverside (F Major)" before you begin* Here we will be learning "Down by the Riverside" in the transposed key of F major. "Down by the Riverside" is an American spiritual.
*Please print the sheet music for "Down by the Riverside (G Major)" before you begin* Here we will be learning "Down by the Riverside" in the transposed key of G major. "Down by the Riverside" is an American spiritual.
*Please print the sheet music for "Down by the Riverside (D Major)" before you begin* Here we will be learning "Down by the Riverside" in the transposed key of D major. "Down by the Riverside" is an American spiritual.
This video introduces a few new strumming patterns that go beyond the thumb strum and the index finger strum. I will give an example and an explanation of each.
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
- Attempt to perform the Island Strum
- Attempt to perform the Reggae Strum
- Attempt to perform the 6/8 strum
Remember that attempting these patterns DOES NOT mean that they will be perfect. This lessons works as a introduction to some patterns that are more advanced. You are not expected to master these at this point.
This lesson introduces us to the Island Strum, the Reggae Strum, and the 6/8 strum, three patterns that we can practice and add to our ukulele playing moving forward. We will also take a look at two "Discussion Questions" and two "Quick Activities."