Non-singers can learn chord melody

Yes, you can learn to play the ukulele even if you are a terrible singer. One of the greatest ukulele artists around, Jake Shimabukuro, does not sing.

Check out the following video for an example of what chord melody can sound like. Here Jenny plays “Wayfaring Stranger” as a chord melody solo.

As a beginner, you’re not going to sound great right away.

But there are steps you can take to learn to play simple chord melodies.

When learning a new song, first learn to sing and strum the song. All music has three elements: melody, harmony, and rhythm. For the ukulele that transfers to:

1. voice=melody  
2. chords=harmony 
3. strumming pattern=rhythm 

When you’re first beginning you will need to concentrate on one thing at a time.

Then you can put them all together.

It’s important to sing or speak the lyrics when the chords change. Otherwise, you will not know where you are in the song. If you hate singing, you can play along with our online lesson videos or check out other YouTube channels. 

Here is a YouTube channel where you can play along with the artist.

You are practicing learning the chords and learning to keep the beat. You don’t have to worry about the lyrics and the melody. Check out  Ukeplayalongs

Not a singer?

I know many people don’t like to sing. And I understand. I get at least one YouTube comment a week that tells me to stop singing!

Here are some words of encouragement about singing.

“If you can talk, you can sing. If you can walk, you can dance.”

African Folk Saying

In teaching music, singing is a necessary part of it. You have to sing to understand the melody component of music.

Unfortunately, in our culture, we are all encouraged not to sing. Singing has become professionalized. And right now singing in groups is not considered safe, so learning how to play melody on your ukulele is a great idea!

Intermediate

Play a duet with a friend or relative. Here’s what one customer said.

Advanced Intermediate

Learn chord melody. Here is an example of a chord melody version of Frere Jacques. As you can see, we’ve kept the chord melody simple. You add the notes of the chord underneath the melody on the first beat of each measure. If you start with simple material like this, you will be able to sound complete without singing soon.

Later you can go on to more complicated songs where you change chords a lot and you play notes higher up on the neck of the ukulele. But you will be happiest if you start with easier music first.

Here’s what an Amazon customer said about learning chord melody.

All our books offer melody, melody tab, chord stamps and a suggested strumming pattern. Many of our books offer chord melodies too. We also offer online live lessons where we talk about learning melody tab and chord melody.

So, read more to find out more about our products and to sign up for our mailing list. You will be happy that you joined our community!