During these trying times, we find that ukulele hymns help us get through this pandemic. We’re in a time of social distancing which means that work, pleasure, and even worship is happening at home. This past week I had the opportunity to lead a hymn for my congregation from a Zoom call. I opened the service with a  hymn on ukulele. I used many of the skills that are in our book and hymn kits: changing strumming patterns and using chord melody. It was a beautiful way to begin the service.

Singing is praying twice, but right now we’re praying from home.

Our religious institutions are closed, so Zoom worship is where it’s at. People are experiencing fear and anxiety. Worship participation is up across religious faiths in the United States.

Many states and countries are starting to open up, but there is a sense of caution.

We have heard about the choir practices where members of a choir got Covid 19 following a rehearsal. Also, we have heard about indoor sporting events where athletes got sick after the game. We want to get back together, but we also want to be safe. Bottom line is we want to know the best way to balance these competing ideas.

When we sing or take part in athletics inside, there is more spread of aerosol droplets from our breath. At first, some doctors recommended canceling ALL sports and music in schools until there is widespread immunity to Covid 19.  But, there are ways to make these activities safe. It is important to look at these ideas.

Singing and playing instruments are a huge part of the human condition.

There has to be a middle ground. We need to be able to express our emotions through music. To do this, we can have smaller groups or sit further apart. We can listen to live music with the audience sitting far apart. Also, we can think about partitions between musicians. Or we can continue our music remotely until it is safe to meet in person. 

We know that music has gotten many of us through this time of the pandemic.

Every day performers are streaming live music from living rooms across the country. People are flocking to online lessons and YouTube channels. People now have time to learn ukulele. One person calls it his “Corona Improvement Project.”

Ukulele hymns help us get through this pandemic – here’s our ukulele hymn kits!

Our new book and hymn kits will give you the opportunity to learn music YOUR way. Do you need to play something by yourself without singing? Then, learn one of the 13 chord melodies where you combine melody and accompaniment at the same time.

Do you want to lead singing through a Zoom call or in person? Then sing and strum the song. You can vary the strumming patterns for each verse and add a little fingerpicking to the mix as well. Do you want to create a duet for one? Then experiment with some of the fun apps such as Acapella that let you do that.

If you enjoyed this post, you’ll enjoy these related posts:

• Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen Ukulele Tutorial
• Amazing Grace Ukulele Tutorial
• How to Play Nearer My God to Thee – Easy Ukulele Songs
• Morning Has Broken Ukulele Tutorial

These posts will show you how to play hymns on the ukulele.

Our long-awaited ukulele hymn book and course will be coming out soon. To get you excited, we’re sharing our ukulele hymns playlist on YouTube that includes videos that teach hymns. Here is the playlist.

Songs on the Ukulele Hymns Playlist on YouTube

1. Amazing Grace
2. Nearer My God to Thee
3. Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee
4. Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen
5. Morning Has Broken
6. Prayer of Thanksgiving
7. Chatter With the Angels
8. This Little Light of Mine
9. We Shall Overcome
10. Wayfaring Stranger
11. Kumbaya
12. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
13. Church in the Wildwood
14. Shall We Gather at the River?
15. Give Me That Old Time Religion

Many, but not all, of these hymns are in our book and hymn kits that will be available for sale on www.ukulele.io.

In our books and courses, we always level songs from easiest to hardest. We also give you historical background about each song.

As our gift to you, we are giving you the sheet music to “Nearer My God to Thee.” So, you not only get our ukulele hymns playlist on YouTube, you also get a free sheet music! 

Background Information of the Songs on the Ukulele Hymns Playlist on YouTube

John Newton (1725-1807) published Amazing Grace in 1779. On his voyage home to England he awoke to find the ship filling with water during a violent storm. As he called out to God for mercy the cargo shifted enough to stop the leak, and he was saved from drowning. He later wrote that his spiritual conversion began at this moment. As he grew more committed to his Christian faith, he came to believe that the slave trade was wrong. Later, He became a prominent abolitionist and evangelical religious leader. He was influential in Britain’s abolition of slavery in 1807.

Not a great deal is known about the origin of  Nearer My God to Thee. The lyrics were a poem by Sarah Flower Adams, who died in 1848. Her sister Eliza set it to music. She based the text on the Biblical reference to Jacob’s dream. Wallace Hartley, the bandleader on the Titanic, played “Nearer My God to Thee” on his violin. He played it to comfort the passengers as the ship went down.

More About the Songs on the Ukulele Hymns Playlist on YouTube

Henry van Dyke (1852-1933) wrote the words to Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee in 1907. The melody of “Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee” comes from the last movement of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. At the first performance of the symphony, Beethoven was completely deaf. A legend says the soloists had to turn him around so he could see the applause from the audience.

Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen is a composition thought of as a secular hymn. Cohen started with an astonishing eighty verses of lyrics for Hallelujah. He cut this to a final four-verse recording which was released in 1984. Cohen wrote brilliant lyrical narratives about Biblical characters. These include the story of King David and Bathsheba. With the lyrics about despair, dejection, and love, these stories come to life in this song.

The melody of Morning Has Broken is based on a Gaelic tune called “Bunessan”. Bunessan is a small Scottish village located on the island of Mull. Eleanor Farjeon wrote the lyrics of “Morning Has Broken” in 1931. “Morning Has Broken” was already popular in England since its release in 1931. The song’s reach widened when Cat Stevens included it on his Teaser and the Firecat album. The song ranked in the top ten of the 1972 music charts in several countries.

European 16th-century religious strife is the source of Prayer of Thanksgiving. Theodore Baker, an American music scholar, found the hymn’s German translation in Leipzig in the 1870s. In 1894 Baker translated the hymn into English and named it “Prayer of Thanksgiving”. Starting in the early 1900s, Christian denominations included it in their hymnbooks. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis chose Prayer of Thanksgiving as the processional hymn for her funeral. In 1994, and it was also featured in an episode of The West Wing.

Several Hymns Come from the African American tradition.

Chatter with the Angels is an African American work song. The singer is dreaming about a time when she/he would be with the angels rather than working in the fields as a slave.

This Little Light of Mine is a gospel song that became an anthem in the Civil Rights era of the 1950’s and 1960’s. It was composed by Harry Dixon Loes in the 1920’s as a children’s song. Many artists have covered this song, including Ray Charles and the Everly Brothers. Because the lyrics are so simple, it’s fun to create your own verses, as we did with the third verse.

We Shall Overcome is a gospel song that became a protest song. It is often associated with the United States’ Civil Rights movement.

Wayfaring Stranger is a plaintive gospel song telling the story of a soul’s journey through life. Many artists have covered it, including Burl Ives and Johnny Cash.

Kumbaya means “come by here.” The person singing it is pleading for the Spirit of God to bring peace and harmony to everyone. The song is associated with the Civil Rights movement of the 1960’s. 

Swing Low, Sweet Chariot depicts the story of the prophet Elijah being taken to heaven by a chariot. (2 Kings 2:11) The song became popular during the Civil Rights. Joan Baez sang it at the 1969 Woodstock Music Festival.

Give Me That Old Time Religion

Give Me That Old Time Religion is an African American spiritual first published in 1872 in Jubilee Songs as Sung By the Fisk Jubilee Singers. Charles Davis Tillman, who made a name for himself popularizing and publishing gospel songs, copyrighted it in 1891. Tillman clearly did not write this song, although he did bring it popularity with white Southerners with slight changes to the lyrics. The song is known by a variety of titles including “That Old Time Religion” and “Old Time Religion.”

Shall We Gather at the River

Robert Lowry (1826-1899) collaborated with William H. Doane to produce some of the most popular Sunday school song collections of his day. Shall We Gather at the River? has appeared in many movies, including the 1985 Academy Award-winning film, The Trip to Bountiful. Charles Ives and Aaron Copland, two famous American composers arranged this hymn. The United States Army Chorus sang it at the funeral of Associate Justice William O. Douglas in the National Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C., in 1980.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this ukulele hymns playlist on YouTube, along with free sheet music and background information about the songs!

If you enjoyed this post, you’ll enjoy these related posts:

• Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen Ukulele Tutorial
• Amazing Grace Ukulele Tutorial
• How to Play Nearer My God to Thee – Easy Ukulele Songs
• Morning Has Broken Ukulele Tutorial

These posts will show you how to play other hymns on the ukulele.