One of my great joys in life is being able to pick up my ukulele and play many kinds of music, such as a chord melody arrangement. It’s great to have a portable instrument sitting right by my bed that I can grab. I play it before I sleep or when I wake up in the morning. Playing music that is easy and full sounding puts me in a better mood. The rich and exciting sounds take me to another place and uplift me.
In this article, you’ll learn how to play “up the neck” on your ukulele.
You’ll learn to shift to the higher positions in the song “Yankee Doodle.” It’s pretty easy to play melodies in the first three frets, but when the music goes higher it can get complicated. We’ll show you some principles of left-hand fingering to help you out as you play “up the neck” on your ukulele.
Here is what our customers have to say about our books and the joy they bring to them.
Our church is planning a good ole country gospel Sunday service. I am going to share hymns from my Hymn Kit. I love everything about your new chord melodies. You did an awesome job.
I am almost 66 years old and bought my first ukulele around the end of August right after my mother died. It has helped keep my stress down so much. My husband and I are raising two of our grandchildren. They are 4 and 2 so we are busy, but I make practice time every day. Your music has helped me so much.
As you get better at ukulele, it’s fun to try new techniques. Going on YouTube is great but having a guided course with video lessons and a printable .pdf is even better. If you can play melody tab and three-chord songs, you are ready for the chord melody, which combines the two.
Click here to find out more about our chord melody course. It goes live each year in late November.
Here are some common issues people have as the music gets harder.
It’s easy to play melodies in the first 5 frets, but when the music goes higher, the fingering is more complicated. In this video, we teach you how to shift so you don’t miss the higher notes. I show how to play “Yankee Doodle” as you move your hand up the A string to play notes in frets 5, 7, and 8.
There are some common principles that work on all stringed instruments. When you play with your fingering hand right by the tuning pegs, that is called the first position. As you move your hand to get the higher notes, it helps to “anchor” your first finger on a particular fret.
Principles of Left-Hand Fingering
- First position-Finger 1 is on the 1st fret
- Third position-Finger 1 is on the 3rd fret
- Fifth position-Finger 1 is on the 5th fret
- Shifting-Moving your hand to put finger 1 on a particular fret
If these ideas are confusing, watch the video lesson. I explain it all clearly there with pictures of what the music looks like while I’m demonstrating the skill. And, you’ll get to learn “Yankee Doodle!”
Adding Chords to Your Melodies
If you can play melodies up and down the neck of the ukulele pretty easily, you can start to add chords to your melodies. In this next video lesson, I teach you how to play a C Major scale plus five extra notes to take you up to the 10th fret. You learn about the first, third and fifth positions for your left hand. You also learn easy chords “up the neck” of your ukulele. Finally, I introduce the concept of “movable chords” with two easy barre chords. Everything is in the key of C, so you can use your open ukulele strings as much as possible to play chords.
Learn Easy Ukulele Chord Melody Today
Then you get to put it all together with a simple chord melody of Jingle Bells
In this arrangement, you play both melody and chords. You’ve learned the techniques you need in the other two video lessons.
If you like the full sound of Jingle Bells, you’re ready for our course, Learn Easy Ukulele Chord Melody Today. In this course, you learn 7 songs with easy full-sounding music. The songs have accompanying video lessons and a pdf. All the songs can be played with either a
high G tuned ukulele or a low G tuned ukulele. I have lesson and performance videos for each song showing both the high G and low G versions.
The course is available from Nov. 24-Dec. 15 of 2020. Click here to get your name on a list to receive three free goodies. You’ll get the sheet music to accompany video lessons. In the video lessons, I teach you how to:
- Play the C Scale Plus Five Notes with Chords
- Learn How to Fingerpick an Arpeggio Study
- Jingle Bells Chord Melody
Then, be sure to buy the course when it goes live. You’ll be glad you did!
| This is a really good course and it helps me to understand music better, as well as improving my left and right-hand co-ordination. I am able to play a lot better now. |
Wow, chord melody sounds rich and full, with melody and chords at the same time!
But it’s probably too hard for me. Not true!
In this course you’ll learn easy full-sounding music using techniques you know.
More About Chord Melody
Want to read more about ukulele chord melodies and the arrangements we have created? Check out the following articles:
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