Ukuleles: Automatic Happiness!

Via Uke Hunt, check out this great/interesting chart of the most-used chords in ukulele songs:



Even more helpful, especially for beginners: Songs with Chords You Know, with links to a whole bunch of tabs and tutorials.

I'm not going to lie, "Wonderwall" is one of my all-time favorite songs, full stop. Who's got two thumbs and is delighted by the plethora of online tutorial options we've got for it? Three guesses and the first two don't count.



Here's a straightforward set of tabs, if video learning isn't your bag.

Okay, finding new tabs sites makes me really, really excited -- especially when it covers songs that you don't necessarily find ten thousand times on every other tabs site. Snaps to Ukudaily Song Book, which posts a new (and generally awesome!) popular music song with video and tabs every day. You can also download some of the newer songs as a 1-page PDF, which I find incredibly helpful. There's also a podcast, as I understand it.

BRB, going to learn "Video Killed the Radio Star" and "Head Over Feet."

Last one for this week is a link. I know there are ten bazillion ukulele tab sites out there (check out the links list on the left hand side of this community for a few), but sometimes no one has transcribed a ukulele version of a song you really want.

Enter Chordie. It's primarily a guitar tabs database, but once you've found the song of your dreams -- let's say it's "I Wish I Was the Moon" by Neko Case. There's a pull-down menu on the right side of the page, which, when you select the instrument of your choice, can transpose the tabs to ukulele, three kinds of banjo and the mandolin. Very spiffy! Here's that track again, for proof.

You can also use the "Transpose Chords" menu to fit the song to your preferred key or easier/harder chord pattern.

Happy Friday, guys!

More great nerdy fingerpicking tabs, this time the theme from Indiana Jones! (Slightly less complicated than the Super Mario Bros. theme too...)

Hope you all are looking forward to a good weekend. I'm bringing my ukulele on a plane for the first time today -- hopefully that won't be as much of an adventure as I worry it could be! (The TSA guidelines for that, in case you were curious and/or it's relevant to you.)

Ever wanted to break out the Super Mario Brothers theme song at your friendly gathering of choice?

You can now!

If video tutorials are more your speed, Hawaii Music Supply has you covered ( in two parts. )

Hey guys! For today's post, I actually wanted to alert you to a feature on the ukuleles community page. On the left column is a collection of links that you might find helpful. This is a quick run-down of what you can get from each. Some of these sites have premium content that I haven't explored yet, but if any of you decide to give that a shot, I'd love to hear about it!

Ukulele Tricks was the first website I found in my search for outside help, thanks to its great online tuner. Site maintainer Brett McQueen has a very easygoing, friendly style. He posts videos, tutorials, sheet music and tips on a variety of topics, from the very basics (choosing an instrument for beginners) to reading music (including tabs), strumming, fingerpicking and more. His free ebook, Your First Ukulele Lesson and Then Some, is great, and I'm just getting into his chord library too.

Dr. Ukulele's Waiting Room is run by an actual MD who performs with his daughters. The real gold mine is his song library of free downloadable PDFs, many of them "classic" or "traditional" songs.

Ukulele Underground aims to teach classes through video, and they do a great job -- the instructors are really engaging and personable, and it looks like they're filmed in Hawaii, which is definitely an added bonus in my book. The lessons are both practical (check out Ukulele Minute for tips on things as basic as how to hold your ukulele) and song-related.

Ukulele Tabs is a gold mine of popular sheet music. This is where you'll find your arrangements of everything from Dusty Springfield to Def Leppard to Neutral Milk Hotel. The tabs are all user-submitted, and because of copyright issues, there aren't always full lyrics posted, but with a little fiddling you can generally figure out what you need to know.

Ukulele Songs is another free sheet site, with a smaller selection but with full lyrics.

Ukulele Hunt is one I've just discovered, but it looks like a clearinghouse for pretty much anything ukulele-related you could ask for. There seems to be less free content in terms of ebooks and lessons, though it does have beginner tips and instrument/accessory reviews.

I'm always on the lookout for more links to share, so if you guys find a site you really like, please feel free to post about it here!