Keep on the Sunny Side is an American folk song that I describe as being "relentlessly optimistic." The composer, Ada Blenkhorn, tells us that there is a silver lining, no matter how dark our storm cloud.
Read More"Take This Hammer," a Three-Chord Protest Song for the Ukulele
Take This Hammer is one of the fifteen songs featured in Americana, 15 Easy Folk Tunes for the Ukulele. In the book, I share a brief bio or background for each of the songs. Here’s what I included for Take This Hammer:
Music can provide an emotional way to connect us with our complicated American history. Work songs like Take This Hammer come to us from the Black Americans who were imprisoned and leased out as laborers after the Civil War. The lyrics envision an escape from a brutal reality, as this song was sung by men working on the railroad line under the watchful eyes of prison guards. Singing gave the men a beat that they could swing their hammers to, so even if they experienced some emotional relief in singing, it’s important to note that they were only allowed to sing rebellious songs like Take This Hammer because doing so made them more efficient workers. Take This Hammer is a brilliant protest song that conveys an intense yearning with its concise, haunting lyrics, and I hope you find it as moving as I do.
Play along with me, won’t you?
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE SONG
Protest Song of the Week from Shadowproof
Take This Hammer (1 of 2) from Cultural Equity
Take This Hammer (2 of 2) from Cultural Equity
African-American Work Songs from The History Engine
Negro Prison Songs from the Mississippi State Penitentiary from archive.org
Prison Worksongs from Smithsonian Folkways
Resources referenced in the video
VIDEO DETAILS
Played in the Key of A using the A, D, and E7 chords using Strum Pattern #5 from my strum pattern chart
Jennie Jenkins Might Be the Silliest Song I've Shared (So Far)
Jennie Jenkins is one of the songs included in my newest book, Americana: 15 Easy Folk Tunes for the Ukulele, which is AVAILABLE NOW. Go check it out!
Read MoreLearn to Play "Wildwood Flower" on the Ukulele and Baritone Ukulele
Wildwood Flower is a beautiful ballad that uses just three chords. In this tutorial, I show you how to play it in the key of G with a beginner-friendly fingerpicking pattern. Play along on your baritone uke (like the one I’m playing) or on your uke in standard tuning—I show the chords for both!
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Basic Beats: Backing Drum Tracks You Can Jam Along To!
Playing along to a metronome is a great way to build up your sense of timing, but hearing the “click-click” for minutes on end can get a little tiring! You can accomplish the same goal, and have a little more fun, by playing along to a backing track. Here I’m sharing a very basic rock beat for 4/4 time signature set at four different tempos: 60 bpm, 80 bpm, 100 bpm, and 120 bpm. Play along with them, won’t you?
Read MoreClawhammer Ukulele Video Tutorial, Playing the Strum with a Three-Chord Song
In my newest video, I build on what I covered in my first clawhammer tutorial and show you how to play the clawhammer strum with Cindy, a jaunty folk tune that’s probably hundreds of years old. When I share these American folk songs, I'm frequently conflicted as to how much history to share. I want to properly give credit when I can, but I'm not a music historian and worry about spreading incorrect information. So here's a little of what I do know:
Read MoreHow to Play Clawhammer Style on the Ukulele — Video Tutorial with Easy Play-Along
Clawhammer strumming is typically associated with the banjo, but it's a great option for the ukulele as well. In this video tutorial, I break down the clawhammer strum into really manageable steps and share an easy play-along for Li'l Liza Jane, my favorite song for practicing new techniques.
Read MoreCelebrate Juneteenth with Shoo-Lie-Loo, a One-Chord Folk Song That's Full of Joy and Optimism
Shoo-Lie-Loo is one of my favorite American folk songs, and its simple lyrics and call-and-response format make it an easy and inclusive song for groups to sing and strum. The hope and optimism in this song make it a joyful choice to sing any time, but especially this Juneteenth, as we celebrate the emancipation of all enslaved people in the United States.
Read More"This Train is Bound for Glory," a Video Tutorial with Free Download for Beginning Ukulele
There is a grand tradition of folk singers and musicians repurposing a melody to create a new song, and This Train is Bound for Glory is just one example. This Train shares a melody with The Crawdad Song, though the songs feel very different. The Crawdad Song has an easy-breezy quality to it, but This Train has much more of a raucous, rock-and-roll energy. Even though we’re using the same combination of chords and the same melody, we have two very different songs!
Read More"Come All Ye Fair and Tender Ladies," a Beautiful Three-Chord Song for the Ukulele
"Come All Ye Fair and Tender Ladies" is a beautiful ballad that's great for helping us build up our strumming endurance. For this tutorial, I share six of my favorite verses and a strum that pairs very nicely with ballads like this one. If the key of G isn’t a great fit for your vocal range, use my chord chart to easily change the key to one that is. And just for fun, here's a bonus verse that I will often sing in place of verses four and five.
Bonus Verse
I wish I (G) was on some tall mountain
Where the ivy rocks are black as (D) ink
I'd write a (Am) letter to my lost true (G) lover
Whose cheeks are (Am) like the morning (D) pink
DOWNLOAD THE PDF FOR FREE WHEN YOU SIGN-UP FOR MY NEWSLETTER!
Want to hear what the more Irish version sounds like? Check out this beautiful rendition by Lumiere.
One more thing: folk songs are not precious or sacred. If there’s something you don’t like about this song (or any other folk song), change it! To modify and re-mix elements of folk songs is to participate in a grand tradition of music-makers that dates back centuries. Listen to different artists singing this song and see if there are any other verses you'd like to include! Or, of course, you could contribute your own verses or use this song as inspiration for your own melody. Dolly Parton’s “Little Sparrow” is a great example of how to use a traditional folk song to create something new.
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Read MoreSing and Strum "Joy to the World" in Two Different Keys, A Christmas Ukulele Tutorial
One of the things that appeals to me about Christmas music is that it is, essentially, a type of folk music. Each year we hear many of the same songs, and we often have our own favorite versions of those songs. And of course, new versions of those classic carols and pop songs get recorded every year. Today I'm sharing a song that was written three hundred years ago—it’s sung by artists and choirs around the world, and it’s one you may already know by heart.
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Three Easy Christmas Songs for Beginning Ukulele
Happy holidays! This is a wonderful time of year to be making and sharing music with loved ones, and even brand-new players should be able to join in on the fun. Here are play-along videos for the three easiest songs from my holiday songbook, Oh, What Fun! Christmas Songs for the Ukulele. Play them using just the C, F, and G/G7 chords, then use the guide in the book to learn how to play in different keys.
Ready to start making merry?
Read More"Don't This Road Look Rough and Rocky," An Easy Three-Chord Ballad for Beginning Ukulele
What is it about sad songs that make them so fun to sing? “Don’t This Road Look Rough and Rocky” is a three-chord ballad that packs a lot of melodrama and melancholy into its chorus and three verses, and it was one of the very first songs I memorized the chords and lyrics to.
Read MoreLearn to Play "Down in the Valley," An Easy Ukulele Tutorial in 3/4 Time Signature
Down in the Valley is a two-chord song in 3/4 time, so it's a great choice for experimenting with different waltz strums. And because the lyrics are so simple, you can probably memorize the first verse after playing it just a few times!
Read MoreWhat A Pick-up Note Is and What You Need to Know About It (with Video Tutorial)
Often times, we ukulele players start our musical journey by learning how to play a few songs with a basic down-up strum. Then we might learn a more complicated strum pattern only to find we’re having little trouble matching the strum to a song. Often times this is because a song has pickup notes. And the good news is that this is something you can make sense of even if you’ve never had a formal music lesson or learned any music theory before.
Read MoreI'll Fly Away — An Ukulele Play-Along Video for Beginners
During overwhelming times such as these, we can take comfort in strumming songs that have been played by generations of humans who have survived their own hardships. Spirituals in particular tend to help us cope with life when it feels like the sky is falling, and I'll Fly Away is an easy three-chord folk song that sparks my hope for the future.
Read MoreAn Easy Three-Chord Song That's Perfect for Summer Ukulele Strumming
Summer is the perfect time to take our ukuleles outdoors and find a place to strum in the sun. My latest play-along song is a fun one to play indoors or out, and it gives us a lot of flexibility in terms of choosing our tempo. I normally like to play it pretty fast, but for this video I chose to play it at a more relaxed speed.
Read MoreBattle Hymn of the Republic — Ukulele Tutorial for Beginners
Singing The Battle Hymn of the Republic reminds me that there have always been people willing to sacrifice for what is right.
Read MoreThe Twelve Days of Christmas — A Four-Chord Christmas Ukulele Play-Along Video for Beginners
Is there a more divisive holiday song than “The Twelve Days of Christmas?” Kids generally love any song that involves counting, and this song is no exception. But many adults feel differently— we go Christmas caroling with a group of neighbors each year and one woman feels so strongly about this song that she insisted we ban it from our set!
“The Twelve Days of Christmas” is an interesting opportunity for anyone looking to get more comfortable with time signatures, as this song switches between 4/4 time and 3/4 time several times. Soon, I’ll post a separate video explaining when those changes occur. But in the meantime, try strumming along with this play-along video! Can you make it all the way to the twelfth day without getting annoyed? 😂
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