Ukulele Lesson: Jingle Bells Instruction

An ukulele is a fantastic little instrument to use as an accompaniment to your singing. You can also play melodies like the Christmas song Jingle Bells. I will instruct you how to play the melody step by step!

Sometimes you will find melodies for ukulele notated with tablature. This is a notational system consisting of lines representing the strings and numbers indicating which frets to press down. In this article I will instruct you with common English words instead.

Remember, the first string on your ukulele is the bottom string when you play.

You can use your right hand thumb to pluck the strings or use a pick or some other method as long as you play in a relaxed way.

Here you have the lyrics with instructions on how to play the melody on your ukulele:

Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way

Play the first open string three times and then three times more.The first string is the bottom string when you play on your ukulele. An open string is a string that you play without pressing down a fret.

Continue by playing the first open string, third fret first string, first fret second string, third fret second string and first open string.

Play throught the notes in the instruction above until you hear and recognize the melody. Then it is time to work on the next line of lyrics:

Oh! what fun it is to ride

Play the first fret first string five times, the first open string twice.

What left hand fingers should you use?

I suggest that you use your first finger (index finger) to play the notes on the first fret, the second finger (middle finger) to play the notes on fret two and your ring finger to play the notes on your third fret.

Even if it might feel a little bit awkward at first you will feel the benefits from playing this way when you get used to it. You will not be forced to move the left hand as you play notes and you will find it easier to find the frets.

Let us continue with the ukulele lesson. Here is the next line:

In a one-horse open sleigh

Play the first open string three times, the third fret second string twice, the first open string, third fret second string, third fret first string.

Now it is time to repeat the melody but with a variation of the last line of lyrics:

In a one-horse open sleigh

Play the first open string twice, the third fret second string twice, first fret first string, third fret second string, first fret second string.

If your ukulele is tuned in C you will be playing the melody in the key of F.

What is a C-tuning?

This means that the first string is tuned to an A, the second string to an E, the third string to C and the fourth string to G. All of these notes are on the middle octave of a piano if you happen to have one around.

I recommend that you learn the melody by heart one line at a time. That way you can play the melody to your friends whenever the time comes!

Ukulele Lesson: Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star Instruction

You can actually play melodies on your ukulele! In this ukulele tutorial you will learn to play Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star in the key of C. I will tell you how to place your fingers on the frets so you will not have to read sheet music!

There are many ways to notate melodies for ukulele. The most common way is to use ukulele tablature that consists of four lines representing the strings on your ukulele and numbers placed on the lines to indicate which frets to press down.

In this article I will instruct you with English words how to play on your ukulele. We will play this melody in the key of C. I presuppose that your ukulele is tuned in C which is the most common tuning.

C-tuning means that the first string on your ukulele is tuned in A. The first string is the bottom string when you hold your ukulele in playing position. The second string is tuned in E, the third string in C and the fourth string in G.

The notes I just mentioned can be found in the fourth octave on a piano. That is the octave in the middle of a piano or a keyboard.

Remember, the first string is the bottom string on your ukulele when you play.

Try to use your left hand index finger to play the notes on the first fret, the middle finger to play the notes on the second fret and your ring finger for the notes on the third fret. Practice to play this way and you will experience that this is an effective way to play melodies as you can keep your left hand in the same position as you play the notes and it will also be easier to find the notes.

You can use your right hand thumb to pluck the notes or use a pick.

I will use two ways to show you how to play the melody.

1. First you will find the lyrics to the song, one line at a time. Below the lyrics I will show you the melody in a form of notation that I call number tablature. In this notation every note consists of two numbers, the first number tells you which fret to play and the following number which string to play. If the first number is a 0 it means that you play the string without pressing down a fret.

2. Below this notation I also give you a description on how to play the melody with words.

Here are the lyrics line by line with corresponding ukulele tablature and instructions on how to play:

Twinkle, twinkle, little star

03 03 32 32 01 01 32

Play the open third string twice. An open string is a string you play without pressing down a fret. Then play the third fret second string twice, the open first string twice and the third fret second string.

How I wonder what you are

12 12 02 02 23 23 03

Play first fret second string twice, second open string twice, second fret third string twice, then the open third string.

Up above the world so high

32 32 12 12 02 02 23

Third fret second string twice, first fret second string twice, open second string twice, second fret third string.

Like a diamond in the sky!

The same melody as the previous line!

Now you only have to repeat the two first lines of the melody and you have completed the song!

Learn the melody one line at a time until you master the song by heart and you are ready to play it for your friends!

Ukulele Lesson: Mary Had A Little Lamb Instruction

In this lesson you will learn to play a melody on your ukulele! You do not have to read sheet music. It is time to learn to play Mary Had A Little Lamb with an easy instruction and tablature notation!

The first string on your ukulele is the bottom string with the highest pitch. If you have tuned your ukulele in the common C tuning your first string will be an A, your second string an E, the third string a C and the fourth string a G.

If you have a piano around you will find these notes in the fourth octave on your piano. This is the middle octave on your piano or on a keyboard.

It is common on guitar and sometimes even on ukulele to notate the music and the chords with the help of tablature or tab notation.

Tablature is a music notational system that tells you how to put your fingers on a guitar or ukulele in order to play chords or melodies.

Tabs use lines to represent the strings and numbers on these lines to indicate which frets to press down on the strings. This type of notation works fine if you have control over the text fonts used as the tabs usually are notated with the help of a word processor.

I use these tabs on my website but on article sites it is much safer to use other forms of notation. In this ukulele lesson you will learn the melody by the following means:

1. First you will see the lyrics to the song one line at a time.

2. Below every line of lyrics you will find the corresponding number tabs that show you how to play the melody on your ukulele.

3. Below the number tabs I will give you a decription with words on how to play the melody.

How to read number tablature

Number tablature is a form of ukulele tab notation that I use on articles sites. In this type of notation every note is notated with two numbers. The first number tells you which fret to press down. The following number indicates the string to use. If the first number is a 0 you will play a string without pressing down a fret.

Remember, the first string is the bottom string of your ukulele!

Here comes the first line of lyrics with ukulele tab and a decription on how to play:

Mary had a little lamb

02 23 03 23 02 02 02

Play the open second string. An open string is a string that you play without pressing down a fret. Then play the second fret third string, open third string, second fret third string, open second string three times.

Little lamb, little lamb

23 23 23 02 32 32

Second fret third string three times, open second string, third fret second string twice.

As you can see you will use open strings and the first, second and third fret on your ukulele. One tips for you that will help you play smoother is to use your left hand index finger to play the notes on the first fret, you middle finger for the notes on the second fret and your ring finger for the third fret.

Time for the next ukulele tab:

Mary had a little lamb

02 23 03 23 02 02 02

Open second string, second fret third string, open third string, second fret third string, open second string three times.

It’s fleece was white as snow

02 23 23 02 23 03

Open second string, second fret third string twice, open second string, second fret third string, open third string.

This is it! I suggest that you learn to play the melody by heart by learning one line at a time!

Ukulele Lesson: Amazing Grace Instruction

In this lesson you will learn to play Amazing Grace on your ukulele. I will instruct you on how to play the melody and you will also learn to use an easy form of ukulele tablature.

It is very common to use the uke as a chord instrument to singing. Many ukulele chords are easy to play and the sound from strumming chords on an ukulele are very nice to hear.

It is not as common to play melodies on the uke but it is really quite easy to do. In this ukulele lesson I will show you how to play Amazing Grace with an easy instruction on how to place your left hand fingers on the frets and on which strings to play.

I will also use an easy form of tablature notation that will help you find your way around your ukulele guitar. Guitar tablature or guitar tab is very common on the internet. It is a notational system with six lines representing the strings on a guitar and numbers on the lines indicating which frets to press down.

On some sites you will find ukulele tablature which works the same way. The only difference is that ukulele tabs have four lines as an ukulele usually has four strings.

In this lesson I will use a special form of ukulele tab notation that only uses numbers. I call this notation number tabs. in this notation every note is notated with two numbers. The first number tells you which fret to play and the second number which string to play.

In order to use this tablature notation and my instruction you have to know which string is the first string on your ukulele. The first string is the bottom string on your uke when you play.

No it is time to play Amazing Grace. I will show you the lyrics to the melody one line at a time and the corresponding number tabs below the lyrics and supplemented with an instruction on how to play the notes.

Here is the first line with ukulele tab and instruction:

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound

03 12 01 12 01 32 12 23 03

Play the open third string (an open string is a string you play without pressing down a fret), first fret second string, open first string, first fret second string, open first string. Then play third fret second string, first fret second string, second fret third string and finally the open third string.

That saved a wretch like me

03 12 01 12 01 32 01 31

By now you probably understand the ukulele tabs I use so I will omit the instruction. Let us continue with the next lines of lyrics and ukulele tablature notation:

I once was lost, but now am found

01 31 01 12 01 32 12 23 03

Was blind, but now I see

03 12 01 12 01 32 12

Here are some final suggestions as you try to learn the melody:

1. Learn the melody by heart working on one line of the melody at a time.

2. Try to use your left hand index finger to play the notes on the first fret, your middle finger to play the notes on the second fret and you ring finger to play the notes on the third fret.

3. Experiment with the notes 03 23 02 12 32 01 11 and 31 and try to create your own melodies or figure out easy popular melodies by yourself.