Song Help Request Good and easy songs for ukulele busking!

Ukegirl96 · Apr 4, 2015

Hi everyone!

I'm planning on going busking this summer with a friend of mine. I'd do the busking and she'd lure people to listen to me and give money. What are some easy songs for a beginning busker? Thanks for your answers already in advance.

Ukegirl96

Phluffy the Destroyer · Apr 4, 2015

Where you're performing and the kind of people you're likely to have listen are things I would consider "vital information" before being able to make any real suggestions. Well, that and maybe knowing what you sound like when you perform a song (ANY song). Busking is, at the end of the day, a business. If you want people to give you money you want to play songs that will encourage them to do so.

Singing songs-of-the-struggle outside of someones corporate headquarters probably won't go over well, but you might make some bank in an arts district with that sort of music. If you're a black girl singing June Carter tunes in Watts, you'll probably make considerably less money than you would if you just asked your boyfriend to punch you in the face randomly while you're performing Tina Turner songs.

Agnetha Faltskog has some beautiful, simple songs, but if you have a voice like Chewbacca Girl from American Idol then ABBA tunes can only end badly for you.

Ukegirl96 · Apr 4, 2015

My voice is above average, and I have two possible busking locations: either in front of a store or at an outdoor marketplace. I live in a small town so my audience would be regular townspeople.

Phluffy the Destroyer · Apr 4, 2015

How do you feel about country music from the 60's, 70's and 80's?

There is a lot of crossover between country and pop, and singing songs by Linda Ronstadt, Patty Lovelace, June Carter, and the like will probably appeal to small town sensibilities and most likely resonate with the folks old enough to have a disposable enough income to hand out to buskers. Country music is pretty formulaic, so the chord structures tend to be fairly simple. You might poke around countrytabs.com and see if there's anything you like...

ichadwick · Apr 4, 2015

Bob Dylan & Beatles are always good. Some rock & roll classics, too.

Freeda · Apr 4, 2015

Turn on your local "easy listening" station and start writing down titles. Look them up and choose the easiest 20 songs to memorize. That's about 90 minutes of material.

Staredge · Apr 4, 2015

Jimmy Buffett. Fairly simple chord patterns.

actadh · Apr 4, 2015

I would throw in a couple of older songs, too - many are fairly easy to play and sing, are familiar to most under 50 since many are featured in movies, and can be pretty catchy, too.

Gershwin's Summertime & Chaplin's Smile for slower songs
Willie Nelson All of Me and Blue Skies
Hank Williams Your Cheatin' Heart and Hey Good Lookin'

Many recognizable-to-the-average-person popular songs are available on the Dr. Uke and Scorpex websites. it might be worth scrolling through their playlist.

Good luck to you - sounds like a fun endeavor!

Ukegirl96 · Apr 4, 2015

I'll definitely play some country, for example Johnny Cash's ring of fire etc. Some older music from my home country (I live in Finland BTW) could be great. Also some newer pop songs could bring in the money. Thanks for all your comments!

Mooh · Apr 4, 2015

The books called The Daily Ukulele and The Daily Ukulele Leap Year Edition have a wide range of songs including melody, chords, and lyrics for songs in a wide range of difficulty. Don't forget to include some instrumentals to rest your voice and add variety. Ukes are so small that it's not a huge inconvenience to carry an alternate, and to that end a resonator for bluesy stuff, a baritone for guitarist stuff, or an eight string etc for sonic variety can help.

Twelve bar blues, 2 or 3 chord folksongs, Hank Williams, Gordon Lightfoot, CCR, Beatles, Rolling Stones. One thing that can be a reasonable indicator of popularity of new songs (besides local radio play) are the current listings on sites like www.musicnotes.com and you're not even obliged to buy.

Aldrine Guerrero · Apr 5, 2015

Three little birds, Brown eyed girl, drift away, or any song that the crowd already knows the lyrics to so they can make a quick connection.
(Two of those songs you can learn from this site

)

Pretty much anything simple, catchy, and sing-a-long sounding can quickly catch ears to throw some change your way. Make sure to put a little personal spin on it to really captivate the audience (worked for Jake on "gently weeps')

Happy busking!

photoshooter · Apr 5, 2015

Sweet Caroline

Ukegirl96 · Apr 5, 2015

Thanks for all your advice, now I just need my uke,which I'll get by the end of this month.

Bucksnort · Apr 10, 2015

You also want some children's songs...Puff the Magic Dragon for example. The adults will keep their distance but the children won't. Then the adults are close and tip if you made their little critter smile.

Another way I have seen to draw the wee ones in is an Appalachian Dancing doll (also called Limberjack). Don't make the same mistake I did and search youtube with the phrase "dancing doll". Some great videos but the wrong ones. Make sure you include the word "appalachian".

Here is one example...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ny16p6jHS68

I want to add this thought. The success of your busking venture depends on many things...location and weather being major. Even when those are right you need one more thing...the ability to connect with the people who stop to listen. When they look you in the eye and feel they like you that connection is made. Asking their names, where they are from, things like that.

There is a famous video (which I am too lazy to look up) of some big violin player working the subway and making change. It wasn't about the music. He just played and didn't connect with people. There is a woman who does quite well working the subways with a musical saw. She knows how to connect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPvTTc7jAVQ

brUKEman · Apr 10, 2015

I find that when people see a uke they like to hear Tin Pan Alley Songs like 5 ft. 2/ All of me/Ain't she sweet. It definitely grabs their attention.

Bucksnort · Apr 11, 2015

Was thinking...Ghost Chickens in the Sky would work well here.

http://www.scoutorama.com/song/song_display.cfm?song_id=14

A lot of songs in that book might work well to bring a smile and a connection.

Ukegirl96 · Apr 11, 2015

I have a songbook designed for singing along, but I'll have to print ukulele chord charts to go with it. I'll play some songs from that book, thanks for all your answers!

Song Help Request Good and easy songs for ukulele busking!

Ukegirl96

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Phluffy the Destroyer

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