What songs do you think every ukulele player should know?

Happy Birthday and Auld Lang Syne lol just kidding....it all depends on what genres you like. I don't as an example play any Hawaiian music or Tin Pan Alley stuff.... I would recommend some classics in genres you enjoy....for me it's some old folk like This land is your land, blowin in the wind, this little light of mine and then contemporary stuff like Springsteen, Coldplay eyed etc
 
I'll go the more theoretical route: Any song that makes the player smile and gives them a reason to play the ukulele more and more...
 
I saw David Bromberg over the weekend. I had last seen him perform live in the 1970's. He has no set lists, the songs are all over the place as far as genre, and he plays what feels good to him at the moment. Each song triggers the next song. For instance, there was a 1930's blues song followed by a 1960's folk song followed by a bluegrass number.

It was an awesome concert.

So, learn everything.
 
Every Ukulele player should absolutely learn the songs that they want to learn!


Scooter
 
1. 5 foot 2
2. Tiptoe Thru the Tulips
3. Over the Rainbow
4. My Little Grass Shack in Kealakekua, Hawaii
5. Ace Of Spades
6. On A Coconut Island
7. It's Only A Paper Moon
8. Blitzkrieg Bop
9. You Belong To Me
10. Yiddish Hula Boy (aka Becky)
 
Our uke group just learned "All About That Bass."
 
There's no such thing as a song you should know. Play the songs you want to play. If you belong to a group then there has to be some compromise on that as you will need to go with what the group plays. However, a good group permits its members an input to the groups repertoire.
 
uke1950 said:
Simple answer - ones that they enjoy playing! :)
Click to expand...

Amen. If forced to select some songs, my list would include Hotel California, Wildest Dreams, Heart Of The Matter, Up On Cripple Creek and Cuban Crime of Passion. Finding a uke group with this mindset has been difficult.
 
I'd agree that there is no such thing as a song that anyone should know how to play. It's such a subjective thing. When I look at what has been suggested so far, I don't think I would choose to play any of them. I think that this demonstrates how difficult it must be to pick a repertoire for a group. If I were part of a group and the songs suggested so far were played on occasion, I might put up with it but if what has been suggested so far represented what was played most of the time, I wouldn't enjoy it at all and would probably withdraw from the group if not reject them outright.
 
I'm going to go along with happy birthday. That one comes in handy, if you're playing for other people's enjoyment that is. If you are just sitting there entertaining yourself, I got nothing.
 
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A lot depends on what type of playing you're doing. If you're playing in a group, strumming and singing songs, then you want to learn songs that are appropriate for that type of playing. If you enjoy solo fingerpicking, chord melodies, blues, classical, etc., then the strumming group songs probably won't work.

As most others have said, learn and play what pleases you! (And please, no "Tiptoe Through the Tulips"! If one more person asks me if I play that, I'll strangle them! :stop: )
 
I would say that it depends on context - if you are playing primarily for your own enjoyment then learn songs that you like. If you are performing, or planning to perform, then that's a different story and you will need to include some crowd-pleasers in your repertoire if you are going to prosper.

And even the most reclusive back-room strummer may occasionally find themselves pressured into playing something for family and friends. In which case it's handy to have a couple of good sing-a-longs memorized. I like 'The Wild Rover', if everyone's had a couple of drinks :p Also, at least one Beatles song is good. Plus 'Happy Birthday', 'Auld Lang Syne', a couple of Christmas songs, and something for the kids.
 
given the well-thought-out info above, I would recommend learning (by heart) Happy Birthday (preferably in "F"?),
and an instrumental (like Crazy G) so that you're ready whenever anyone, who finds out that you play the uke, says,
"so, play something on the uke." The instrumental is especially for those who are shy about launching into a song, vocally :)

NOTE: email address recently corrected. Sorry, for the inconvenience for those who tried to contact me earlier.

I have a rendition of 'Crazy G' on pdf and MP3 for anyone who wants copies. just email me at ( rohiguchi@seattleschools.org ).

NOTE: this rendition is what I think I remember hearing when a college friend of mine played it, decades ago!! :)
It will NOT be like Jake's, although you will probably recognize a resemblance... maybe :) This is Uncle Rod's rendition that I'm
currently teaching to STRUM and my Ukulele students, for the reason mentioned above :)

keep uke'in',
 
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I have lots of grandchildren between newborn and 11 years old...any suggestions on a list of songs they would enjoy singing? Frank
 
fopianki said:
I have lots of grandchildren between newborn and 11 years old...any suggestions on a list of songs they would enjoy singing? Frank
Click to expand...

The Little Mermaid song and You've Got a Friend in Me, The Lion Sleeps Tonight, The Banana Boat Song, for starters.
 
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