What songs could I learn on the uke that involve melody and chords all in one

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brihead301

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I've taken quite a liking to the style of uke music that involves both rhythm and melody at the same time. I'm not sure exactly what it's called, but it's the style that Jake plays.

So far I've learned greensleeves, No woman no cry, and stir it up. All three of those songs are examples of what I was talking about.

The thing is that there are tons of songs I'd like to learn, but a lot of times it's hard to find uke tabs for them (I can find the chords no problem, but not the tabs for what I am looking for).

I'd like to learn a lot of bob marley, bob dylan, beatles, stones, etc....but not just the chords.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to go about learning songs this way? Or am I pretty much just gonna have to try and figure them out for myself?

Thanks.
 
Aloha Brihead301,
Try check out Tropical Storm Hawaii, they have some songs in
their tab section.....Hope this helps you out..."Keep on vibrating
them strings" Uke On!!! MM Stan.....if tabsare what you're looking
for...
 
Thanks guys!

I checked out Tropical storm Hawaii, and it's pretty cool....

I also checked out the dominator site too, and that's what I've been using so far....

It's pretty hard to find the chord+melody tabs for a lot of songs though. Most tabs just show the chords, and assume that you will be singing too. I'm not much of a singer, so I want to get it all done on the uke!!!

Thanks for the help so far. Right now I'm in search of 'One love' like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWX1IMCj3ag
 
Check Ukulele Resources for tabs. Ukulele Tab sites and uke tabs in general are few and far between. There are a few who will tab out a song and there are the players who play from memory without committing to paper. That's just the way it is.
 
I've been enjoying playing an old classic the past few days. Zepplin's "Stairway To Heaven".

Nice melody, allot of cool picking, and a few strategic strums for emphasis..

The main chords are Am, Em, G, C, D, F

There are several others if you do the whole song, but those chords will get ya the basic melody.
 
Last edited:
I just finished a tab of California Dreamin' that sounds like it might be right up your alley. I just haven't managed to get it posted to the net yet. If you're interested, pm me an email address and I'll email you a copy.

There's a video on my youtube channel if you want to see what it is.
 
I enjoy playing this style a lot, and have taught myself a few new songs. My latest and pretty easy to play I think (depending on how delux you get with the chords) is "Yesterday" by the Beatles.
Start in whatever key is easiest for you. :)

Cheers,
Skottoman
 
I really like this style as well and have managed to learn a few songs.
I look for a copy of the lead sheet for a song I want to learn.
I learn the melody line with single notes. (Remember middle "C" is the low note on a standard GCEA tuning)
Sometimes you need to transpose the key. I am not the fastest music reader so if I can keep the notes in the staff then I am better off.
Sometimes I tab out the melody with either "Tux Guitar" or "Guitar Pro5".
After I learn the melody I look at the chords and see where I can embellish my melody with a chord.
Don't forget to look for chord shapes up the neck with your melody notes.
After a little practice you will sounding just like Ohta San, he made this style famous.
A low "G" tuning can give notes below middle "C".
 
Thanks for the advice guys! Ya, I'm really new to the uke, so knowing chord shapes further up the neck is not a natural thing for me....I pretty much figured that I could figure out most songs by first figuring out the melody, then embelishing with chords....my only problem being that I don't know many chords yet.

Ukulele dude, yes that's exactly what I'm talking about. I will shoot you a pm. Thanks!
 
^^^Nice!!! I love that song. Thanks!

Here's the link for where I found No woman no cry:

http://www.dominator.ukeland.com/index2.shtml

Here's greensleeves:

http://www.chrisowen.co.uk/greensleeves_ukulele_tab.html

Here's stir it up (the video and the tab are both found in that thread):

http://www.ukuleleunderground.com/f...rley-Stir-it-up-(Instrumental)&highlight=stir

Here's the video and the chords for one love, which I just kinda figured out how to play like the guy did in the video by watching:

video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWX1IMCj3ag
chords: http://www.ukulele-tabs.com/uke-songs/bob-marley/one-love-uke-tab-7345.html

I'm still looking for more to learn, so thanks for all the suggestions so far!
 
301:

The Ohta and Ritz "Masters" books, put out by Jumpin' Jim are excellent tabbed versions of jazz and standards in the pick/chord format you are interested in. And with the CDs included, these books are terrific for study.
 
Silent Night Uke Solo

Rather than relying on tabs and sheet music to get you through a song, I'd recommend really getting to know your chords in different positions on the neck and working through a melody using those shapes. Check out this video I made several months ago, I think it will help explain this concept: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcJDliITpSg
 
mitchchang said:
Rather than relying on tabs and sheet music to get you through a song, I'd recommend really getting to know your chords in different positions on the neck and working through a melody using those shapes. Check out this video I made several months ago, I think it will help explain this concept: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcJDliITpSg
Click to expand...

I agree 100% that that is the proper way to learn....only how do you know when you change the chord or just simply use an out-of-chord extension?

For instance in your silent night example, at 2:59 of the video, you switch from A7 to the higher chord on the 9th fret (G7 I think?)...the part that would say ".....sleep in heavenly pe.....ace....".

How do you know that you are supposed to switch the entire chord there, rather then just sticking with the A7 and hitting an extended note with the pinky or ring ringer?

That's my real issue.....

Plus, I just bought my uke the other day, and I'm still really new at it...I'm picking it up pretty quickly considering I've been playing guitar for about 18 years, but the new tuning and all is a totally new way of thinking for me....so I'm just trying to get some songs under my belt to get used to the instrument.
 
Absolutely - sometimes you CAN use a basic chord shape and stretch out your pink finger to hit that higher note. A few reasons to use the "other" chord shape: 1) You can't do the stretch physically 2) The voicings on the strings are now different with the new shape and if you have a low G, you now have a new bass note 3) It looks cooler and more sophisticated : )

Hope that helps!

Mitch Chang
http://www.ukulelewebsite.com/
 
mitchchang said:
Absolutely - sometimes you CAN use a basic chord shape and stretch out your pink finger to hit that higher note. A few reasons to use the "other" chord shape: 1) You can't do the stretch physically 2) The voicings on the strings are now different with the new shape and if you have a low G, you now have a new bass note 3) It looks cooler and more sophisticated : )

Hope that helps!

Mitch Chang
http://www.ukulelewebsite.com/
Click to expand...

What I'm asking is how do you know whether to 1.) switch the chord altogether, or 2.) keep the same chord, but stretch the pinky to hit the other notes?

I guess it just comes with experimentation huh?

I ask because I was trying to figure out the simple song, Let it be, the other day in this style. The chord progression is simply C - G - Am - F....but trying to fit the melody line in there too wasn't so simple. Now, I know when each chord is supposed to occur from playing it on piano, but when playing a basic major/minor chord + a melody note simultaneously, sometimes you end up with an extended chord (7th, 9th, sus, etc....).....so in that case, you could techically just strum the extended chord and "kill 2 birds with one stone", basically playing the underlying chord and the correct melody note where it should occur.....but I'm not sure if that really is the way to go.

That takes a ton of analyzation of the song.....and hell, I barely even can remember the open string names on the uke, let alone where all the notes in a B9b5 chord are!

Thanks for the help!
 
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