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Ila

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I'm brand new to this instrument. I bought my first ukulele (an Enya concert in a very girly pink) three weeks ago, and I'm practicing every free minute I've got. I'm hoping to learn lots as I meander through this forum. :)
 
Hello, Ila!

Regards, the guy from Reddit. :)
Nice to meet you, Chris! What are you playing these days? I'm such a newbie, I'm still trying to figure out how to properly make chords. I'm working on The Rainbow Connection right now, to hopefully play for my second grade students one of these days. I don't have any of the fingering that Kermit did on the banjo, but I can hope at least to plainly strum the chords, and frankly, the kids won't be any the wiser that I'm floundering.
 
Welcome to UU, Ila!
Nice first project! I hope it goes well, and that there'll be dozens or hundreds of other songs in your future!
 
Hi Ila, welcome to the UU Forum. You may want to focus on songs in the key of C to start with. C, F, G (or G7), Am. There are literally thousands of songs using those five chords. (There are song books available using only these chords. And tons of videos and resources online.)

You can practice changing the chords while watching TV. C to F; then C to G, then C to G7, C to Am. F to G, F to G7, F to Am, F to C; etc. You don't have to play as you practice the changes. This is the C chord progression. 5 chords that sound good when played together.

This gives you a great foundation and confidence to build upon.

Remember: use only as much pressure to make the chord as it takes to make a clean note/chord.

It's great that you want to use your uke for your second grade class.
 
You can practice changing the chords while watching TV. C to F; then C to G, then C to G7, C to Am. F to G, F to G7, F to Am, F to C; etc. You don't have to play as you practice the changes. This is the C chord progression. 5 chords that sound good when played together.

This gives you a great foundation and confidence to build upon.

Remember: use only as much pressure to make the chord as it takes to make a clean note/chord.

It's great that you want to use your uke for your second grade class.
Awesome advice. Thank you. I've got to build up my muscle memory and that's a great way to start.
 
Hi Ila,
It was nice to meet and hear you today at the Zoom open mic. I taught school for over three decades and have shared songs with groups of kids and with two sons and two grandkids. . .

A few of the songs that my kids (who are now 44) and the students I taught liked were:
Hopalong Peter (PD, learned from NLCR)
I'm Gonna Tell (Rosalie Sorrels)
Barnyard Dance (Carl Martin & Howard Armstrong)
Cowpoke (learned from Gene Autry)
What Do They Make In Ottawa/Washington (learned from Michael Cooney)
Hush Little Baby (I can't remember the woman I learned this from, but it's a great version)
Frog Went A Courting (learned from my dad singing it to me)

I'd be glad to help you with chords/lyrics/tunes for any of these that might interest you.
 
Hi Ila,
It was nice to meet and hear you today at the Zoom open mic. I taught school for over three decades and have shared songs with groups of kids and with two sons and two grandkids. . .

A few of the songs that my kids (who are now 44) and the students I taught liked were:
Hopalong Peter (PD, learned from NLCR)
I'm Gonna Tell (Rosalie Sorrels)
Barnyard Dance (Carl Martin & Howard Armstrong)
Cowpoke (learned from Gene Autry)
What Do They Make In Ottawa/Washington (learned from Michael Cooney)
Hush Little Baby (I can't remember the woman I learned this from, but it's a great version)
Frog Went A Courting (learned from my dad singing it to me)

I'd be glad to help you with chords/lyrics/tunes for any of these that might interest you.
Thank you so much, Jim. It was nice to meet you, too. Thank you for the list of songs. I'm only familiar with Hush Little Baby and Frog Went a Courting. I'm very curious, though, about I'm Gonna Tell. That sounds like a song about tattling, and would be VERY relevant to my students. :)
 
Here's how I recall Inga Swearingen singing Hush Little Baby on Prairie Home Companion and how I sing it. (2 chord special)

*Hush little baby, don't you cry,
Papa's gonna bake you a rhubarb pie,
*And if that rhubarb pie's too sour,
Papa's gonna pick you a pretty flower,
*And if that pretty flower wilts,
Papa's gonna build you a pair of stilts,
*And if that pair of stilts ain't steady,
Papa's gonna fix you a bowl of spaghetti,
*And if that spaghetti's not al dente,
Papa's gonna get you a horn of plenty,
*If that horn of plenty has the wrong fruit,
Papa's gonna buy you a two piece suit,
*And if that suit's the wrong material,
Papa's gonna fix you a bowl of cereal,
*And if that cereal's not low carb,

Papa's gonna get you some more rhubarb
*And if that rhubarb all turns brown,
You'll still be the sweetest little baby in town.


My dad sang two last verses of Frog Went A-Courtin' that I've never heard anyone else sing, but he said that was the way his mom sang it, maybe too sad for grade two, but I sang it to my kids when they were pre-schoolers:

They paddled off across the lake, uh huh.
They paddled off across the lake
And got swallered up by a big black snake, uh huh.


Well, that was the end of him and her, uh huh.
That was the end of him and her

Now we won't have tadpoles covered in fur, uh huh.

I'll get you I'm Gonna Tell today.
 
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Here's how I recall Inga Swearingen singing Hush Little Baby on Prairie Home Companion and how I sing it. (2 chord special)

Hush little baby, don't you cry,
Papa's gonna bake you a rhubarb pie,
And if that rhubarb pie's too sour,
Papa's gonna pick you a pretty flower,
And if that pretty flower wilts,
Papa's gonna build you a pair of stilts,
And if that pair of stilts ain't steady,
Papa's gonna fix you a bowl of spaghetti,
And if that spaghetti's not al dente,
Papa's gonna get you a horn of plenty,
If that horn of plenty has the wrong fruit,
Papa's gonna buy you a two piece suit,
And if that suit's the wrong material,
Papa's gonna fix you a bowl of cereal,
And if that cereal's not low carb,

Papa's gonna get you some more rhubarb.

My dad sang two last verses of Frog Went A-Courtin' that I've never heard anyone else sing, but he said that was the way his mom sang it, maybe too sad for grade two, but I sang it to my kids when they were pre-schoolers:

They paddled off across the lake, uh huh.
They paddled off across the lake
And got swallered up by a big black snake, uh huh.


Well, that was the end of him and her, uh huh.
That was the end of him and her

Now we won't have tadpoles covered in fur, uh huh.

I'll get you I'm Gonna Tell today.
Thank you so much.

Are you familiar with the song Oh I Wanna Be a Dog? It's what I'm playing for the kids tomorrow. They'll love the part where they get to howl. The only question is whether I can get them to stop once they start.
 
Thank you so much.

Are you familiar with the song Oh I Wanna Be a Dog? It's what I'm playing for the kids tomorrow. They'll love the part where they get to howl. The only question is whether I can get them to stop once they start.
I don't know that one, but I'd like to learn it.

Here's I'm Gonna Tell - Rosalie Sorrels

* [C] I'm gonna tell, [F] I'm gonna [C] tell
I'm gonna [A7] holler and [D7] I'm gonna [G7] yell
I'll [C] get you in trouble for [F] everything you [C] do
I'm gonna [G7] tell on [C] you [G7]


[C] I'm gonna tell how [F] you broke the [C] plate
I'll tell all ab[A7]out the ba[D7]nanas you [G7] ate
I'll [C] tell on you one time, I'll [F] tell on you [C] two
I'm gonna [G7] tell on [C] you [G7]
*
I'm gonna tell Mama where you hid the broom
Just so you would not have to clean up your room
Then Mama's gonna sweep the room up with you
I'm gonna tell on you
*
I'm gonna tell Papa where you hid your gum
And then I'll tell him that you suck your thumb
And then he'll find out about the cat and the glue
I'm gonna tell on you
*
I'm gonna tell Teacher you punched me and bit me
And then I'll tell how you kicked me and hit me
But I won't tell Teacher what I did to you
I'm just gonna tell on you
*

 
I don't know that one, but I'd like to learn it.

Here's I'm Gonna Tell - Rosalie Sorrels

* [C] I'm gonna tell, [F] I'm gonna [C] tell
I'm gonna [A7] holler and [D7] I'm gonna [G7] yell
I'll [C] get you in trouble for [F] everything you [C] do
I'm gonna [G7] tell on [C] you [G7]


[C] I'm gonna tell how [F] you broke the [C] plate
I'll tell all ab[A7]out the ba[D7]nanas you [G7] ate
I'll [C] tell on you one time, I'll [F] tell on you [C] two
I'm gonna [G7] tell on [C] you [G7]
*
I'm gonna tell Mama where you hid the broom
Just so you would not have to clean up your room
Then Mama's gonna sweep the room up with you
I'm gonna tell on you
*
I'm gonna tell Papa where you hid your gum
And then I'll tell him that you suck your thumb
And then he'll find out about the cat and the glue
I'm gonna tell on you
*
I'm gonna tell Teacher you punched me and bit me
And then I'll tell how you kicked me and hit me
But I won't tell Teacher what I did to you
I'm just gonna tell on you
*



I don't know that one, but I'd like to learn it.

Here's I'm Gonna Tell - Rosalie Sorrels

* [C] I'm gonna tell, [F] I'm gonna [C] tell
I'm gonna [A7] holler and [D7] I'm gonna [G7] yell
I'll [C] get you in trouble for [F] everything you [C] do
I'm gonna [G7] tell on [C] you [G7]


[C] I'm gonna tell how [F] you broke the [C] plate
I'll tell all ab[A7]out the ba[D7]nanas you [G7] ate
I'll [C] tell on you one time, I'll [F] tell on you [C] two
I'm gonna [G7] tell on [C] you [G7]
*
I'm gonna tell Mama where you hid the broom
Just so you would not have to clean up your room
Then Mama's gonna sweep the room up with you
I'm gonna tell on you
*
I'm gonna tell Papa where you hid your gum
And then I'll tell him that you suck your thumb
And then he'll find out about the cat and the glue
I'm gonna tell on you
*
I'm gonna tell Teacher you punched me and bit me
And then I'll tell how you kicked me and hit me
But I won't tell Teacher what I did to you
I'm just gonna tell on you
*




[Verse 1]

N.C. C F

I wanna be a dog, wanna wag my tail,

G7

Chase cars and knock over garbage cans,

C

Bite the man who brings the mail.



C F

I wanna be a dog, wanna lie on the floor,

G7

Chase squirrels and cats, get fed, get fat,

C C7

Chew your shoe and bark at the door.



[Chorus]

F C

Oh I wanna have dog breath... I wanna learn to growl....

D7

Scratch fleas and ticks, and run after sticks

G D7 G

I want the moon to make me howl....



[Verse 2]

N.C. C F

I wanna be a dog, wanna dig big holes,

G7

Sniff trees and ground and basset hounds

C C7

And pee on telephone poles.



N.C. C F

I wanna be a dog, wanna roll in the dirt,

G7

Wanna run in the street, get mud on my feet

C C7

And jump up onto your shirt.



[Verse 3]

N.C. C F

I wanna have dog breath, wake the neighbors too.

G7

I'll lick your hand, be the best friend to man;

C C7

I've got nothing better to do.



N.C. C F

I wanna be a dog, I want my nose to be wet.

G7

I've got a college degree now all I wanna be

C C7

Is somebody else's pet.
 
My SOTU 507 song is about my dog. But probably not for school. These are great.

Would you like chords for Everybody Wants To be a Cat? It will take a bit of practice but it's not that hard to play, and kids really love it. I am trying to get disciplined enough to write down songs after I work them out - my arrangements are usually a mix of things I hear in different places.
 
My SOTU 507 song is about my dog. But probably not for school. These are great.

Would you like chords for Everybody Wants To be a Cat? It will take a bit of practice but it's not that hard to play, and kids really love it. I am trying to get disciplined enough to write down songs after I work them out - my arrangements are usually a mix of things I hear in different places.

Yes, please!!! Thank you so much!
 
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