I have a PDF of the lead sheet for Can't Help Falling in Love. PM me your email address and I will send it. It includes chord diagrams for the Ukulele.
Edit: If you are just planning on strumming chords, all the pieces you have listed look doable.
The tutorial for Perfect looks doable, if a bit fast paced. Up to you if you want to use the Capo. Do what fits your singing range the best if you are not playing with other players.
Thanks bobhost. I’ve PM’d you my email.
What a romantic idea. Are you planning on packing a ukulele, or picking up one in Hawaii? Do you have one now?
Much luck and best wishes!
Hopefully she thinks that it’s romantic too!
I was originally planning on packing one but that might be a bit difficult, especially since she likes to nick space in my baggage normally XD I’ll make an excuse to buy one as a ‘souvenir’, she knows how impulsive I can be so I know I’ll be able to make that work. Plus an actual Hawaiian ukulele will be a fantastic memento.
I think that I’ll buy a beginner concert uke in England to practice on and then see how I go.
To inspire you, I would encourage you to spend 20 minutes and watch this video about the first 20 hours.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MgBikgcWnY
You can accomplish this! If you need song suggestions and instrument suggestions, you'll find an abundance of willing volunteers here on the boards.
Of course, they will demand payment, such as a report (possibly with pictures) of how it all went.
Good luck!
Rich
Fantastic! Thank you so much for the link, that TED talk looks interesting and I can watch it at home without having to explain to my fiancée why. It turns out that sneaking around on your loved ones is actually quite tricky, but I suppose that that’s a good thing really!
And I think that a report and photos (maybe even a video if I can contact the videographer ahead of time) would be very fair payment for all of the help and encouragement.
Long post to come...
I don't know the chords of the Ed Sheeran song, but both Only You and Can't Help Falling in Love seem simple enough that it should be possible to learn within a few months. So I say go for it. It will take patience and hard work to learn, so I hope that you are hoping to stay playing ukulele afterwards - otherwise the effort is a bit big.
First thing - get an ukulele!
You say that you live in the UK - home to the two well assorted ukulele shops "Southern Ukulele Store" and "World of Ukes". If they are not nearby there is mail order or whatever ukulele your local music store has.
I would suggest buying an affordable entry level uke to learn on, and then perhaps buy a nicer ukulele as a souvenir from Hawaii if it is a hit. By affordable I don't necessarily mean the cheapest painted uke you can find, but something you feel like playing.
You will get a lot of different advice as to what size to get for a first ukulele - soprano, concert or tenor. If you buy in a store where you can try them, buy whichever you like the best. Otherwise, some suggest a concert size as the golden in-between size to begin with. Some suggest something else.
Next watch a few youtube videos for strumming patterns etc. to get started. It's all about counting to four as someone pointed out.
Then for the songs you want to play/sing:
First of all, what you found is strictly speaking chords, not tabs, though the chord websites are fond of promoting chords as though they were tabs. Tabs have more information on how to play the melody than chords have. Anyway, for your purpose, chords are just fine.
How the different chords are played on the ukulele is easily googled, and you can also find pdf charts with the most common ones.
A slightly tricky part that you might want to skip:
Songs can be played in different keys, where you play a different set of chords. If you want you singing along with the ukulele to sound right, you really ought to play them in a key that suits your voice. I cant sing very high notes, and change the keys of most songs I play just to have a chance of hitting the notes. Not that I always hit the notes after having done that :-/. But many songs are written for professional singers who can sing more notes that the average guy.
So for the best results you should try to determine your vocal range. Google might lead you to a youtube video helping with that. Then, based on a lead sheet (which includes both chords, lyrics and "staff notation" for the melody line) determine if it the key the chords are in are right for you.
Wow! Thank you for all of the information, that’s really considerate of you.
I looked it up and it turns out that Southern Ukulele Store is actually quite close to me so I think that a visit is in order. I was intending to get a more inexpensive one online but thinking about it I would definitely benefit from some expert support and getting my hands on the instruments.
As I’m a large fella (6’5, 110kg) I think that I’ll need a concert uke no matter what. That it is a good middle ground is an extra benefit.
Once I’ve got the equipment I’ll check out some strumming videos as you’ve suggested. With my giant hands and wonky co-ordination I think that finger picking is going to be out of reach, especially at the start of learning.
I didn’t realise that about the difference between chords and tabs, thank you. I’ll use what’s there for now but I may look for actual tabs down the line. The information about changing key is definitely something I need to consider from the start. My very basic knowledge of musical theory suggests that I’ll need a lower key because I have a fairly deep voice and I don’t want to overreach myself from the start. Is it a fairly simple matter to play in a different key? Is it to do with tuning or how I play the chords?
I'd say this is definitely doable, mostly because I've recently done it myself.
I picked up an ukulele for the first time about six months ago. I was able to surprise my wife on her late-November birthday with three songs I could play competently (strumming, not finger-picking) after a couple of months of more-or-less-daily practice. (Full disclosure: I took guitar lessons for a couple of years in my youth -- without much success -- so I've handled a stringed instrument before. But it's been at least 45 years since my last lesson, and I stopped playing immediately after that.) I now know enough chords that I can hack my way through a fairly good-sized repertoire, if I have the chord sheets in front of me.
One of the first songs I chose, incidentally, was I Can't Help Falling in Love, so that one will work!
I find that if you start with songs you already know well and really like, you'll pick them up faster.
Best of luck!
Ha! Another person with direct experience! That’s so comforting so thanks for sharing. I think that I’ll be able to make some arrangements to practice regularly without my fiancée catching on. The gap between your guitar playing and ukulele playing makes me think that I should be okay. Hopefully.