Posts by UkoOno
Dream a Little Dream of Me
This is one of my favourite songs – ‘Dream a Little Dream of Me’ by the Mamas and the Papas (well that’s the version I fell in love with). There are some tricky chords in this one – we’ll be barring for the Ab, and then use the same shape for the G! I’ll explain…
Read MoreComes a Time
This is a tutorial for the timeless Neil Young song, Comes a Time. There are two key strum patterns to this song: a Shuffle for the verses and then a basic (down, down, down, up) strum for the first line of the chorus. And there’s a lovely chord : Bm7. Time to indulge in a…
Read MoreBlack is Black
This is a great song from back in 1966 by Los Bravos – ‘Black is Black’. It’s funky to play and we’ve added some great riffs (on page 2 of song sheet) – so enJOY the videos and have fun with this one. And make sure you check out the original groovesters below!
Read MoreA Kind of Hush
This is a gorgeous song by Herman’s Hermits, ‘A Kind of Hush’ that has some really interesting chords and chord progressions. It’s a classic example of how little ‘tips’ – like where to keep your fingers – can really make the difference when playing the ukulele. What seems like a bunch of ‘hard’ chords can…
Read MoreSway
Get your ‘Buble’ on because in this tutorial we are tackling ‘Sway’. We use the Island strum but with a difference – using a lovely array of chords in the verses and then breaking out into some old favourites (and not so favourites) in the Bridge. We also have a bit of picking as we…
Read MorePicking pattern – Hallelujah
Hallelujah is a classic Leonard Cohen song and works particularly well for the ‘1-2-3-4-3-2’ pattern, as it’s in 6/8 time. We pick ‘up and down’ the strings, starting on G, C, E, A, E, C. Each single strum in the music is worth three ‘picks’. So C x 2 = G, C, E and A,…
Read MoreSolid Rock
I was lucky enough to go to the Port Fairy Folk Festival in March 2020 – just before the world closed down – and I did a singing workshop and got to sing this fabulous song with Shane Howard himself – on the main stage (of the last day when nearly everyone had left)! So…
Read MoreSpace Oddity
I made two videos for the sublime Space Oddity; Video 1 runs through the main strum pattern and through p1 of the song; Video 2 was made a little later and again, runs through the main strum pattern, focuses on some of the trickier chords and includes the fun run of chords on the top…
Read MoreImagine
This tutorial is for the classic John Lennon song, Imagine. I’ve included three videos – a couple of really oldies that run through the trickier areas in the 8-chord version and then the ‘Outside-Inside’ pinching pattern (using the 5-chord version); and then a third video which runs through the whole song (8-chord version) so you…
Read MoreMy Island Home
This is a gorgeous Australian song by Neil Murray from the Warumpi Band (made most famous by Christine Anu) and we use the Island Strum throughout. The first video is a full runthrough for you to play along with – and just for fun, I’ve included a couple of videos that Sami and I made…
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