Hold the ukulele flat against you.

Use the cushion of your thumb to pick each string

where the neck and the body of the ukulele meet.

* Your 4th string can be tuned to “high g” or “low g.”

Low-g tuning (which requires a thicker string) is recommended for this method.

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 Pick each note gently using the pad of your right thumb. Keep a steady beat.

Try another one! Sing He's Got the Whole World in His Hands
or Sur le pont d'Avignon as you play Exercise 2.

This is a time signature: . The top number is the number of beats in each measure.

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Keep your left thumb behind the neck of your uke to support your fingers.
Press until you get a clean, clear sound.

3
To strum, brush lightly across all four strings with the pad of your right thumb.
Make a warm, clear sound.

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This traditional tune from Africa is a great way to practise your singing, picking, and
strumming. Just for fun, learn to sing the song in a different language.

French Nigerian
Tout le monde aime samedi soir, Bobo waro fero Satodeh,
Tout le monde aime samedi soir, Bobo waro fero Satodeh,
Tout le monde (x4) Bobo waro (x4)
Tout le monde aime samedi soir. Bobo waro fero Satodeh,

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 Play the G chord one note at a time, naming each note as you go.
How many note names are there in the G chord?

Play the Tapping Game with the G chord. Strum once with the pad of your thumb for
every slash mark ( ) and, using your left hand, tap your knee on every note.

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“Safari” is a Swahili word that means “journey.” You’re starting out on an exciting journey
with the ukulele. Practise daily and your musical safari will be fun and rewarding!

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Beginning in northern British Columbia, Canada and stretching all the way to New Mexico,
USA, the Rocky Mountains (or “Rockies”) are over 4,800 kilometers (3,000 miles) long!

2. Sunny valley, sunny valley, 3. Stormy ocean, stormy ocean,

Sunny valley low, Stormy ocean wide,
When you’re in that sunny valley When you’re on that deep blue sea
Sing it soft and slow. There's no place you can hide.

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This traditional lullaby is from Eastern Canada. Acadians were the earliest French settlers
in the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.

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 Here’s a call-and-response song you might hear at a summer camp sing-a-long. Ask a
friend to repeat each phrase after you sing or pick it. Listen to how your parts fit together.

2. All night long, If anyone asks you

All night long, Who wrote this song,
All night long, Tell ’em it was me
From midnight on. And I’ll sing it all night long!

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Choose a rhythm from Exercise 2 and play it on each note of Exercise 1.
Continue until you’ve played every rhythm in Exercise 2.

Name each note in Exercises 3 and 4. Can you complete each sequence?

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This piece is a canon. A canon (or “round”) is a musical version of “follow the leader.”
The leader plays eight measures then the next player starts at the beginning.

Can you add a fourth phrase to this piece

using notes from the C scale?

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This lullaby, sometimes called Lavender Blue, is based on an English folk song from the
17th century. The melody includes a complete descending C scale. Can you spot it?

* optional variation for picking

2. Call up your friends, dilly, dilly Some to the hay, dilly dilly,
Set them to work Some to thresh corn
Some to the plough, dilly dilly, While you and I, dilly dilly,
Some to the fork. Keep ourselves warm.

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 Say the letter name of each note as you play the C scale.
Repeat using the number name of each note.

Say the number name of each note as you play it.

For each pair of notes below, say the number name of the second note only.

Name the distance between each pair of notes below. If the first note is 1 and the second
note is 2, the distance is a 2nd. If the second note is 3, the distance is a 3rd, and so on.

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Born in Hamburg, Germany, Johannes Brahms lived during the Romantic era of European
music history but his music remains popular to this day. Wiegenlied is one of his most
famous songs; play softly and make your part sound gentle and calm.

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 Think of the F scale in two sections: 1) f and notes above f and 2) f and notes below f.
In this lesson you’ll learn to play f and notes above f.

Choose a rhythm from Exercise 2 and play it on each note of Exercise 1.

Repeat until you’ve learned all the rhythms in Exercise 2.

The following melody uses notes from Ex. 1 only.

3.

Exercise 4 uses the same notes as Exercise 3. What makes the two melodies different?
4.

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In Lesson 16 you learned to play melodies using a portion of the F scale.
In this lesson you’ll learn to use the rest of the scale (f and notes below f).

Choose a rhythm from Exercise 2 and play it on each note of Exercise 1.

Repeat until you’ve learned all the rhythms in Exercise 2.

See pages 18–22 for songs to play using the F scale. Have fun!

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Old Brass Wagon is a traditional American square dance.
Stand in a circle and follow the instructions in the lyrics!

2. Circle to the right, the old brass wagon...

3. Into the centre, the old brass wagon...
4. Tap your toe, the old brass wagon...
5. Clap your hands, the old brass wagon...
6. Do-si-do, the old brass wagon...
7. Two-hand turn, the old brass wagon...
8. Bow to your partner, the old brass wagon...

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 Play with warm tone and steady rhythm.
Can you sing and pick your part at the same time?

English lyrics: At thy door I’m knocking, by the pale moonlight.

Lend a pen, I pray thee, I’ve a word to write.
Guttered is my candle, my fire burns no more.
For the love of heaven, open up the door!

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Written in 1833 by English songwriter Thomas Haynes Bayly, Long, Long Ago was,
at one time, the most popular song in America!

Tell me the tales that to me were so dear, long, long ago, long, long ago
Sing me the songs I delighted to hear, long, long ago, long ago.
Now you are come, all my grief is removed
Let me forget that so long you have roved
Let me believe that you love as you loved, long, long ago, long ago.

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The “donkey” in this lively work song is not an animal but rather a small, steam-powered
motor called a “donkey engine.” These engines were used to drag and lift logs during the
early days of the lumber trade in North America.

2. Were you ever in Cardiff Bay

Where the folks all shout “Hurray!
Here come John with his three months’ pay,
Riding on a donkey.”

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In 1879, the sailing ship Ravenscrag arrived in Honolulu, Hawaii. With it came people from
the Portuguese island of Madeira who, during the 1880s, developed the ʻukulele by
combining elements of two Madeiran instruments, the machete and the rajão.

Hawaiian is a beautiful and expressive language that conveys the loving spirit of the
Islands’ native culture. Vowels in Hawaiian are pronounced like this:

a = ah (as in “above”)
e = eh (as in “bet”)
i = ee (as in “bee”)
o = oh (as in “okay”)
u = oo (as in “cool”)
What do the Hawaiian words “ʻuku” and “lele” mean?

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Which instrument will you sing about next? Drum, fiddle, piano or something else?

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Here’s a lively folk song from Newfoundland, Canada. There are many versions of this
song, each of which has slightly different words and/or a slightly different melody.
Why and how do you suppose such variations come about?

2. Oh, Lukey he sailed down the shore,
Aha, me boys!
Oh, Lukey he sailed down the shore
To catch some fish from Labrador,
Aha me riddle-I-day.
3. Oh, Lukey’s boat has cotton sails,
Aha, me boys!
Oh, Lukey’s boat has cotton sails,
And she was planched with copper nails.
Aha me riddle-I-day.

4. Oh, Lukey’s rolling out his grub,

Aha, me boys!
Oh, Lukey’s rolling out his grub,
A barrel, a bag, and a ten-pound tub,
Aha me riddle-I-day.

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The Flower Drum is a traditional Chinese folksong, likely dating from the beginning of the
Ming Dynasty and the reign of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang in the 14th century.

Go to www.uketropolis.com/high4 for a free “high-4th-string friendly” harmony part.

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