It can be hard for a beginner to find inspiration for new songs to learn. There is a wealth of ukulele tabs and song sheets on the web to look at but where do you start.
As I said in an earlier post, due to copyright crackdowns I am avoiding placing song lyrics on this blog for fear of having the site closed. What I provide below though is a list (in no particular order) of songs I like to play on uke. I obtained chords and lyrics for ALL of these on the Internet. If these song titles give you inspiration, then perhaps you can find them too!
(tip, I keep my songs printed in a ring binder slipped inside those clear plastic wallets to protect them.
Everybodys Talking - Harry Nilsson
Hey Good looking - Hank Williams
Reason To Believe - Tim Hardin
Jackson - Johnny Cash
Ring of Fire - Johnny Cash
The Weight - The Band
Minnie the Moocher - Cab Calloway
Creep - Radiohead
No Woman No Cry - Bob Marley
Dock Of The Bay - Otis Redding
Accentuate The Positive - Dean Martin
Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head - Burt Bacharach
Dream a little Dream - Mamas & The Papas
Big Rock Candy Mountain - Trad
Your Cheating Heart - Hank Williams
Sunny Afternoon - Kinks
I'll see You In my Dreams - Joe Brown
Maggie May - Rod Stewart
Five Foot Two - Sam Lewis
When I'm Cleaning Windows - George Formby
The Ukulele Song - Loudon Wainwright III
For me And my Gal - Leslie and Goetz
I Wanna Be Like You - Jungle Book
Something - Beatles
When You're Smiling - ??
I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate - ??
Valerie - Zutons
King Of The Road - Roger Miller
In The Summertime - Mungo Jerry
Ain't She Sweet - ??
Livin On A Prayer - Bon Jovi
Black Horse and The Cherry Tree - KT Tunstall
Dirty Old Town - Pogues
Wild Wood - Paul Weller
African Skies- Paul Simon
Come Up And See Me - Steve Harley
Yes Sir That's my baby - Bing Crosby
Mad World - Tears For Fears
Delilah - Tom Jones
Leaving Of Liverpool - Dubliners
Days - Kinks
Stuck In The middle With You - Stealers Wheel
Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison
Down Under - Men At Work
Losing My Religion - REM
Orange Blossom Special - Johnny Cash
Get Rhythm - Johnny Cash
Ripple - Grateful Dead
Leaning On A Lampost - George Formby
Watching The Detectives - Elvis Costello
Friday I'm in love - The Cure
You've Got A Friend in Me - Randy Newman
Yoshimi pt1 - Flaming Lips
Fat Bottomed Girls - Queen
Smells like Teen Spirit - Nirvana
Tonight You Belong To Me - ??
Pennies From Heaven - ??
Heart of Gold - Neil Young
Me And Julio - Paul Simon
She - Gram Parsons
Bring me Sunshine - Morecambe & Wise
Summertime - Gershwin
Have fun!
Thanks for the great list. I already play some of them, but it's nice to find others that I hadn't thought of and a few I hadn't heard of--and to hear that someone else finds them playable on the uke.
ReplyDeleteWould it be possible to add the Key of each song that you play? So many of the 'net postings for chords are for guitar, it'd be helpful to know what key is playable on uke.
Thanks Rinchen. As for key, to be honest I vary them by transposing to suit my voice.
ReplyDeleteI'd suggest you just try to find uke version (and uke versions of all the above ARE out there) and adjust to suit your own singing voice. It's what I do.
To add to that though, if you play using a guitar chord progression straight onto uke, you are effectively playing as if guitar was capoed at 5th which should also help. In some cases guitar chords take song too high for my voice so a transpose down a step or two
ReplyDelete