These past few weeks, I have learnt the songs “Count on Me” by Bruno Mars, “Here Comes the Sun” by The Beatles, and “Bear Necessities by Bruce Reitherman & Phil Harris.

Through using the following chords: Am, C, Dm, Em, F, G, A7, D, Bb, C7, F7, and D7.

The first song I learnt was “Count on Me” by Bruno Mars, using the chords Am, C, Dm, Em, F, G, and the strumming pattern DDU UDU, following along to the Ukulele Tabs website.

This song was decently easy to learn and very enjoyable. I’ve wanted to learn a Bruno Mars song for a little while and this one is fairly nostalgic for me – the lyrics are really lovely. Although I’ve struggled with Em since I first picked up the ukulele, I found that with this song – the transition to and from Em has been much faster and smoother!

Next, I learnt “Here Comes the Sun” by The Beatles, using the chords G, C, A7, D, Bb, F, and the strumming pattern DDU UDU, following along to the Ukulele Teacher on Youtube. This song is probably the most complex that I have attempted to learn so far. It took me an entire page just to write the whole song down!:

I picked this song because of all of the riffs, as I wanted to get better at picking. My ability to read tab has definitely got better with practice, and although I think my rhythm and timing with picking definitely has room for improvement – I am much more comfortable with it! I have found the 3rd riff the most difficult, and Bb is still a bit of a struggle, although much better than before!

Lastly, I learnt “Bear Necessities” by Bruce Reitherman & Phil Harris, using the chords C, C7, F, F7, A7, D7, G7, F, Am, and the strumming pattern DDU UDU, following along to the Ukulele Teacher on Youtube.

This was one of the songs that I wanted to be able to play by the end of the year. I had tried to learn the song before starting this inquiry project but always struggled with it. The most difficult part is the one section where you have to quickly switch between 6-7 chords, playing only two down strums on each. This section repeats twice, with slightly different chords. I have been trying to slow the song down to try and master this section before I increase the tempo again, which I believe with aid with my confidence with the song as a whole. In general, the song is very upbeat and playful and I actually really thoroughly enjoy playing it.

From now until the end of the semester, I would like to work on speeding up “Bear Necessities” again while not losing accuracy. I would also like to continue to improve the riff section of “Here Comes the Sun” and try to find another song where I can practice this skill. I would also like to learn “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz, which is the other song I aimed to try and play by the end of this semester. Lastly, I would like to learn some more children’s songs that I can use in my future classroom.

I have included a video of me playing the beginning of “Here Comes the Sun” which includes two of the riff sections:

-Jess