Chords for Acoustic Nation Lesson: Jake Shimabukuro Shares Some Ukulele Basics

[C] _ _ _ _ _ _ [B] Hi, this is Laura Whitmore with Acoustic Nation and I'm here with Jake [Abm] Shimabukuro and he's
going to give us a little ukulele [C] lesson.
Alright.
So.
Well, we're going to start with three notes.
So if you put your index finger on the third fret of the first string and then [B] your middle
on the fifth and your baby finger on the seventh.
Yeah.
[Cm] So that's your C, D and E.
Okay.
So try that.
Yeah. _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [Bb] There you go.
Okay, so let's try this.
I mean, I know it's a silly song, but let's try Mary Had a Little Lamb with those three notes.
Okay, so we're going to start with [B] the seventh fret.
And play it.
_ [Bm] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [Cm] _ _ _ [Bm] _ _
[Cm] It's like learning the recorder in [B] school, right?
Look at that!
Yeah, see?
Three notes. Okay.
But, you know, of course you don't want to be playing Mary Had a Little Lamb.
But you know, with the same three notes, [E] we can play One Direction.
[Bm] Oh, okay.
So the chorus.
Your daughter [Cm] might like that.
_ [D] Alright, so let's try.
So just use your ear.
Here we go.
[Ab] One, two, ready, go.
[Cm] _ _ _ _ [Bm] _ _ [C] _
_ _ _ [Bm] _ _ _ [Cm] _ _
_ _ [Bm] _ _ [Cm] _ _ _ _
_ _ Yeah, there you go.
So you can play that for your daughter. _
[Bm] Got it.
I got it now.
Okay.
Yeah, so here, let's try it again.
And I'm going to play the harmony this time.
Ready?
Here we go.
So I'll play the melody with you too.
_ [C] _ _ _ _ [D] _
_ _ [C] _ _ [Am] _ _ _ [Cm] _
_ _ _ [Am] _ [D] _ _ _ [Cm] _
_ _ [C] _ _ [Cm] _ Yeah!
I got it.
I was like, what the hell is that song?
_ _ That's awesome, yeah.
Yeah, okay.
[Fm] So you know, just like sometimes [C] just, you know, kind of, you [D] can take just a few notes
and, you know, just use your ear and you can figure out songs.
And I think that's a good way to learn.
With those three [Em] notes, you know, there's so much you can do.
And if you [Eb] just extend just a little bit beyond those three notes, you could do like, [Cm] I mean,
[D] _ _ _ [Cm] _ _ _ [B]
you can [C] find all these great melodies, you know, in just a few notes on ukulele.
So let's try chords.
You know your C7 chord?
I do now.
Yeah.
Alright, so let's try that.
Just strum [E] that for me.
One, two, [C] ready, go. _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ Yeah. _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ My favorite chord. _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ Alright, there we [N] go.
We're jamming, we're jamming.
Okay, alright, one more thing I want to teach you.
So you know George Harrison's Something, right?
It's one of my favorite songs.
Alright, so the first four chords of that song, you can play it with one finger.
Alright, so we're going to start with C, alright?
And you're just going to put your index finger on the third.
[C] So first chord is here.
Something in the way [Em] she walks.
Slide it back one.
Alright, now slide it [C] back to that C7 that we just learned.
Attracts me like [B] no other.
And then right up here.
[F] Okay, so now you do that and I'm going to play the melody, alright?
One, two, ready, [C] play.
_ _ _ _ [Em] _ _
_ _ [C] _ _ _ _ [F] _
Yeah.
[Eb] And it will stop there.
It gets a little harder after that.
But I know you can do it.
I really will now.
Yeah.
Well if I practice, I'll do it. Of course.
But this is new.
But I just wanted to show everyone that the ukulele is such a simple instrument.
It doesn't take a lot of effort [D] to learn.
Especially for someone, I mean [Bb] you play guitar and all that so this is even easier for you.
But for someone that has never touched a string instrument before, you can see [B] how simple it would be for that person to learn, right?
So it's a lot of fun and I'm just a big fan [E] of the ukulele.
Yeah, cool, thank you. Thank you.
[Abm] Now your turn.
Alright.
Go try it.
Let's jam some more C7.
[C] One, two, three. _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _