Chords for Uke Lesson: Somewhere Over the Rainbow/Wonderful World
Tempo:
79.7 bpm
Chords used:
C
Am
F
G
Ab
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
[Gm] There are a lot of people playing Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow.
I want to tell you a little bit about how it's played and how he achieved the sound he did.
First of all he played on a tenor ukulele
with a low G string.
That is this string up here is a low G.
[C] [Am]
[G] [Ab] The tenor ukulele gives a little bassier sound.
He played a marking [C] tenor.
It had [A] a nice bassy sound and with that low G [Ab] string instead of this [Am] [C] he played this.
That is part of the Kitu sound.
The other wonderful thing is his strum.
Very hard to get.
Very hard to imitate.
I'm going to try and walk you through it and show you the chords.
It's played in C.
[Abm] [G] There's a G.
[Bb] There's an A minor popping up several times.
[Am] [F] And an F.
You'll also hear [E] an E7 in there.
[Em] There's also an E minor.
Here or like this.
You can play it with three fingers or you can play it with four.
The other thing that he did when he played that riff, that beat, that groove was [A] to dampen the strings [C] like this.
[B] Notice I tap my ring finger or any available finger on the strings to give [Ab] it to stop the sound and give the whole groove
a more percussive beat like this.
Here's the intro C
G A minor F and you'll notice he throws in [Am] this.
[F]
[Abm] He's playing the F, but he also puts his ring finger down on the second [B] string [Am] third fret.
[F] So [G] here's the song played in C and the intro again is C G A minor F.
Here's the song as I know it.
[C] [G] [Am]
[F] [C] [G] [Am]
[F]
[C] [Em]
[F] [C]
[F] [E]
[Am] [F]
[C] So those are the keys to replicating Israel Kamakawebo Ole's version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow.
[B] It's the tenor ukulele with the low G stringing.
The beat of his strum, the reggae beat with [C] the damping.
[Bm] [C]
I want to tell you a little bit about how it's played and how he achieved the sound he did.
First of all he played on a tenor ukulele
with a low G string.
That is this string up here is a low G.
[C] [Am]
[G] [Ab] The tenor ukulele gives a little bassier sound.
He played a marking [C] tenor.
It had [A] a nice bassy sound and with that low G [Ab] string instead of this [Am] [C] he played this.
That is part of the Kitu sound.
The other wonderful thing is his strum.
Very hard to get.
Very hard to imitate.
I'm going to try and walk you through it and show you the chords.
It's played in C.
[Abm] [G] There's a G.
[Bb] There's an A minor popping up several times.
[Am] [F] And an F.
You'll also hear [E] an E7 in there.
[Em] There's also an E minor.
Here or like this.
You can play it with three fingers or you can play it with four.
The other thing that he did when he played that riff, that beat, that groove was [A] to dampen the strings [C] like this.
[B] Notice I tap my ring finger or any available finger on the strings to give [Ab] it to stop the sound and give the whole groove
a more percussive beat like this.
Here's the intro C
G A minor F and you'll notice he throws in [Am] this.
[F]
[Abm] He's playing the F, but he also puts his ring finger down on the second [B] string [Am] third fret.
[F] So [G] here's the song played in C and the intro again is C G A minor F.
Here's the song as I know it.
[C] [G] [Am]
[F] [C] [G] [Am]
[F]
[C] [Em]
[F] [C]
[F] [E]
[Am] [F]
[C] So those are the keys to replicating Israel Kamakawebo Ole's version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow.
[B] It's the tenor ukulele with the low G stringing.
The beat of his strum, the reggae beat with [C] the damping.
[Bm] [C]
Key:
C
Am
F
G
Ab
C
Am
F
[Gm] There are a lot of people playing Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow.
I want to tell you a little bit about how it's played and how he achieved the sound he did.
First of all he played on a tenor ukulele
with a low G string.
That is this string up here is a low G.
[C] _ [Am] _
[G] _ _ _ _ [Ab] The tenor ukulele gives a little bassier sound.
He played a marking [C] tenor.
It had [A] a nice bassy sound and with that low G [Ab] string instead of this [Am] [C] he played this. _
_ That is part of the Kitu sound.
The other wonderful thing is his strum.
Very hard to get.
Very hard to imitate.
I'm going to try and walk you through it and show you the chords.
It's played in C. _ _ _
_ [Abm] [G] There's a G.
_ [Bb] There's an A minor popping up several times.
[Am] _ _ [F] And an F.
_ You'll also hear [E] an E7 in there.
_ [Em] _ There's also an E minor.
Here or like this.
_ _ You can play it with three fingers or you can play it with four.
The other thing that he did when he played that riff, that beat, that groove was [A] to dampen the strings [C] like this. _
_ _ _ [B] Notice I tap my ring finger or any available finger on the strings to give [Ab] it to stop the sound and give the whole groove
a more percussive beat like this.
Here's the intro C
_ G A minor F and you'll notice he throws in [Am] this.
_ _ [F] _
[Abm] He's playing the F, but he also puts his ring finger down on the second [B] string [Am] third fret.
_ [F] _ So [G] here's the song played in C and the intro again is C G A minor F.
_ Here's the song as I know it.
_ _ [C] _ _ [G] _ [Am] _
_ _ [F] _ [C] _ _ _ [G] _ [Am] _
_ _ _ _ [F] _ _ _ _
[C] _ _ _ _ [Em] _ _ _ _
[F] _ _ _ _ [C] _ _ _ _
[F] _ _ _ [E] _ _ _ _ _
[Am] _ _ _ _ [F] _ _ _ _
[C] _ _ _ _ _ _ So those are the keys to replicating Israel Kamakawebo Ole's version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow.
[B] _ It's the tenor ukulele with the low G stringing.
The beat of his strum, the reggae beat with [C] the damping.
_ [Bm] _ _ _ _ [C] _ _ _ _ _ _
I want to tell you a little bit about how it's played and how he achieved the sound he did.
First of all he played on a tenor ukulele
with a low G string.
That is this string up here is a low G.
[C] _ [Am] _
[G] _ _ _ _ [Ab] The tenor ukulele gives a little bassier sound.
He played a marking [C] tenor.
It had [A] a nice bassy sound and with that low G [Ab] string instead of this [Am] [C] he played this. _
_ That is part of the Kitu sound.
The other wonderful thing is his strum.
Very hard to get.
Very hard to imitate.
I'm going to try and walk you through it and show you the chords.
It's played in C. _ _ _
_ [Abm] [G] There's a G.
_ [Bb] There's an A minor popping up several times.
[Am] _ _ [F] And an F.
_ You'll also hear [E] an E7 in there.
_ [Em] _ There's also an E minor.
Here or like this.
_ _ You can play it with three fingers or you can play it with four.
The other thing that he did when he played that riff, that beat, that groove was [A] to dampen the strings [C] like this. _
_ _ _ [B] Notice I tap my ring finger or any available finger on the strings to give [Ab] it to stop the sound and give the whole groove
a more percussive beat like this.
Here's the intro C
_ G A minor F and you'll notice he throws in [Am] this.
_ _ [F] _
[Abm] He's playing the F, but he also puts his ring finger down on the second [B] string [Am] third fret.
_ [F] _ So [G] here's the song played in C and the intro again is C G A minor F.
_ Here's the song as I know it.
_ _ [C] _ _ [G] _ [Am] _
_ _ [F] _ [C] _ _ _ [G] _ [Am] _
_ _ _ _ [F] _ _ _ _
[C] _ _ _ _ [Em] _ _ _ _
[F] _ _ _ _ [C] _ _ _ _
[F] _ _ _ [E] _ _ _ _ _
[Am] _ _ _ _ [F] _ _ _ _
[C] _ _ _ _ _ _ So those are the keys to replicating Israel Kamakawebo Ole's version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow.
[B] _ It's the tenor ukulele with the low G stringing.
The beat of his strum, the reggae beat with [C] the damping.
_ [Bm] _ _ _ _ [C] _ _ _ _ _ _