Day 8 - Free Ukulele Starter Course

How's it going guys? Welcome to day 8 of this 10 day starter course where we are learning one of the most famous guitar songs of all time, and we're learning it on ukulele. This is how to play House of the Rising Sun. This is again sort of consolidating a lot of the things that we learned earlier in this course, how we can be in a key, in this case A minor. And uh the other chords associated that are the same as the key of C, which is where we started, so if you're unsure about the key of C and you think this might be a bit much for you, uh, days 12 and 3 basically are the are the ones to check out. And then you might be able to come back to this one and learn this song without an issue. You might be able to learn it straight off the bat as well. Um, but this is to a different count as well, so not only have we got, um, not, not really, the, the chord changes should be OK for us at this point, but doing that with this drumming. Um, can be different. So the strumming pattern we're going for is down, down, up, down, up. Down, down, up, down, up, down, down, up, down up. Now this is to a count of 6 really, cos we can think of this song really as being in 68 is uh the way that I would choose to teach this. So per chord we count 123456. And the the main pulse is on the 1 and the 4123456123456. Now there are different ways that we could count it. Some people would think of it as 123123, kind of waltz time. Um. But it's best to count to 6 cos then it's per chord as well. So we start off on the A minor chord. And if we just think of it as the count, the first four chords are the A minor, C, D, and F. The chord sheet that I'm using is linked to in the description of this YouTube video, or you can find it on the website. Um, it should be just embedded underneath the, the video. And we will go A minor. C, D, F. 6 strums per chord, the pulse, or a louder strum on 1 and 4. For example, 123456123456123. 612. 561 6. And then when you're comfortable with that, we can increase the the difficulty of that strumming to make it sound cooler. 212 and 3 and 45 and 6 and 12 and 3 and 45 and 6 on, down, down, up, down, up, down, down, up, down, up. All strumming with the first finger, um a little bit more towards the neck, but rather than over the sound hole for a bit of a bit twangy there. That tends to be where we want to strum. 12 and 3. 5 and 6 and change to the sea. A house. To the decode. In New Orleans It's a 2, what is an echord? And the E is a lot trickier, it's almost, um, you know, kind of barcode shape if you think about it, but we're not barring, just the first finger, little, 3rd and 2nd. Um, as the core diagram shows, you, some people would prefer to perhaps do this with a little finger or third finger, but I think for most people's hands to enable kids, teenagers, everyone to be able to do this, most people are gonna prefer this way, OK. We could have that thumb a little bit higher, that would be cool. Just trying to be as clear as possible, remembering to keep er all fingers apart from the first finger as much on the tip at all times, so really getting those claw hands working. And it's very similar to uh those first two lines throughout the whole song. There are differences which we will look at, but it's mostly that. One more time with the strumming pattern that I would prefer you to go for. 123456, A minor. To a scene. To a day To an F. A minor they call. A sea To the new ecose. And then it's the same as that first line again, and it's been. Guru Of Yeah And guard, this is where it changes slightly, aim. E major. And finish on A minor. Now this bit's a bit weird because that A minor that the verse finishes with is like the first one of the verse again. It sort of loops from there. Um, so there's not too much that should catch us out. Maybe the A minor. Er And God I know, but by the time we get to A one. We're just going round a minus C. And And OK, so essentially. The the real other reason I want I want to cover this song for you guys is because there's a lot of verses to this song, there's a lot of lyrics, and if you are following uh your chord sheet and just looking at each chord as it comes up, you're gonna find this a lot trickier to do, and what you need to do is spot the pattern and just practise the, the pattern, uh as in any repeating sequence, which here is that top line, for example, happens a lot in the song. And then the second line. It varies slightly, but not too much, it still kind of follows a pattern, and every verse is actually identical. Every verse is absolutely identical, and it's just this pattern that goes throughout, even throughout the, you know, what in the animal's version would be the organ solo and stuff. So spot that pattern, try and memorise that pattern on your fretboard, rather than just seeing each chord as it comes up and going, oh, it's a D chord next, oh it's an F chord next. You know, that's not, not the way to think about it. Try and remember the pattern and try and just use your chord sheet as a prompt for for what the next section is or what the next chord is, just as a refresher. OK. So let's do the first verse in its entirety together. Just strum. Six times if you want, but we'll be doing 12 and 3 and 45 and 6 hands for those of you that can join into that one. And join in with me in 12345 there. house Second line, they call. The right. Third line, and it's been. The Of many A And I know. Here, just follow those chords um very similar to the first line. 12345 and 1. So to see Andy A minor E. Same again, A minor E. That's always the musical interludes. Second verse, ma'am. A tailor What did she sew? She sewed. who What about your father, Bob? My father. He was a gambling man. Where? Down new following that chord. D A minor. What's the only thing a gambler needs, now that you're home. Uh Is a. That's 2 things, but we'll let him off. And the old. I Satisfied. when on d ru nk And to see A minor E When you're changing Change early. noticed this cause It's nothing, but it doesn't particularly sound bad, so if you need help going from the A minus to the E, 12 and 3. 5 and 6 and, you know, you wanna get used to trying to make this shape before you put your fingers down. Have a watch. 5 and 6 cents, you know, go super early and try and make the shape of a cord before you put it down. That's definitely gonna be the bit that catches uh most people out. And that is how to play House of the Rising Sun. That is our song for day 8 of this 10 day starter course. Thank you so much for checking out these videos, subscribe if you haven't already. Make your requests for more ukulele songs, and I will see you again for day 9 when you are ready. And there's no pressure with this course to do them back to back every day, but it's there, ready and waiting for you when you're ready and when you've got the things that we looked at in today's video.