Beloff Jim - The Daily Ukulele: 365 Songs for Better Living (Jumpin Jims Ukulele Songbooks)

A long with an apple a day, a daily allowance of vitamins and minerals and a daily constitutional... playing music regularly is one of the healthiest lifestyle habits you can practice. It makes you smarter. It makes you laugh. And it even has romantic advantages. For those of you who have played a musical instrument, or total beginners who have always longed to play, this book, along with a ukulele, is your key to musical health and happiness. In The Daily Ukulele youll find easy arrangements of hundreds of great, time-tested tunes at your fingertips.

One thing weve learned in all of our years of publishing ukulele songbooks is that the uke is a very social musical instrument. This would explain the recent growth of ukulele clubs throughout the United States and the rest of the world. Its a good bet that at any given moment somewhere on the planet a group of players is gathered together having a great time strumming and singing a bunch of favorite songs.

Part of this is due to the modest nature of the ukulele. Although the uke has always attracted its fair share of virtuosos, most players are perfectly happy to use it as an accompaniment to a song. And when groups of like-minded strummers gather, it can be a memorable experience. For those who have visited a well-established ukulele club, it can seem like a cross between a secret society gathering and a tent revival. Typically, these clubs create their own culture and traditions with regular meetings, special events and gigs, guest performances, and sometimes even annual festivals. At the center of it all are the songs the members are passionate about playing and singing together.

We created The Daily Ukulele with these songs in mind. The idea was to pull together 365 well-known songs with easy arrangements in uke-friendly keys that are especially fun to play and sing with others or on your own. Everything from Stephen Foster to Irving Berlin, The Beatles and Bob Dylan, kids songs, gospel songs, Christmas carols, Broadway and Hollywood tunes and even a couple of tributes to the ukulele. And, all bound together in one convenient volume.

Over the years weve seen many worn copies of our other Jumpin Jims songbooks. We take special pride in seeing these especially loved copies because they clearly have been enjoyed. Heres hoping that this copy of The Daily Ukulele will become just as loved.

Keep on strummin,

Liz and Jim Beloff

Clinton, CT

2010

www.fleamarketmusic.com
www.thedailyukulele.com

Ukulele 101

T he songs in this book are arranged for ukuleles in C tuning. In this tuning, the individual strings from the top (closest to your nose) to bottom (closest to your toes) are tuned GCEA. A lot of chords can be made with one or two fingers and many of the songs in this book require six chords or less.

Uke C Tuning

One easy way to tune a ukulele is with a pitchpipe or electronic tuner matching the strings with the notes.

This corresponds to that famous melody:

Here are the notes on the piano:

Keeping In Tune

Most ukuleles have friction tuners that include a small screw at the end of the tuner. The secret to staying in tune is to keep these screws tight enough so that the tuners dont slip, but loose enough that the tuners still turn.

Holding The Uke

Press your uke against your body about 2/3rds of the way up your forearm. Your strumming hand should naturally fall on top of the upper frets (not over the soundhole).

Hold the neck of the uke between your thumb and first finger of your other hand, so that your fingers are free to move about the fretboard.

Note: See Jumpin Jims Ukulele Tips N Tunes if you need a basic ukulele method book.

Making The Chords

You make chords by putting various combinations of fingers on the fretboard. In this songbook youll find chord diagrams that show where to put your fingers to make the right sound. The vertical lines in the diagrams represent strings and the horizontal lines represent the frets. The numbers at the bottom of the chords shown below indicate what fingers to use.

Remember to:

1. When pressing down the strings, use the tips of your fingers.
2. Always press down in the space between the frets, not on them.
3. Press the strings down to the fingerboard. If you hear a buzz it may be because you are not pressing hard enough or are too close to a fret.
4. Keep your thumb at the back of the neck, parallel to the frets.

Making The Strums

The Common Strum: This is the most basic up/down strum. It can be produced solely with your index finger going down the strings with the fingernail and up with the cushion of your fingertip. You can also try this with the pad of your thumb running down the strings and the tip of your index finger going up. This strum will work fine on most of the songs in this book. A good example would be King Of The Road.