al et - Fingerstyle Ukulele: A Method & Songbook for Fingerpicking Backup & Solos

Wabash Cannonball, Avalon

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Amazing Grace

After Youve Gone

Stagolee

Careless Love

Shenandoah

Sloop John B.

I Ride an Old Paint

Will the Circle Be Unbroken

I Ride an Old Paint

Amazing Grace in F (Chords)

Amazing Grace in F (Melody)

Amazing Grace in F (Chord Melody Solo)

Amazing Grace in G (Chords)

Amazing Grace in G (Melody)

Amazing Grace in G (Chord Melody Solo)

C and F Chord Waltz

Aloha Oe in G (Chords)

Aloha Oe in G (Melody)

Aloha Oe in G (Chord Melody Solo)

Aloha Oe in B E (Chords)

Aloha Oe in B E (Melody)

Aloha Oe in B E (Chord Melody Solo)

Red River Valley in G (Chords)

Red River Valley in G (Melody)

Red River Valley in G (Chord Melody Solo)

Red River Valley in G (Clawhammer Solo)

On the Beach at Waikiki in G (Chords)

On the Beach at Waikiki in G (Chord Melody Solo)

On the Beach at Waikiki in G (Clawhammer Solo)

On the Beach at Waikiki in Ab (Clawhammer Solo)

I Never Will Marry in D (Chords)

I Never Will Marry in D (Chord Melody Solo)

I Never Will Marry in D (Clawhammer Solo)

Rising Sun Blues in Dm (Chords)

Rising Sun Blues in Dm (Chord Melody Solo)

Rising Sun Blues in Dm (Chord Melody Solo with Fills)

Shine On, Harvest Moon in G (Chords)

Shine On, Harvest Moon in G (Chord Melody Solo)

Shine On, Harvest Moon in A (Chord Melody Solo)

St. Louis Blues in A (Chords)

St. Louis Blues in A (Melody)

St. Louis Blues in A (Chord Melody Solo)

Darktown Strutters Ball in C (Chords)

Darktown Strutters Ball in C (Melody)

Darktown Strutters Ball in C (Chord Melody Solo)

Banks of the Ohio in G (Chords and Melody)

Banks of the Ohio in G (Solo with Forward Rolls)

Whispering in C (Chord Melody Solo)

Whispering in C (Solo with Forward Rolls)

Poor Butterfly in B E (Chord Melody Solo)

For Me and My Gal in G (Chord Melody Solo)

Introduction

If youre one of the nine million YouTube viewers who watched Jake Shimabukuros amazing performance of While My Guitar Gently Weeps, if youve seen James Hill turn his ukulele into an R&B band playing Billy Jean, or heard Ohta-San play Claire de Lune, you know that the ukulele can be much more than a strumming, sing-along instrument. As far back as the 1920s, popular American artists like Roy Smeck and Cliff Edwards (Ukulele Ike), and Hawaiians like Ernest Kaai raised the bar and showed the world that the ukulele could be a solo instrument like a piano or a guitar. The ukulele can shine on instrumental versions of popular songs, rock, jazz, classical music, and anything else you can imagine.

If you want to take your ukulele playing to the next level and learn how to play beautiful instrumentals, you need to start using your fingers! The sample songs and patterns found in this book and recording will get you started both playing solos and accompanimentfingerstyle.

You will learn how to use your right-hand fingers and thumb to play chord melody solos on the ukulele; mixing chords and single notes like a pianist or a guitarist. You will also learn fingerpicking accompaniment patterns for a variety of textures and rhythmic grooves. Because fingerstyle playing works for all genres, folk, jazz, blues, and country songs are included in this collection.

Happy strumming and picking!

About The Audio

All ukulele parts are panned to one side of the stereo mix, so you can isolate them for close study, or pan them out and play along with the band.

All instruments: Fred Sokolow

Recorded at Sossity Sound by Michael Monagan

Fingerstyle Accompaniment

If youve only strummed the ukulele, the accompaniment patterns in this chapter will introduce you to fingerpicking . Youll learn a number of ways to accompany different types of songs with various rhythmic grooves.

The fingers of your picking hand will be labeled throughout the book using the standard Spanish letters, p-i-m-a:

p (pulgar) = thumb

i (indicio) = index finger

m (medio) = middle finger

a (anular) = ring finger

Thumb and Two-Finger Up-Pick: Cut Time

Heres a very simple picking pattern for cut time , a rhythmic feel thats especially useful in country, folk, or bluegrass music. It may also work for blues, Tin Pan Alley, or rock tunes as well.

• Pick the fourth string with your thumb (p).
• Pick the second and first strings simultaneously with your index (i) and middle (m) fingers.
• Pick the third string with your thumb.
• Pick the second and first strings simultaneously with your index and middle fingers.

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Track 01

Use the pattern to play the following old country/folk train song, Wabash Cannonball, which was popularized by the Carter Family, and later by Roy Acuff.

Wabash Cannonball Accompaniment

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Track 02

The same picking pattern can be used in old, cut time jazz standards like Avalon, which was a huge hit for Al Jolson in 1921. The thumb is reversed in the following arrangement.

• Pick the third string with your thumb.
• Pick the second and first strings simultaneously with your index and middle fingers.
• Pick the fourth string with your thumb.
• Pick the second and first strings simultaneously with your index and middle fingers.

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Track 03

Avalon Accompaniment

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