73 Love Songs for Ukulele

According to our exhaustive research, the most effective way to make somebody swoon is to strum and croon a love song on the ukulele. Over our years of Valentine Ukulele events, we’ve compiled this PDF of 73 love songs, all with ukulele chord charts!

Get swoonin.

 

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New to ukulele? I’ve written a book of the easiest ukulele songs to help you get started. The Easy Illustrated Book of (kids’) Ukulele Folk Songs shows how to hold, strum, tune, and play your first easy songs on the ukulele. You don’t have to be a kid to enjoy it! Thanks for helping me spread the word.  –Marla

 

 

Oldies Singalong at the Rest Home

On an ongoing/adhoc basis we lead a ukulele-accompanied oldies sing-along for residents of the Gallatin Rest Home in their activities room. Basically, it’s on alternating Mondays at 3:00 at Gallatin Rest Home (1221 Durston, Bozeman) but check the B.U.C. event calendar to make sure we’re confirmed. Anyone who wants to play along (or even just sing) is welcome to participate.

We try to keep it casual so everyone feels like part of the singalong and it’s not like a performance. It’s very low-key!

Just bring your ukulele and show up at 3:00pm. I provide song binders, but if you want to be prepared, you can preview the PDFs below. (There are no practices. It’s fine just to sing along on any songs that are beyond your playing level, but most of them are pretty easy!)

Practice Sheets: I bring enough song binders for all, so you do not need to print your own unless you want to practice. *Beware, I occasionally add sheets or reorganize, so the PDFs here are subject to changes or updates. We tend to jump around, but we try to play from the section that best fits the playing level of the ukers who participate. (If you print the whole booklet in order, it tends to go from easiest to hardest.)

Section 1 – Folk Songs (easiest) 01-Singalong-FOLK

Section 2 – Western Songs  02-Singalong-WESTERN

Section 3 – Popular Songs (1920s-1950s)  03-Singalong-POPULAR

Section 4 – Oldies 04-Singalong-OLDIES1

Section 5 – Level 2 Oldies (slightly more complex songs) 05-Singalong-OLDIES2

All songs (current as of 1/19/2015) – SINGALONG All

Thanks to San Jose Ukulele Club and Doctor Uke as the sources of the majority of the music I’ve compiled in these practice booklets.

If you have songs to add to the list, feel free to suggest or bring them. (If you’d like to organize a sing-along at another care facility, let me know.)

Sing along in Hawaiian with Mark!

At our Hawaiian ukulele class, Mark Sinclair taught us several authentic songs.

He was kind enough to record videos of the songs for us to practice along with so we’ll be (kind of) ready to join him on a few Hawaiian songs at our next Ukulele Jam (Sunday, May 18).

So far we have added subtitles with lyrics and chords to Ka Pua U’i:

The other songs are at our new Bozeman Ukes YouTube Channel.

Chord sheets for the Hawaiian Songs that Mark taught us are here in PDF form: Hawaiian Songs May 2014 .

Hawaiian Ukulele with Mark Sinclair – May 2014

Our friend Mark Sinclair (AKA Baker Mark) will host May’s ukulele jam! Yay!

When Mark was a school teacher in Hawaii, he taught his students traditional Hawaiian songs and techniques. Now, we’re in for the good fortune of learning some Hawaiian songs straight from the Hawaiian’s mouth. — A perfect way to greet the month of May!

May is our last Ukulele Pizza Jam before summer hiatus, so don’t miss out!

PREVIEW the Hawaiian songs on video HERE.

DOWNLOAD a practice PDF of the Hawaiian Songs May 2014

SUNDAY May 18
MAY UKULELE PIZZA JAM
WHERE: Colombo’s Pizza & Pasta (back room)
WHAT TIME: 7 pm
This is low key and fun, so don’t be shy! Bring a fun song to perform or lead, or just bring your uke and strum along. Mark will lead us on a few Hawaiian songs, then it’s open mic and jam. Let’s play some songs to say goodbye to winter and hello spring! Bring any song you like for the jam/open mic. (It doesn’t have to be Hawaiian.) Come as early as you like to order pizza and beverages.

Don’t have a ukulele?

You can now rent one from B.U.C. during the session for a suggested donation of $5. (The money goes to buy more ukuleles for future use in classrooms and community enrichment efforts.) If you would like to attend, but don’t have a ukulele, please send a note via the contact form below to reserve one. (If you don’t have $ for a donation, that’s OK, it’s just a suggestion.)

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Ukulele Power Ballads! April 6 and April 13 2014

 

April is POWER BALLAD* month! Marla will host April ukulele sessions with a bevvy of ballads from Journey, REO Speedwagon, Air Supply, Manfred Mann, Foreigner, Boston, Styx, Led Zeppelin, Eagles, Kansas and maybe a couple of surprises.

FIRST SUNDAY in APRIL
SUNDAY APRIL 6th, 1pm-3pm  –  Open Lesson at the Public Library (small meeting room)
Starting at 1pm at the library, Marla will coach you on the basics of a few techniques commonly used in power ballads. Then we’ll walk across the street to Cafe M for an easy-going sneak preview of songs that we’ll play the following week. Think of it as a library lesson followed by a ukulele Power Ballad coffee klatch. — All are welcome! BYO Uke!

SECOND SUNDAY in APRIL
SUNDAY APRIL 13th, 7pm-9pm  –  Ukulele Pizza Jam at Colombo’s (backroom)
Marla will provide music sheets for some power ballads that all can play (and sing! emotively! …if that’s a word!) along on. There will be a mic set up, so bring a song you’d like to lead or perform, or just bring your uke and have fun strumming along. (The theme power ballads is just for inspiration — bring any song you like!)

Power Ballad Chord Sheets (PDF): Power Ballads

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*What’s a power ballad? “An outgrowth of ’70s stadium rock, the ’80s power ballad combined keyboards, acoustic guitar, orchestration and tender lyrics with thundering guitars and drums…contributing to the rise in popularity of hard rock.”
If you were alive between 1975 and 1990, you can probably sing along with the choruses of a LOT of power ballads! If not, isn’t it about time you were exposed to the musical bedrock of baby boomer culture? A lot of them start out with pretty little fingerpicked intros and then descend into crushing rock and roll leads (which I for one can’t play, but we’ll have fun anyway!) The chords tend to be pretty easy and the structure repetitive, so don’t be shy: Come…strum…and be awesome!!

 

Valentine Play-Along Practice Preview

For those of you who would like to practice up a bit ahead of time for our Valentine Ukulele Open Mic & Play-Along Night (7-9pm Feb 14 2014 at Wild Joe’s in Bozeman) here’s  a PDF of the songs with chord charts pretty much as they’ll be on the 14th. (We will hand out songbooks the night of and it’s possible that they might differ slightly from this draft, but it will be pretty close.)  valentine songs 2014

These (and maybe a surprise or two) will be the songs that we all play together. It will be fun! Everyone is welcome!

The evening of Feb. 14 2014 will go something like this:

6:30pm* – Sign up for remaining open mic slots. (They are going fast online! You can DIBS an open mic slot NOW or sign up night-of, on a first-come basis. — So, dibs a slot NOW if you want to be sure that we allow time for you to perform.) Please note that since time is limited, we ask that performers play only ONE song until everyone has had a chance. If there is extra time, we’ll ask for encore volunteers.)

*Don’t to forget to buy a drink or treat to show appreciation to our generous host, Wild Joes!

We break up the night into four half-hour sets:

7:00 First set of open mic

7:30 First set of play-along

8:00 Second set of open mic

8:30 Last set of Play-Along (Audience votes on “Saddest Song,” “Sweetest Song,” and “Most Elegant Valentine Attire.”) (Your own interpretation of elegant is encouraged.)

9:00 Awards and last play-along song.

It will be a hoot! Even if you don’t have a ukulele, you can come, sing along and vote! But if you DO have a ukulele, come, strum and be awesome!

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Songs for Caroling

Hello ukulele friends!

I’ve arranged up some songs with ukulele chord charts for ukulele caroling. (Join us Dec 14, 2013! More info here.)

I selected mostly cheerful, festive songs and not so many traditional hymns, partly because the Jingle Bells category sounds appropriate on the ukulele and is easy-ish to play! If you’d like to see a particular song on our caroling list, feel free to request it and I’ll see if I can add it.

I picked keys based on “easy to play” before “easy to sing,” so we’ll just have to do our best with the vocals. (I try to make songs as accessible to beginners as I can, so please bear this in mind if you have to jump an octave to sing the chorus.)

Here’s a PDF that you can print for yourself. (Let me know if you see and glaring errors, and I just might fix them!)  Holiday songs

And following are the songs as browseable jpgs.

Enjoy and happy holidays!

More Halloween Songs for the Ukulele

Just when you thought it was safe to pick up your ukulele! Here’s another round of Halloween themed songs, all charted up. I transposed Jonathan Coulton’s “re. Your Brains”  to make it easier for girls to sing, so I hope he doesn’t mind that I’m sharing it here.

Some of these songs and arrangements have been simplified a bit to make them easier to play in a “play-along” setting.

Ghost Riders in the Sky (so easy!)

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Godzilla

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Witchy Woman (my new favorite song)

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Sympathy for the Devil

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re. Your Brains

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All 5 songs in a PDF:  MoreHalloweenSongs

 

 

Bozeman Ukulele Cabaret seeks input for Summer events

 We’re trying to gauge interest for some ukulele summer events in Bozeman, so please help: Comment if you might like to be involved!
1. JULY Summer Ukulele Picnic. I’m thinking we’d do this at a local park in a jam format from 6:30 to 8:30 on Thursday July 25. — Any interest?
2. AUG 3 Sweet Pea Parade: Does anybody want to be in the Sweet Pea Parade as the Bozeman Ukulele Cabaret? Parade is 10am Sat. Aug. 3 and registration deadline is this Wed., July 17. If anybody wants to do it tell me NOW! NOW! NOW!
3. AUG 24 Talking Heads ukulele performance: A local promoter has asked if we would like to do some ukulele Talking Heads covers before an outdoor showing of “Stop Making Sense.” If you would like to perform a T.H. song (solo or with group) please let me know right away so I can confirm our participation. SEE BELOW a brand-new ukulele chord chart for “People Like Us” that this event inspired me to whip up.
4. SEPT Uke Flash Mob: Would anybody be interested in doing a ukulele flash mob at the Bozeman Art Walk Friday, Sept. 13? If I get 4 or more replies, I’ll mastermind a plan.
5. Monsters of Arena Rock + Power Ballads night: Anyone in for a night of 70s/80s power ballads and arena rock hits at a local bar? (Think Journey! Kansas! Foreigner! Styx! Etc!) Any interest? If I get 4 or more replies, I’ll book a venue.
If you would like to participate in any of the events above, please COMMENT on this post so we’ll know whether or not to proceed with plans.

And speaking of great Talking Heads songs: Thinking about performing Talking Heads songs outdoors made me think of the great scene in “True Stories” (my favorite movie, ever) where John Goodman performs “People Like Us” for the big sesquicentennial celebration in Virgil, Texas. I looked for chords on the internet, but the only version I could find was a bit out of my singing range. I went ahead and added ukulele chord charts for that version, but I also transposed it to a girlier key, in case any of the ladies out there want to sing it. Enjoy!

PDF of People like us C (girlier key)
PDF of People like us G (original key)

Ukulele Love and Tragedy Play-Along Booklets for Feb 13 2013

Hi uke pals, we have 16 awesome Love and Tragedy songs in the mix for this year’s Valentine Ukulele Open Mic and Play-Along event at Wild Joes (Wed., Feb. 13, 6:30pm).

Here’s a PDF of the Love & Tragedy Ukulele Valentine Play-Along Songbook for those who want to woodshed a bit beforehand, or to print a large print version, or paper their bathroom, or whatever.

–>  Love and Tragedy Songbook

We’ll have about 30 handy heartache hymnals on hand, free, while they last, but you are welcome to print your own to be sure you’re set up.

Selections from our treasure trove of prizes of dubious origin and questionable value!

In addition to joining in the play-along fun, we do hope that lots of lovesick and/or lovelorn souls will come out to perform a song of their own choosing for the open mic portions of the occasion.

If you can play a lovey-dovey and/or tears of anguish song on the uke, why not share your brilliance and/or good intentions with a wildly supportive audience? We promise, LOVE for open mic performers will be in abundant supply! (Hint: Don’t pick one of the play-along songs as an open mic number.)

PLUS!  If love itself weren’t enough, there will be PRIZES of dubious origin and questionable value for the most heartbreaking performance and the most sugary sweet performance.

What? There’s MORE???? Indeed: Rumor has it that Bozeman’s own heartthrob Ryan Cassvaugh just might show up to emcee. Eeee! Ryan is the mostest! So grab your ukulele and your sweetie and and a cuppa joe, and we’ll see you on Wednesday, Feb 13!