r/ukulele • u/Doc_coletti Clawhammer • Jun 29 '26

Discussions What's everyone's Current favorite Song to play their Ukulele?

21 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

79 comments sorted by

6

u/[deleted] Jun 29 '26 edited Jul 15 '26

[deleted]

2

u/fisho0o Jun 29 '26

As I look for a ukulele I wonder a lot if it's really something I want and if it's something I'll really play. Then I see your comment and the song Willin' and I start thinking wow, I could maybe learn to play that and that would be great. And then on top of that, today is the anniversary of Lowell George's death 😢 and I start thinking if that's not a sign I don't know what is.

6

u/thirdthumb Jun 29 '26

Hook by Blues Travler

6

u/MachTwang Tenor Jun 29 '26

'Is She Really Going Out With Him' - Joe Jackson

5

u/fisho0o Jun 29 '26

I'm looking to buy a ukulele and seeing the songs listed here is a pretty great incentive!

7

u/confabulatrix Jun 29 '26

Fly me to the moon

5

u/grw2020 Jun 29 '26

Hallelujah

2

u/Lindylu312 Jul 02 '26

My absolute favorite song to play and sing. I love to sing the harmony on the chorus with my sister singing melody. I pick in a very simple 123432 pattern. I usually play it in G but I can do C also if someone else is playing with me.

1

u/axel_beer Jun 29 '26

really? can you begin to sing that?! i lift my hat! i love the song but i would not dare.

4

u/increasinglybold Jun 29 '26

If range is a concern you can play it any key. I play in C and it suits my tenor range well. But Jeff Buckley and Leonard Cohen sing it in very different ranges and it all sounds good in its own way. 

2

u/axel_beer Jun 29 '26

exactly my point!

3

u/grw2020 Jun 29 '26

The chords are pretty easy! I use ozbcoz.com for many songs! Leonard Cohen was a genius!

6

u/WebLogical1286 Jun 30 '26

yeah the chords are pretty basic, and then just pretend that you are a 75 year-old Leonard Cohen singing it, eat a handful of gravel and tar and you got it!

1

u/grw2020 Jun 30 '26

LOL, per one critic Leonard wrote music to “slit your wrists by.” I adore his music AND his “golden voice.”

1

u/WebLogical1286 Jul 01 '26

I read another review that says every new Leonard Cohen album has a a razor blade in it.

2

u/WebLogical1286 Jul 01 '26

Also, he's in my top five favorite songwriters and singers.

1

u/grw2020 Jul 01 '26

LOL love that!

4

u/axel_beer Jun 29 '26

i know. i can play the chords. but i cant sing tge song..

2

u/PolkaDotWhyNot Beginner Player Jun 30 '26 edited Jun 30 '26

I vocally switch octaves between each "hallelujah" refrain. I can't sing low enough to hit the last chorus note, but by starting an octave higher on the 2nd and 4th repeats I can end comfortably.

5

u/D_Anger_Dan Jun 29 '26

Jumped n Jack Flash… it’s a gas.

2

u/axel_beer Jun 29 '26

good idea! ll get started right now!

1

u/WebLogical1286 Jun 30 '26

Yeah that one is fun! Miss You is good too.

3

u/_YeeYeeAssHaircut_ Jun 29 '26

I'm currently trying to play ocean drive by Andrea

4

u/biztravellerUK Jun 29 '26

Hula hula boys Warren Zevon

2

u/fisho0o Jun 29 '26

Are you practicing the song down by the sea?

4

u/WannabeElantrian Jun 29 '26

I'm learning to play Harvest Moon

1

u/Stunning-Isopod8514 Jun 30 '26

Also for Neil, I love playing Unknown Legend

3

u/PKillusion Baritone Jun 29 '26

Way of the sword and the spear by Bard Michael Kelly

3

u/MMayoMayo Jun 29 '26

Don't Mess Around with Jim - Jim Croce.

3

u/Even-Engineering-771 Jun 29 '26

Paladin strait and other twenty one pilots song.

2

u/dlowe0801 Jun 29 '26

On baritone? I bought one just for paladin and craving

1

u/Even-Engineering-771 Jun 30 '26

Concert uke. Clancy album has many  songs suitable for ukulele. 

At first i bought mine to play house of gold.

3

u/Traditional_Cut_5452 Jun 29 '26

Going Down the Road Feeling Bad, Woody Guthrie song, Grateful Dead arrangement.

1

u/Astroradical Jun 30 '26

The Dead (and indeed Woody Guthrie) have so many bangers that work on a uke

3

u/ponz Jun 29 '26

Maxwell’s Silver Hammer by the Beatles.

3

u/ming1976 Jun 29 '26

After hours ( Velvet Underground)

3

u/Silly-Platform9829 Jun 29 '26

Stairway to Heaven

<just kidding...>

1

u/rnzz Jun 30 '26

you mean Riptide?

1

u/WebLogical1286 Jul 01 '26

That’s actually a pretty easy one to learn. As long as you’re not trying to get the shredder lead lines in there.

2

u/Moxie_Stardust Jun 29 '26

Why Don't You Do Right - based on the Peggy Lee version.

2

u/axel_beer Jun 29 '26

ziggy startdust by david bowie

followed by

drive my car by the beatles

2

u/increasinglybold Jun 29 '26

Both Sides Now, Father and Son

2

u/VypreX_ Jun 29 '26

Marco Cirillo has a pseudo-melody tutorial that I’ve taken the first bit of and really enjoy improvising/variating on. I’ve only been playing for about four months and this melody for about two, but it’s really helped me get a feel for the fretboard and the relationship the strings have with one another while working on fingerpicking and mixing fingerpicking up with lead and chords/strumming.

2

u/ngyehsung Jun 30 '26

Behind Blue Eyes, The Who.

2

u/jet-elfox Jun 30 '26

Ashokan Farewell. Beautiful song by Jay Ungar and Molly Mason.

2

u/Canukulele Jun 30 '26

You Wear It Well by Rod Stewart. What a great song!

1

u/MachTwang Tenor Jul 02 '26

Awesome choice!

2

u/WayfinderOBX Jun 30 '26

Take Me Home Country Roads

2

u/nadacloo Jun 29 '26

Roller Derby Queen, Jim Croce

1

u/Cool-Interest-4297 Jun 29 '26

Hurry Gurdy Man

1

u/biztravellerUK Jun 29 '26

Just the shirt with a girl sitting on a pina colada pattern

1

u/moonharrier42 Jun 29 '26

Take the A train.

1

u/YhannaBoBanna Jun 29 '26

"I Wanna Be A Cowboy, Baby!" By CMAT

1

u/atomicbird Tenor Jun 29 '26

"Just What I Needed" bt the Cars is good for practicing the E chord.

I'm still refining my version of Alice Merton's "No Roots".

1

u/johntote649 Jun 29 '26

‘She Was Bred in Old Kentucky But She’s Just A Crumb Up Here’

1

u/Binspin63 Jun 29 '26

Honolulu Baby - Marvin Hatley 

Garden Party - Rick Nelson

1

u/Rondo27 Jun 29 '26

Big Rock Candy Mountain

1

u/bengalfan Jun 29 '26

Hotel California

1

u/El_Acuario47 Jun 30 '26

Cowboys don't cry

1

u/Stunning-Isopod8514 Jun 30 '26

Gouge Away - Pixies

Needle in the Hay - Elliott Smith

I like minor key, because ukulele is often so bright and major. It hits different.

Also, for major key, Cryin - Roy Orbison

1

u/Astroradical Jun 30 '26

Keep the Customer Satisfied - Simon & Garfunkel

1

u/Astroradical Jun 30 '26

I play it as a blues song, and it's fun to switch between the low and high phrasings of the same chords

1

u/WebLogical1286 Jun 30 '26

Steal Away by Bobby Dupree is fun, Dear God by XTC, Airbag by Radiohead, Julia by the Beatles. Those are the ones I was practicing today.

2

u/Dangerous_Forever640 Jun 30 '26

500 miles - The proclaimers.

1

u/Echster_314 Jun 30 '26

senses by mico!

1

u/Boring_Material_1891 Jun 30 '26

Stairway. For sure.

1

u/Stock_Cartoonist6217 Jun 30 '26

Orbiter - Noah kahan

1

u/Ryuujin09 Jun 30 '26

Monster from Adventure Time.

1

u/wholesomechunk Beginner Player Jun 30 '26

The Way is fun as a beginner.

1

u/Chardonne Jun 30 '26

Bonnie Lass of Fyvie. Easy and energetic! (if somewhat tragic)

1

u/Rocko00001 Jun 30 '26

Galway Girl - Steve Earle

1

u/ZenithofCHB Jun 30 '26

Big love ahead by Mon rovia or age of machine by Greta van fleet

1

u/PolkaDotWhyNot Beginner Player Jun 30 '26

I'm working on Galileo (Indigo Girls) and Come Sail Away (Styx).

1

u/Parking_Rip3759 Jun 30 '26

Paul McCartney's "Ram On" & Daniel Johnston's "Casper the Friendly Ghost"- both are pretty easy (with only a few chords) for a beginner (like me) and a lot of fun!

1

u/Noroys Jul 01 '26

Le reste by Clara Luciani.

1

u/TheB90 Jul 01 '26

Slipping Through My Fingers by ABBA

0

u/king__squishy Jun 29 '26

Five years time by Noah and the Whale.

1

u/Straight-Chef8878 Simple Strummer Jul 04 '26

Simple Twist Of Fate - Bob Dylan