Chord Melody Ukulele: Part 1 Why Chords Are The Key (and learn "Dirty Old Town")

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This is the first in a series where we'll look at playing chord/melody style ukulele. We'll look at the basic principles of finding notes within existing chord shapes, and work on the tune "Dirty Old Town". In future videos we'll take these ideas and develop them into different styles of chord melody playing. Stay tuned!​​
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[@lisaannehill]

This is very helpful, Phil! Thanks

[@lawrencetaylor4101]

I decided to take my ukulele playing to another level, with the blessing of my piano teacher. I'm going through the circle of fifths in the three parts of the fretboard. Frets 1-5, 4-8 and 8-12. And I'm trying to not use open strings. I'm starting with major triads, then minor, then diminished and augmented. I have done this on the piano, I'm not learning jazz chords...yet. I want to master triads before attacking other concepts. I heard someone once say that a jazz player should be at a Level 8, and I agree. Unless they're gifted (and I'm not!) you have much to learn before you can be cool. Phil is a great teacher, he knows how to explain things simply. That's a true gift.

[@PhilDoleman]

Thank you! Your piano and theory knowledge will give you a huge head start, coolness awaits!

[@lawrencetaylor4101]

Brilliant video. You are a masterful teacher.

[@PhilDoleman]

Thank you!

[@michellezalph2281]

OMG! Thank you so much! The wedding of tablatures and chords is absolutely brilliant and eliminates fumbling awkwardly to play melodies when they are already laid down in a chord. I like your calm and clear way of explaining the technique. I appreciate your sharing this great lesson with me and the ukulele community!

[@nildakhalessi1139]

Sooo amazing! Learning a lot!❤

[@one-handstrumman4616]

One step builds on another. Knowing how the chords tie into the melody and vice versa makes a huge difference in musicality

[@michellezalph2281]

Phil, this was so enjoyable! I love your explanations and the pace with which you took me through this lesson. I actually was able to play it! Wow! You really are a great teacher. It's given me a lot more confience in my abiity to learn how to play chord melodies. Thank you ever so much!!

[@PhilDoleman]

Thanks, I'm really pleased you enjoyed it!

[@theharrowarrow5865]

Thanks Phil,Im 59yrs old have have been scratching around from teacher to teacher on youtube trying to find the right one,i have to say since following you my Uke playing has gone from strength to strength,from an absolute beginner to being able to strum,play most of the cords,and play a few songs in a matter of weeks. Thanks again,oh and if your looking for a teacher then you could do a lot worse than Phil.

[@PhilDoleman]

Thank you, I'm really pleased you're getting on so well!

[@kriss4590]

🎉 Brilliant! It's like a light got turned on. Thannk you so very much,

[@BeverlyTilton]

This is so helpful! I just find but next lesson!

[@mikeclarke9281]

Apparently brilliant, iv been looking for a lesson like this

[@matthewfrancis3959]

Light-bulb moment - thank you! I understand now why learning tunes hasn't been getting any easier, and what to do about it!

[@jeffweinbergeruke]

Good stuff as always!

[@rickpalmer3340]

Excellent tutorial…very musical! Thank you

[@janinesyoutube1096]

You are a wonderful teacher!!

[@PhilDoleman]

Thank you!

[@rhondabaveas1678]

Great lesson thank you 😊

[@jillhumphrys8073]

Mr Phil, you never cease to amaze me with your teaching style. I'm at work having my lunch break wishing I had my uke with me!! Thank you so much!!!

[@georgefrench1907]

Excellent lesson. Spot on advice. (I had to work out this approach, painstakingly, after being tapped as a soloist for a recent performance of our ukulele group.)

[@usernamemykel]

Superb! Thank you!

[@Barbiejay2]

thanks Phil, this was so very helpful as I am learning this song, and playing the melody is an added bonus to playing it. My current favourite song is now sounding even better - well it will when my left hand fingers cooperate!!

[@ericdguerin]

This is a fantastic breakdown, of how melody relates to the chords. Thank you! Definitely following!!

[@GpoppaJohn]

Really good informative video 👍

[@mnbv990]

Thanks for the tab too sir.

[@ChristopheDietrich]

Merci Phil, pour ton infatigable effort à transmettre toutes ces informations sur les relations entre les accords et la mélodie !

[@davidrees570]

Brilliant gonna try and follow this learning curve . Cheers

[@rebeccamyers7483]

Amazing realizations for me in this lesson. Thank you l, as always, for great information.

[@markperry222]

brilliant thanks

[@francescomanfredi]

The Pogues’s version of this song is the best I have ever heard, and this lesson is very good as well!

[@cathiejung3597]

Brilliant! I could never quite get the concepts you described so clearly here. Many thanks!

[@PhilDoleman]

Thank you!

[@briarroot]

I look forward to applying this principle to banjo.

[@delmarlemming]

This is a lovely setting for a truly memorable Ewan MacColl song. The tab is easy to follow and teacher takes you through it carefully. Although I have been playing for years, this basic tuition really inspires me to reconsider the ukulele and also revisit this old favorite again. Thank you for such precise tuition.

[@jamimorton1770]

This is so helpful. Would love more chord melody songs to learn. Love when I can play the Uke and it sounds like 2 of us are playing. Has more depth.

[@priyadarshinibarath2935]

Thank you so much Phil...my ukelele dad. I did exactly as you instructed - Did not look into the transcripture mechanically. Rather observed the melody notes as a premonition to the chords. In the process was able to understand that melody gives us the time and space to place the fingers on the corresponding strings one by one in a sequence....so that a chord is formed to be strummed next (Melody - A means to enjoy and learn chord transition.) In this case the melody gradually picks us up from G to C to E and leads us back to G. In other words chord and melody go hand in hand in a sought of symbiotic relationship.

[@MikeBrown-dk7or]

A super learning experience. A big thank you, Phil.

[@MagnesiumAddicts]

Thanks for these videos man. I've never played an instrument before I got my Uke 1 month ago and your videos have been the most helpful for me.

[@0UmAndUh0]

Thank you so much for this video. This is such valuable info and I haven't seen it anywhere else.

[@michaelkaspar8240]

What a great teacher you are. I wish, i had one like you here around my home town... 😂 Thanks for your work!

[@vivelachanson]

This so great, very well explained, thank you Phil.

[@martyngoodfellow6828]

Thank you Phil. Brilliant ! Can't wait for part 2

[@hilarywilliams880]

Incredibly good instructions Phil, I am in awe. Thank You Very Much

[@kharmaviv]

I feel I can learn to play melodies. It always seemed so difficult, but you explain so clearly. Thank you! I look forward to learning more. 😊🎵

[@judynpeterjones3307]

Thanks Phil, shared to our group!

[@SiFi5478]

Thank you Phil! You are an awesome teacher, wonderful stuff! ❤

[@huwperry8641]

Thanks Phil. Like this great little video. Really instructive and well explained especially the lack of true understanding that can set in if just stick to following tabs only!. Looking forward to the follow up. Cheers 👍

[@gav1nwood]

Tremendous. It easy when you know how!

[@gordondennis4820]

That was really, really good.

[@robgriff7491]

Very interesting. I spend a lot of my time playing classical pieces through tab, and the chords are usually never notated. You are absolutely right in saying that one piece is just as hard as another, and I now see that I'm not making any connections through chords. I have other material e.g. blues, ragtime and Beatles fingerstyle books which do have the chords, and feel that I understand what I'm playing more that way.

[@PhilDoleman]

That's true about classical music, and whilst there are most definitely chords that could be strummed along with the music, classical music is often not though of that way, and so not notated.

[@robgriff7491]

@@PhilDoleman I see. I occasionally see chord shapes I recognise but never think of them a such for some reason. Maybe it's the context. I still feel I'm learning by numbers as opposed to musical notation - I have experienced the same with both harmonica and trombone (though I realised I wasn't going to progress much on the latter this way)

[@sunnyscott4876]

Wow!

[@annwilkinson2136]

Hi Phil I’d love to be able to play ukulele like this. I got a uke at Christmas and have joined the u3a group which meets once a fortnight. I want to get going and progress quicker but I’m struggling because we’re only on once a fortnight for two hours. It’s too long but not frequent enough for me also no proper tuition. I’d love some one to one stuff and got an awful lot from your video. Thank you for posting.

[@PhilDoleman]

Hi Ann, I do teach one-to-one on Zoom, drop me a line at [e-mail] if that interests you. Groups are great one you get going, but often it's difficult to get up to speed to be able to get the most from a group. I can also recommend the KZbin lessons posted my Matt Stead you'll find them here www.mattsteadukulele.com/beginners-ukulele-course All the best, Phil

[@amandamales5719]

A really excellent lesson, many thanks Phil...and oh, what a tune! Am using this as my intro to tab and picking, along with your other lessons as I find your way of teaching so easy to follow. I like to analyse the theory and understand exactly what I am doing, so could you explain please why we normally would expect to end on the same note as we started, but here we start on a G but end on an Em... I get that Em is the relative minor of G major, so uses the same scale but what would the cadence be in this instance please?

[@PhilDoleman]

Thank you. It's an odd one, isn't it? Whilst it's very common to end on the tonic chord, it's not a hard and fast rule, and I'm not aware of a particular name for this cadence, but it does add to the melancholy feel of the tune. Actually, all of the chords can also be found in the E natural minor scale, so you could even think of it as being in Em but starting on the III chord of that key, but I personally think of it as walking the line between both, what with it having two major chords and both of the relative minors.

[@psychicpajamas]

[@solomtb727]

your videos are amazing! thanks :) P.S. what type of strings are you using?

[@PhilDoleman]

Thanks! These are the stock strings that came on the uke, Worth BM I believe.

[@kitthearty]

Love your stuff. But.... oh dear here we go. 2 years now uke and last year added guitar. I love theory (well basic stuff) and I love the connection between the ukulele and the guitar at the 5th fret on guitar. Triads and playing around. I try to sing so I'm not too interested in more than the basic chords. Apart from a few 7 chords and knowing the notes on the strings. And shifting and hammer ons etc. But that 5th fret connection is like magic for me. Is it worth a visit or have you already done it?

[@PhilDoleman]

I haven't done any guitar videos as yet, but I think I've mentioned a similar thing in the link between baritone uke at the 5th fret and standard uke tuning. I am planning a 'transferrable skills' video, so I'll definitely include it in that!

[@johnnacke2017]

Phil: Question: If you were going to buy a Tenor ukulele for a friend ( small hands/ short fingers) and your price range is 1100-1500 dollars, which uke would you buy? Hope you are well…. ciao, John

[@PhilDoleman]

You're in the US? I would go straight to Mim's ukes and look at something from KoAloha. Wonderful Hawaiian ukes, and Mim always checks things over and sets them up so they play perfectly. mimsukes.com/collections/tenor?page=2&sort=price-descending Yo might have to move through a couple of pages, but these start to fall within your price range. That said, if your friend has smaller hands, a concert might suit them better.

[@johncrookes981]

I really enjoyed the video as Dirty old town is a favorite of mine, and the melody tabs work well with the chords. However I tried the download button on the video but it did not seem to work, only inviting me to sign up for KZbin premium. So I had to write it out longhand, but it sounded good. Is there somthing I'm missing?

[@PhilDoleman]

Hi John, it's not the 'download' button you want (that's a new thing KZbin is trying out for premium users), the link is the text description. Here it is www.learntheukulele.co.uk/longer-lessons , just scroll down the the Chord Melody thumbnail and the links for the whole series are below.

[@johncrookes981]

@@PhilDoleman Thank you Phil, problem not being able to download tabs sorted. I feel with your help I will be able to progress in the future.

[@williamgraham99]

Am I wrong or are you straying from the tab in bar 12 (poetic licence)

[@PhilDoleman]

Well spotted, I do put a couple of extra strums in there! Really though, those bits where the chords are filling space between melody notes could be played with pretty much any rhythm you like.

[@bobnelson4372]

What strings are you using. Tu

[@PhilDoleman]

These are the strings that came on it! I think they're Worth Brown, though right now I have clear Flourocarbon on it.

[@christopherharris9645]

Hi Phil, you have a Blues retreat on the 27th July. I can't seem to get the link to book. Could you give me details. Thanks Chris.

[@PhilDoleman]

Hi Christopher, here you go, hope to see you there! www.eventbrite.co.uk/cc/phil-doleman-ukulele-retreats-469839

[@christopherharris9645]

Thanks Phil, have booked ticket. See you Saturday.

[@georginastulen9911]

I can’t read tablature. I don’t know why but I just can’t.

[@PhilDoleman]

The biggest hurdle for most people is that it appears to be upside down (string nearest the floor is the line nearest the ceiling)! Once you get used to that, it's not too hard.

[@georginastulen9911]

@@PhilDolemanthank you. I won’t give up 😂

[@wendyharrison7687]

I'm with you. I can read music, and chord diagrams, but not tab. Not sure I really want to really, seems like a crutch, although useful at times I guess. I'm just at the "I don't know what I don't know" stage. Just discovered there is something called chord melody playing. Thanks Phil.

[@howlinhobbit]

hmm… maybe that’s why they’re often referred to as “chord solos.” 🤔

[@PhilDoleman]

Bingo!

[@eimyxfrutilla]

i dont understand how that tab works😭😭

[@PhilDoleman]

No problem, it's standard tablature, but if you've never used it before my friend Matt has a great video on it here... kzbin.info/www/bejne/qoaoZoSZZ9ZjaLc

[@richardperry3942]

This makes no sense to me!

[@PhilDoleman]

What can I help with?