Category Archives: Chord Melody

UD#99 Chord Melody: I’ll Be Home for Christmasfrom Ukulele in the Dark with Guido Heistek The first thing I do before I make a chord melody arrangement is learn the chords and melody of the song. So, here is a simple song sheet for “I’ll be Home for Christmas.” You can strum the chords and sing it, or you can pick the melody. Click the image for a printable version: If you are unfamiliar with chord melody you might want to check out this earlier article: https://ukuleleinthedark.com/ud-68-how-chord-melody-works/ When we create a chord melody arrangement it’s often necessary to use different chord   …Continue Reading

UD#96 Chord Melody: Brahms’s Lullaby!from Ukulele in the Dark with Guido Heistek Last lesson we learned Brahms’s Lullaby by ear with the plan of arranging it as a chord melody this week. If you missed the last lesson you can find it HERE. Have a look, and then come back to this lesson, when you are ready.  For those of you who learned Brahms’s Lullaby by ear, here is the answer sheet so you can check your work. You can see that I have added lyrics, which I forgot to do last week. I used the third verse because I like it the   …Continue Reading

UD#82 Holiday Chord Melody: Silver Bells from Ukulele in the Dark with Guido Heistek   It’s time for our yearly holiday chord melody arrangement! I was going through some notes with a long time student and I came across a nice arrangement of Silver Bells that I had done years ago.The nice thing about this arrangement is that it sounds lovely, but is also quite manageable for the fingers. It only has two “up-the-neck” chords!   What are “up-the-neck” chords? As you may know, chord melody is a style of playing that allows us to play chords and melody at   …Continue Reading

UD#80 Gorgeous Classical Piece: Spanish Romance from Ukulele in the Dark with Guido Heistek My dad was around 30 years old when he started playing guitar. An adult beginner!  One of the pieces that I remember him practicing is Spanish Romance, which is one of the best known classical guitar pieces in the world. I’d like to teach you a uke version today. The full piece has two sections: a minor section and a major section. I’ll teach you the minor section today. To learn the the major section please go to UD#83. First let’s listen to the piece on   …Continue Reading

Beautiful Chord Melody: Love Me Tender (UD#74) from Ukulele in the Dark with Guido Heistek   Today let’s look at a chord melody arrangement for Love Me Tender. Here is a little video of me playing through the tune in my own personal style. I take a few liberties with the melody and chords, but it will give you an idea of how the tune goes.   First things first… The first thing I usually do when I sit down to do a chord melody arrangement is learn to play the melody. For those of you who would like to   …Continue Reading

How Chord Melody Works (UD#68)from Ukulele in the Darkwith Guido Heistek The process of creating chord melody arrangements is quite simple. There are three basic steps: 1. Learn the melody.2. Learn the chords.3. Put the chords and melody together! Let’s start with a song that we are all familiar with: Mary Had a Little Lamb. Not the coolest tune, I know, but making your own chord melody is SO cool that it will more than make up for it. You’ll see. At the end of the lesson there is a video recap with a special treat for more advanced players.   …Continue Reading

UD#60 The Most Useful Chord Melody Ever: Happy Birthday from Ukulele in the Dark w/Guido Heistek A student of mine once commented that “Happy Birthday” was the most useful chord melody arrangement that she had ever learned. So many opportunities to use it!   But, first I have a little news. My new book, The Chord Melody Book for Ukulele, was officially released on June 1. If you would like to pick up a copy please click the link below. As a BONUS, every hard copy ordered comes with a complimentary download version! You can also purchase a copy of   …Continue Reading