Mele Fong teaches how to play an easy 2-chord song for beginning ukulele players – Down in the Valley. Learn how to form home base chords of C and G7, and how to strum the two unique waltz Strums: Thumb Strum Up Strum Up and chicken Pluck Pluck. Play along by downloading the song sheets below.
If you want to skip the ukulele lesson and jump to listening and/or playing along to the song, click on the timestamp for “watch a close-up of Mele's hands as you play along.”
Timestamp:
Learn the strum
Learn the chords: 1:35
Watch a close-up of Mele's hands as you play along: 3:16
This old American song was one developed by Kentucky mountaineers about the time of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. The song was widely sung by the followers of Daniel Boone as they made their hazardous journey west over the highlands of Tennessee and Kentucky into the Ozarks of Arkansas and Missouri. This arrangement uses the popular first verse twice, and two more of the six original verses published in Theodore Ralph's The American Song Treasury, 1964.
PLAY ALONG WITH MELE FONG – Get the song sheets for Down in the Valley with 2 Waltz Strums for ukulele, chords, lyrics, and more at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jvb4wRPFkd0zQBppQf9uxSqadyllMKvx/view?usp=share_link
LEARN THE STORY behind this old American song in the video titled Story Behind the Song | Down in the Valley | by Ukulele Mele – https://youtu.be/unoExqP83gM
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PLAYLIST FOR BEGINNER UKULELE LESSONS:
PLAYLIST FOR UKULELE MELE LESSONS (4+ chord songs):
PLAYLIST FOR HAWAIIAN MUSIC BY UKULELE MELE:
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Native Hawaiian Mele Fong from Maui is an experienced educator and professional entertainer with over 50 years experience playing the ‘ukulele – Hawaii's official instrument. Are UKE having fun yet? Watch. Listen. Play. The Ukulele Mele Way!
