Your First Song: Creating Magic with Two Chords

Congratulations, It's Your Time to Shine!

This is the moment you've been waiting for! Your posture is solid, your uke is in tune, and you have your first two chords, C and Am, under your belt. Now, we'll combine these pieces to play a real song. By the end of this lesson, you won't just be someone who can play chords; you'll be a musician who can perform a song from start to finish. Welcome to this exciting milestone!

First Step in Rhythm: Feeling the Beat

One of the things that makes a song a song is rhythm. For now, we'll use the simplest rhythm possible: one down-strum for every count. Using your thumb or the nail of your index finger, calmly strum down across the strings once for every number as you count '1-2-3-4'.

First, try muting the strings gently with your left hand and just practice this strum: Down, Down, Down, Down... This is a great way to get your hand used to keeping a steady rhythm.

Here is Your First Song: "A New Day"

I've prepared a simple but great-sounding song for you that uses only the C and Am chords. The chord should be played at the beginning of the syllable it's written over.


(C) The sky is so blue
(Am) The sun is shining through
(C) And I am here with you
(Am) Singing a song that's new

Let's Play It, Step-by-Step

Review Your Chords: Practice the switch between C and Am a few times slowly. Make sure your fingers are landing in the right spots.
Start the Song (C Chord): Hold down the C chord. As you sing "The sky is so blue," play four steady down-strums, one for each beat.
Change Chords (Am Chord): Now, switch to the Am chord. As you sing "The sun is shining through," play four more steady down-strums.
Back to C: Switch back to the C chord for the line "And I am here with you."
And Finish (Am Chord): Complete the song on the Am chord with "Singing a song that's new."

In your first few tries, the chord changes might be slow, you might miss the rhythm, or you might mix up the words. All of this is part of the journey! The important thing is to keep trying. Every repetition strengthens your muscle memory and improves your brain-hand coordination. Be proud of yourself, because you just played your first song!