Peter Edvinsson invites you to download your free ukulele tabs and uke lessons at http://www.capotastomusic.com
In this ukulele lesson you will learn to read easy tab notation. Even if you cannot read sheet music you will be able to read ukulele chords and melodies with this type of tabs. We will use the Christmas song White Christmas as a learning tool.
In sheet music you will find notes placed in a staff with five lines. The placement of the notes in the staff determines which note it is. However, the sheet music notation does not tell you how to play the note on your instrument, in this case, your ukulele. You will have to learn this by yourself.
Tablature notation, on the other hand, tells you how to place your fingers to play a melody or something else. Ukulele tabs show which frets to press down and which strings to play. As soon as you understand the system you can use it to play melodies and chords on your uke.
You can find a few different types of tablature notation on the Internet. In this lesson you will learn a form of ukulele tabs with numbers telling you which fret and string to play.
I suppose that you have tuned your ukulele in C. This means that you first string, that is the bottom string when you play, is tuned to an A, the second string is an E, the third string a C and the fourth string a G.
In the ukulele tab notation we will use all frets you are to press down on your ukulele is shown by two numbers. The first number tells you which fret to press down, the second number what string to play. Here is an example:
12 01
The first number pair tells you to press down the first fret on the second string. The second pair means that you shall play the first string without pressing down a fret. This is called to play an open string.
It is time to take a closer look at the song we will use to learn tab notation. I will write down the lyrics, one line at a time, and the ukulele chords you can use in the key of C-major:
(C)I'm dreaming of a (Dm)white (G7)Christmas
The song starts on the note 02 which is the note E if you want to sing the song. Here are the chords that I have written in brackets before the syllable where you are to play them:
C: 04 03 02 31
Dm: 24 23 12 01
G7: 04 23 12 21
Here are the next line:
(F)Just like the (Dm)ones I (G7)used to (C)know
The chord F-major can be played as follows:
F: 24 03 12 01
Where the (C)treetops (C7)glisten and (F)children (Fm)listen
The uke chords C7 and F-minor are played like this:
C7: 04 03 02 11
Fm: 14 03 12 31
The chord Fm is a little bit tricky to play. Use your left hand index for string four, your middle finger for string two and your pinkie for the first string.
Here comes the last line of verse one:
To (C)hear (Am)sleigh bells in the (Fm)snow (G7)
The second verse starts with the same melody and the same chords:
(C)I'm dreaming of a (Dm)white (G7)Christmas
(F)With every (Dm)Christmas (G7)card I (C)write
Now comes a different melody and new ukulele chords:
May your (C)days be (C7)merry and (F)bright (Fm)
And may (C)all (C#dim)your (Dm)Christma(G7)ses be (C)white
C#dim can be played:
C#dim: 04 13 02 11
I suggest that you learn the song by memorizing one line at a time. The best way to learn to play the ukulele chords is to practice two adjacent chords at a time. Practice changing between the chords smoothly by strumming once on every chord, repeating the procedure slowly until you can play the chords without looking. Then, move to the next chords!
- Related Videos
- Related Articles
- Ask / Related Q&A
- Learn How to Easily Read Guitar Tabs
- Reading Guitar Tabs
- Index Tab Templates Made Easy
- Piano Tabs: Learn To Play Yesterday
- Piano Tabs: Learn To Play Fur Elise
- Ukulele Tab: Ukulele Tuning For Beginners
- Piano Tabs: Learn To Play Happy Birthday To You
- Piano Tabs: Learn To Play White Christmas With Keyboard Tablature




Songs with Santa
By: Jeff Bachmeier | 04/12/2009A holiday icon popular with kids and adults is Santa. He's so popular in fact that songs have been written and sung about him for years. Here are some songs about Santa.
How to make your own Rap and R&B beats without Studio Equipment
By: John Paul Jones | 04/12/2009Are you a fan of rap, hip hop, dirty south, soundclick, r&b, freestyle, or instrumental beats? You don't have to drop g's at the studio to start making your own beats. Online tools are all the rage these days and they're just as good as the offline ones.
Best Hip-Hop Ad Libs
By: Kasan Groupe | 04/12/2009The ad lib is a popular part of hip-hop and originally stemmed from the popularity of mixtape DJs to inject a catch-phrase or name into their mixtapes to distinguish themselves. Now rappers have taken to doing it to good and bad effect.
Drum Sets for Kids
By: Chad Fisher | 04/12/2009If you have a child that loves to play music, you know what a joy it can be to see your little one take an interest in something that can really contribute a lot to their lives. When it comes to music, you really will want to encourage your children to get involved with it as much as possible.
What Makes A Good DJ In Herfordshire
By: Neil Maycock | 04/12/2009People hiring a DJ in Hertfordshire will often raise an eyebrow when given a quote per hour for the event. Yet when you compare the work that goes into making a successful party, you will realize it's more than just playing a couple of records and announcing the buffet is open.
Are Electronic Drum Sets Better?
By: Chad Fisher | 04/12/2009If you have ever played the drums, there is an excellent chance you may have invested some time into playing electronic drum sets. There are many people who love to play the drums and they can tell you that they may think the electronic drums are the best.
Rap Flow
By: Jamaal West | 04/12/2009Learn the five factors that have an effect on rap flow. Tips for rappers inside.
Top 3 Games that Need a DS Port
By: Kasan Groupe | 04/12/2009The Nintendo DS is a popular, portable gaming device that is not only great for developers to design innovative new games to work with its touch screen and dual display format, but has led to many developers “porting” older games from Genesis, SNES others to fit and play on the DS. What’s great about this is that it gives the developers the ability to improve upon the original games through the new abilities of the DS. Here are a few games that I think should get the new port treatment.
Piano Lesson: What To Practice On Your Piano
By: Peter Edvinsson | 14/07/2008 | MusicHow can you decide what to practice among all available choices? Is it possible to find a balance between playing by ear, learning sheet music, finger dexterity and other aspects of piano playing? Let us take a closer look at the art of piano practicing!
Ukulele Chords: Learn To Play White Christmas
By: Peter Edvinsson | 28/06/2008 | MusicIn this ukulele lesson you will learn to read easy tab notation. Even if you cannot read sheet music you will be able to read ukulele chords and melodies with this type of tabs. We will use the Christmas song White Christmas as a learning tool.
Piano Tabs: Learn To Play White Christmas With Keyboard Tablature
By: Peter Edvinsson | 23/06/2008 | MusicThis piano lesson will help you read piano tab notation or keyboard tablature. You will find that this type of notation is easy to understand even if you cannot read music sheets. As an example we will use the Christmas song White Christmas.
Guitar Lesson: Learn To Play White Christmas With Guitar Tabs
By: Peter Edvinsson | 17/06/2008 | MusicIn this guitar lesson you will learn to read a special type of guitar tablature. We will use the song White Christmas as an example. You will learn to play the melody and the chords on your guitar.
Piano Tabs: Learn To Play Fur Elise
By: Peter Edvinsson | 07/06/2008 | MusicIn this piano lesson you will learn to read easy keyboard tablature. Piano tab notation is easy to read even if you do not know how to read sheet music. You will also learn to play an easy piano version of Fur Elise.
Piano Tabs: Learn To Play Happy Birthday To You
By: Peter Edvinsson | 05/06/2008 | MusicPiano tab notation will help you learn melodies without knowing sheet music. In this piano lesson you will learn to read easy piano tabs. You will also learn to play Happy Birthday To You!
Piano Tabs: Learn To Play Yesterday
By: Peter Edvinsson | 02/06/2008 | MusicIn this piano lesson you will learn to read easy piano tab notation. You will also learn to play an easy piano melody with the help of tabs. We will use the popular song Yesterday as an example.
Ukulele Chords: Learn To Play Chord Changes
By: Peter Edvinsson | 26/05/2008 | MusicUkulele is a great instrument to use when you play chords to songs. Your chord playing on your ukulele can be more effective if you apply a few guitar playing principles. In this ukulele lesson you will find out how you can change between chords better and easier!