For the second half of my ukulele learning, I am going to try and learn the song “Ho Hey” by the Lumineers. This song not only incorporates two new chords, but also a strumming pattern.

The four chords that I need for the song are…

C

F

 

 

 

Am

G

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I already know the C and F chords from when I learned “Twinkle Twinkle”, so Am and G are the new ones to tackle. G is very similar to G7 which I also learned, the difference being that the finger placement is inverted for G. G7 was the main chord that I struggled with for my first song, so I think that G is also going to be the tricky one for this song. Luckily, after lots of practice, I was able to feel comfortable with G7. So, while I might struggle with G at first, I know that it will get easier.

As mentioned above, the other new component that this song incorporates is a strumming pattern. The song utilizes a strum that is sometimes called the “island” or “calypso” strum, which consists of 6 strums in the pattern: down, down, up, up, down up. The chorus consists of this strum pattern for the chords Am, G, and C. In addition, for the verses, each pattern segment is framed by one down strum at the beginning, and two down strums at the end.  The chords are also partnered for the verses, C with F and Am with G. Below is a visual I made of both the chord progression and strumming pattern for the verses.

The underlined letters in the first row represent the “island” or “calypso” strum.

Thus far, I have been practicing the four chords and working on transitions from C to F and Am to G. C and F are going really well because I am already familiar with them. Am and G definitely need more practice. I also need to practice transitions from F to Am and from G to C for when I am transitioning between the verse lines.

Featured image by Gabriel Testoni on Unsplash