Tomorrow I make my storytime debut with a new trick up my sleeve: I am learning to play the ukulele. I’ve always been musical; I grew up taking piano lessons, voice lessons, and a brief stint with a guitar. My skills were never that great, but I can still read music and I sing with a local choir. I bought my ukulele about a year-and-a-half ago but never managed to get my act together and start learning it. A month or so ago, though, I saw Jake Shimabukuro in concert and was inspired. I MUST try this, I thought! And so, with the help of youtube, a book from the library, and this handy storytime song website that lists guitar chords I have achieved:
- 5 chords: C, G, G7, F, and Am
- 4 storytime songs I can play reasonably well without too long a pause between chord changes: “If You’re Happy and You Know It”, “Itsy Bitsy Spider” (I can really rock out on this one), “Twinkle, Twinkle”, and “BINGO”.
- Some decent callouses on 3 fingers so that chords are not horribly painful anymore.
I think it’s time to try this out on the kids. We’re going to do an all-singing (but not all-dancing) storytime, with Pete the Cat, Ain’t Gonna Paint No More, Itsy Bitsy Spider, and Down By the Station, among others. I’ll let you know how it goes. Meanwhile, check out Jake doing Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” below.
P.S. Yes, ukuleleist is a word. I checked.
UPDATE: And…just like that, my debut is quashed. Went to practice, and the uke broke. Darn. New one on order. Don’t worry – it wasn’t very expensive. I’m not going to REALLY invest until I stick with this a bit.
missmaryliberry.com 
Alas, Beth, I have not. Sorry.
Hi. I just found your blog. I love it. You haven’t, by chance, figured out uke chords to Give It Your All from Pete the Cat Saves Christmas?