Week 12 of 24
Goal: You play the famous sequence C – Am – F – G7 that countless songs are built on.
Review
Play “Zum Geburtstag viel Glück” in waltz time.
Step by step
- The sequence C – Am – F – G7 sounds like many pop songs. You already know all four chords!
- Look for shortcuts: from Am to F the middle finger stays down. From F to G7 the index finger stays down.
- Play each chord four times, then the next. Then try it with down-up or the island strum.
- “G-C-E-A” is a song about your ukulele’s strings, “Am Lagerfeuer” a sing-along – both with exactly these four chords.
Time to make music: your piece
“Am Lagerfeuer” and “G-C-E-A (the string song)” with C, Am, F and G7. With the island strum it sounds like a real band.
Homework for next time
Five days, about ten minutes each:
- C – Am – F – G7, four strums each, three times.
- Practise the shortcuts: Am ↔ F and F ↔ G7.
- “Am Lagerfeuer” with “Waits for me”.
- Fun: sing your own tune over the four chords.
Done when …
- you play C – Am – F – G7 round and round without stopping
- you accompany a whole song with four chords
If you get stuck
- G7 always comes late? Start moving on the last strum of F – your index finger stays down anyway.
- Too much at once? Play just C – Am until it flows, then F – G7, then everything together.
For teachers: lesson plan
- ≈ 10 min Warm-up: four groups, each gets one chord. The teacher points at the groups – the sequence is built together.
- ≈ 15 min Practice: everyone plays the sequence; after each round a new strumming pattern is chosen.
- ≈ 20 min Song together: “G-C-E-A” – fits learning the strings and is good fun.
Differentiation: those who are confident play the piece with down-up or help a partner; those who need more time strum only on beat one of each bar.
For the board: openstring.de/ukulele/en/lesson/12/