Week 15 of 24
Goal: You learn Dm and play “What Shall We Do with the Drunken Sailor”.
Review
Pick “Kein schöner Land” with C and G7.
Step by step
- Dm: middle finger on the G string at fret 2, ring finger on the C string at fret 2, index on the E string at fret 1. Chart: Dm.
- Look familiar? Dm is F plus your ring finger. From F to Dm you just add one finger.
- Dm is a minor chord: it sounds darker than F. Sailor songs sound just like the sea with it.
- Changing Dm ↔ C: all three fingers lift, only the ring finger goes to the A string at fret 3.
Time to make music: your piece
“What Shall We Do with the Drunken Sailor” with Dm and C – a strong down-up! Calmer: “Leise rieselt der Schnee” with C, F, G7 and Dm.
Homework for next time
Five days, about ten minutes each:
- Fret F, add the ring finger: Dm! Ten times back and forth.
- Dm – C – Dm – C, four strums each.
- “Drunken Sailor” with “Waits for me”.
- Fun: sing the chorus “Hooray and up she rises” really loud.
Done when …
- all four strings ring with Dm
- you accompany all of “Drunken Sailor”
If you get stuck
- Middle and ring fingers lack room at fret 2? The ring finger can sit a little further toward the fret wire.
- The E string sounds muffled? Your ring finger is touching it – stand it up more.
For teachers: lesson plan
- ≈ 10 min Warm-up: play F and Dm – which sounds like sunshine, which like fog over the sea?
- ≈ 15 min Practice: F → Dm → F with just the ring finger, then Dm ↔ C in time.
- ≈ 20 min Song together: “Drunken Sailor” – the class stomps on the one.
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/15/