Better Times Will Come
A glorious and uplifting song written by Janis Ian not long after losing her dear friend and fellow singer-songwriter John Prine to Covid. Janis has generously shared her song with musicians everywhere, to learn, record their version, and share with others.
a woman holding a ukulele against a background of flowers
Sing
Learn The Carpenters song "Sing." Experiment with harmony to fit the melody into your own vocal range. Learn a basic rock groove strum pattern and how to add rhythmic intensity.
Havana
Havana is a super-fun song with a syncopated rhythm that makes it a challenge to play and sing. Learn some alternative strum patterns then play along with Cali's simplified arrangement of this song.
Turning a Song into an Arrangement
Take an easy 3-chord rock ‘n roll song and fancy it up with different strums and embellishments. Give it an intro, an ending, and a solo et voila!—an arrangement you can call your own!
Celebrate the uke with a song
Join Cali Rose as she teaches a Ukulele Kids Club Workshop. Learn to play and sing Cali's tune OO-KOO-LAY-LAY. Once we get this number under our fingers, Cali shows you all kinds of ways to fancy things up.
Let’s waltz! Strumming and Fingerpicking Patterns in 3/4 Time on the Ukulele
Cali Rose teaches four strums and a fingerpicking pattern you can play in a waltz groove.
1-2-3—enjoy!
A red haired woman with glasses and a big smile plays a ukulele for the camera. Her hand strums the strings.
4/4 Time Ukulele Strum Patterns
Cali Rose shows you some really cool 4/4 time strum patterns you can play on your ukulele. Download an accompanying reference worksheet for practicing.
a woman with red hair and glasses plays the ukulele
Working with Chord Transitions
Changing chords can be challenging. Here are some suggestions and helpful techniques for you to practice "smart" and help you transition smoothly between chords.
a woman with red hair, glasses, and a ukulele
Easy Chord Embellishments on the Ukulele
Sometimes it's fun to "fancy up" a chord with an added note that's easy to play while you're strumming and singing. In this video Cali shows you simple embellishments for C, F and Am chords.
How to Play Fast on the Ukulele
Using her song This Morning Something Happened to Me (I Woke Up) as a template, Cali shows you lots of cool ways to strum and pick fast on your ukulele.
White Christmas
This is a chord melody tutorial for the solo in Cali Rose's arrangement of White Christmas by Irving Berlin. The song is in the key of D. No tab—we are learning by ear.
cali rose playing her song Detour Ahead on the ukulele
Welcome To The Wonderful World of Chord Melody
Here is my approach to creating a chord melody arrangement on the ukulele. Using my own song "Detour Ahead," we'll explore melody, harmony, rhythm, right and left hand techniques and embellishments. Includes downloadable sheet music.