How to Play the Blues: Easy Ukulele Lessons for Beginners
Welcome to the first of our 6 ukulele blues lessons.
Lesson 1 - Welcome to the Blues!
Hello, strummers and welcome to Lesson 1 of our six step-by-step blues lessons for beginners. Whether you're new to the uke or just starting out in the world of blues, you're in the right place. At Ukuleles Unanimous, we believe music is for everyone - and the blues is one of the most joyful places to start (yes, joyful blues is a thing!).
So grab your uke, tune up those strings and let’s get going.
In this first lesson, we’re covering:
1. What Is the Blues Anyway?
2. A Touch of History
3. Three Easy Chords
4. The Famous 12 Bar Blues
5. Strumming the Blues
1. What Is the Blues, Anyway?
The blues is music that tells a story - often about love, life, bad luck, good luck, or the dog that ran off with your sandwich. It’s honest, repetitive in a comforting way, and designed for sharing so everyone can join in, even beginners.
The magic?
👉 You don’t need lots of fancy chords or years of experience
👉 You don’t need speed
👉 You do need feel (and you’ve already got that)
2. A Touch of History (and why the uke fits right in)
Some say the blues was born out of heartache and hope in the American South in the late 1800s. It may also be partly rooted in African American spirituals, work songs, and field hollers, with blues music giving people a way to tell their stories - and tell them loud!
The blues became the foundation for rock, jazz, funk, and soul.
So how does the ukulele - a cheerful, island-born instrument - fit into the picture?
🎶 Surprisingly well!
• The ukulele is portable, just like the blues, which was often passed around in informal jam sessions.
• It’s easy to learn but expressive, which makes it a great storytelling tool.
• And it gives the blues a fresh, bright twist!
At Ukuleles Unanimous, we believe the ukulele brings out the heart of the blues in a way that’s unique, playful, and oh, so cool!
3. Three Easy Chords
Most beginner ukulele songs are built on just three chords. Today we’ll use:
C – home base, comfy and friendly
F – a little stretch, but we’ve got this
G7 – spicy, bluesy, and proud of it!
If you can play these slowly, you can play the blues!
Top Tip: Are your chord changes a bit late, but you look confident? You’re doing it right.
4. The Famous 12-Bar Blues
The 12-bar blues is simply a repeating pattern of chords. Think of it as a musical walking route you’ll learn once and reuse forever.
Here’s the feel of it:
➡️ Start at C (we live here for a bit)
➡️ Wander over to F
➡️ Come back to C
➡️ Add some drama with G7
➡️ Back to F
➡️ And resolve back home to C
If you lose your place, smile and keep strumming - that’s authentic blues technique 😉
When you’re confident with the feel of these chords, have a go at strumming them in this order (each section stands for 4 beats in a bar).
Guess what? There are 12 bars!
C | C | C | C
F | F | C | C
G7 | F | C | G7
Play through it very slowly and simply repeat the pattern.
5. Strumming the Blues
Let’s keep it relaxed and start with a simple Island Strum - probably the most popular ukulele strum pattern in the world - if you can play this, you can play anything!
Down – Down Up – Up Down Up
(also written as D – D U – U D U)
No rush. Let it swing a little. The blues likes space - you don’t have to fill every moment.
Have a go at practicing your island swing here ⬇️ (we’re still using C, F and G7).
Top Tip: Play softer than you think you should for a relaxed style.
So many famous songs use this exact structure or pattern - you already know more blues than you think!
Now, let’s speed it up a little, put your Island Strum to the test and try out a bit of Elvis for a classic blues feel:
‘Hound Dog’ by Elvis Presley
Chorus
[C]You ain't nothin' but a [C]hound dog,
Cryin' all the time,
You ain't nothin' but a [F]hound dog,
Cryin' all the [C]time
Well you ain't [G7]never caught a rabbit
And you [F]ain't no friend of [C]mine [G7]
Verse
[C]Well they said you was [C]high classed
Well that was just a lie,
Yeah they said you was [F]high classed,
Well that was just a [C]lie
Well you ain't [G7]never caught a rabbit
And you [F]ain't no friend of [C]mine [G7]
Chorus
[C]You ain't nothin' but a [C]hound dog,
Cryin' all the time,
You ain't nothin' but a [F]hound dog,
Cryin' all the [C]time
Well you ain't [G7]never caught a rabbit
And you [F]ain't no friend of [C]mine [G7] [C]
Your Practice Mission:
This week:
Play the basic 12-bar blues in C using: C, F and G7 for 5 minutes a day
Listen to a few blues songs to absorb the feel. For example:
🎵 B.B. King
🎵 Robert Johnson
Play through ‘Hound Dog’ and focus on your rhythm
You’ll be sounding like a pro in no time!
✨ Before We Go…
Today you played the blues. Not ‘practised’ - played.
And once you’ve played the blues, you won’t want to go back!
Together we have learned:
✅ What the blues is and why it’s so awesome
✅ How to play the 12-bar blues using C, F and G7
✅ What the Island Strum sounds like
✅ And - you’ve strummed your very first blues-style song!
As we travel along our blues journey, we’ll be adding a bit more rhythm, a bit more swagger, and maybe even a tiny solo (don’t panic).
Until then…
Happy Strumming 😊
🚀 What’s Next?
IN LESSON 2: LET’S PLAY THE BLUES
What You’ll Learn:
➡️ The 12-Bar Blues In A Major
➡️ Easy-Peasy I–IV–V Chord Magic
➡️ Let’s Play The Blues – Robert Johnson Style!
