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One of the most popular searches for ukulele is for Somewhere Over the Rainbow chords, as played by Israel Iz Kamakawiwoʻole, the well known Hawaiian ukulele artist who passed away sadly in 1997. His version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow is actually part of a medley he is famous for that combines the original Wizard of Oz song “Over the Rainbow” by  Harold Arlen and lyrics by E.Y. Harburg, with another classic song “What a Wonderful World” by Bob Thiele (as “George Douglas”) and George David Weiss that was popularized by the Louis Armstrong recording released in 1967.

The Music Theory of Somewhere Over The Rainbow

Israel combined the two songs together using similar chords that are common on the ukulele and easy to play, such as C, F, A-. However, it is a reharmonization of the original songs and has a new arrangement, plus some lyric rewriting. Everyone loves his version as it has garnered over 300,000,000 combined views on YouTube. In fact, popular culture has perhaps replaced the original versions of these songs with Iz’s reimagined one since it has been heard in movies, television, commercials and more over the past 20 years.

Israel’s version was first released in 1990 as the medley with both songs on his album Ka ʻAnoʻi. It was a live recording made in 1988 in one take, spur of the moment. The blending of the two classic songs together with Iz’s fabulous voice creates a touching sense of optimism and looking forward in life. Perhaps this is why so many want to know how to play Somewhere Over the Rainbow on uke.

In the Wizard of Oz movie recording, sung by Judy Garland, the original key is Ab and the chord structure has a more complex, jazz harmony to it. Israel transposes this into the ukulele friendly key of C and takes license with the melody to fit his mood and sentiment, as is typical of his easy going island style. The original key of What A Wonderful World is F. Iz transposes it into C for the uke and uses much of the same harmony as for Over the Rainbow. It could be considered an improvisation, since it was a single take, an off the cuff recording made only for the artist and his recording engineer, Milan Bertosa.

In the full, original recording, Iz starts with the Over the Rainbow lyrics and gently morphs into What a Wonderful World, returning to the Rainbow once more, and ending with some of the sweetest “Oooos” ever recorded, where music is at its best, both pulling at the heartstrings with sadness while at the same time bringing a smile and sense of hope for the future.

-Ashley Shepherd

Center Stage Ukulele Academy

For the complete video lesson and chord chart for “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” on uke, click here. Only $0.99!  For What a Wonderful World click here.

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In this lesson we will learn this classic Dusty Springfield song with a very recognizable intro riff.

In this lesson learn Fast car with its ghostly introduction riff

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Easy song with a lot of chords and arrangement.

Learn Chicken Fried by Zac Brown Band. Just 3 chords needed for this popular country tune.

I have found that there are two types of students generally speaking. One type that just wants to learn their favorite songs regardless of difficulty or skill level. The other type has a desire to understand the ins and outs of what they are playing and focus on technique and theory. Let me say, first, there is nothing wrong with being a casual player that just wants to play tunes. However, problems arise when they attempt to play songs that are well beyond their skill level. This can lead to frustration and development of bad technical habits. Often, when the wall is hit, it is so discouraging that the student gives up all together. Learning to play ukulele the right way takes patience and focus.

Balancing Song Playing With Ukulele Theory

There should be a balance of learning songs and theory/technique. The best way to learn the ukulele, in my opinion, is focusing on a song that applies a certain concept that you are trying to learn. For example, if you are learning the pentatonic scale, practice the scale itself and find a song that uses that scale. This is where having some professional instruction comes in handy. The novice will have a hard time determining what songs use these specific concepts. Expanding your technique and skill level in the following 3 areas will greatly expand your ability to play and understand your favorite songs: Scales, Chords, and Arpeggios.

Ukulele Scales, Chords & Arpeggios

First, scales are the building blocks of music, specifically the Major scale in Western music such as Pop, Rock, and Country. Knowledge and understanding of scales can greatly improve your melodic sense and ability to improvise (solo) over chord progressions. Second, chords are the foundation to a songs harmonic structure. It is not enough to just know chords. You need to understand how they are formulated and their relationships to each other. When this theory is understood it makes learning songs much easier. Many songs use the similar chord structure. When you learn the relationships you are now learning music, not just a song. Lastly, arpeggios are just chords played one note at a time. Knowing arpeggios helps you understand the make up of individual chords. Playing arpeggios is a great technical workout, not to mention quite useful in improvising. I cannot stress enough the importance of learning these 3 concepts. The road to being a great ukulele player is the combination of technique / theory and learning songs in a logical progression.

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Learn Lover Yourself by Justin Bieber. Good lesson for beginners. We have transcribed this from Eb to key of C so that you can use common beginner chords.

In this lesson learn Breakdown by Jack Johnson

I will start by saying this. Using a ukulele instructor can be great for your development. There is no doubt that a good instructor can guide you to learning to play the ukulele or other string instrument the right way, and can speed up the learning curve. However, this isn’t the right option for everyone, for a few reasons. Perhaps ukulele lessons don’t fit in your budget. A good instructor usually does not come cheap. Even one lesson a week, for only half an hour, is going to cost upwards of $30 per lesson. That means one short lesson a week is going to run you $120 or more every month, which isn’t in the cards for everyone. Or perhaps you are struggling to fit a lesson into your schedule every week. It can be a lot easier to jam when it best fits your schedule. This is often later at night or on weekends, which doesn’t fit the schedule of your instructor. Due to these reasons and many others, there are a whole lot of people out there, like yourself, who want to teach themselves to play ukulele at their pace.

The good news is, you can absolutely teach yourself ukulele! It may have been hard to learn on your own time 20 years ago, but now great information is everywhere. The power of the internet has created an awesome database of resources for those who really want to learn. However, learning to really jam on the ukulele is a process. It takes a lot of hard work, determination, and proper technique. I hope you have the determination to make it happen, but we are here to help you with the proper theory & technique. Once you break out that uke and start the learning process, here are a few tips to guide you along the way.

Learn Ukulele the Right Way

Learning basic chords and playing along with popular songs is great, and a lot of fun. But if you really want to become an experienced ukulele player you need to learn the instrument and proper techniques. If you just learn chords, you will quickly get stuck, eventually running out of options. This is why most people burn out after a few months to a year of learning the uke. The much better option is to spend the time up front learning major scales, minor scales, note patterns, chords, theory and much more. The best part is once you have mastered these concepts and the basics, you will learn new songs VERY quickly. In a few months you will be able to pick up new songs to add to your repertoire with ease. This is what really drives us here at Center Stage. Picking out a few YouTube videos of popular songs is a great addition to your learning schedule, but using a program like ours will teach you the real ins and outs of playing the ukulele. Not to mention, you will learn all of your favorite songs along the way.

Set a Schedule

The beauty of using an online program is that you can fit lessons into YOUR schedule. This means you can play late at night, after work, on the weekends, during a lunch break, in the morning, between classes, literally any time. Although this is great, I highly recommend setting aside some structured time to get into new lessons. Setting aside an hour or so a couple times a week is a good start. This gives you a structured base, and you can squeeze in all of your other learning time when your schedule allows. Many learning players like to spend a few hours a week going through the lesson progression, learning the basics, scales, and techniques. While spending some of their in between hours playing new riffs, chords, and favorite songs.

Find Friends and Enjoy the Journey

Learning ukulele is fun. Playing an instrument like uke or guitar is a great way to stretch and improve yourself, and learn a new skill. You should absolutely enjoy the learning process. If you understand that becoming a master will take time and determination, it can be a great experience. Find a few friends or an online community of others that are learning as well. You don’t have to be as experienced as them, you can still jam together and learn new things off one another. If you are struggling to find other uke players, guitar playing friends make great uke partners as well. This is one of the best ways to stay motivated on your uke playing journey, and have a great time in the process.

Teach yourself guitar too!

No matter what, keep on jamming. Click Here to join the community!