Ode to Joy

About this piece

Beethoven’s tune moves almost entirely by step, so it’s a good first tune for low-G tuning. Most of it sits on the 2nd and 3rd strings; in bar 12 the tune drops to the low G, the open 4th string, a note a high-G ukulele doesn’t have. Pick it with your thumb or index finger, then strum C and G7 with down-up eighths, or play the tune while a friend strums.

What it practices

• low-G tuning
• picking a tune by steps
• a dotted rhythm
• C and G7

Chords in this song

C · G7

Each link opens the chord finder with more ways to play that chord.

Where the notes come from

Melody as in our piano version of Ode to Joy, which was checked note by note against the Mutopia Project’s “Ode to Joy” hymn setting (public domain). The chords are our own. Our checking script compares the two melodies beat by beat.

How to practice with it

1. Listen first. Press Play and follow along. The note being played lights up in the tab, in the notation and on the fretboard, and the chord being played lights up in the row of chord diagrams.
2. Learn the chords. Press each diagram to hear it, then practice changing between them slowly, before you add the strum pattern under the tab.
3. Slow it down. Use − and + to set the tempo. 60% is a good place to start; the notes keep their pitch.
4. One part at a time. Choose Tab only to hear the tune alone, or the other part alone, then put them together.
5. Loop the hard part. Under More…, turn on Loop, pick the bars, and play them a few times in a row. Count-in gives you a bar of clicks before it starts.

Click a bar in the music to start from there. Space plays and pauses. Left-handed? Turn on the left-handed view: the chord diagrams and the fretboard are mirrored to match your instrument. Tab reads the same either way: the top line is always the first (highest) string.