Tune and Chord Together

In a chord melody arrangement the tune is the highest note you play, and on the strong beats you add other notes of the chord below it. Played together, they sound like a singer with a band.

Three steps

1. Find the tune on the higher strings, so there is room for chord notes under it.
2. On each strong beat, look at the chord and find a shape whose top note is the tune’s note, or add one or two chord notes on lower strings.
3. Between strong beats, play the tune’s single notes and let the chord ring.

On a re-entrant ukulele “below” means lower in pitch, not lower on the neck. The open high G can sit under a tune note on the E or A string, but not under a G or anything lower.

Amazing Grace, first phrase

The tune starts on D, a pickup, then G B G, B A, G E, D. Under the first G (on the E string, 3rd fret), add the D on the C string; under the B, add both D and G, three strings of the G chord; under the G of bar 3, a C chord whose top note is the open G string (G, C, E). Pluck each chord’s strings together, thumb and fingers at once, and pick the single notes.

Compare this with the tune on its own in the song Amazing Grace: the same melody notes, with chord notes added under the long ones.