Free Ukulele Tabs and chords

Free ukulele tabs and chord charts for beginners

You do not need to read sheet music to play the ukulele. You do not need a music degree, years of theory, or perfect pitch. You need chord charts and tabs, and this library has both. Every song on this page comes with diagrams built directly into the page, the full song structure broken into sections, and the story behind the song. New tabs added every week.

How ukulele tabs work

A ukulele tab uses four horizontal lines, one for each string, with numbers telling you which fret to press. The lines represent the strings from bottom to top: G, C, E, A. A number on a line means press that fret. A 0 means the string is played open, without pressing any fret. Tabs are read from left to right, exactly like written text.

Here is what a simple tab looks like. This is the opening notes of Somewhere Over the Rainbow:

Numbers stacked vertically on multiple strings at the same time form a chord, played simultaneously. Numbers appearing one after another are played as individual notes, one at a time. That is the whole system. Most people can read a basic ukulele tab within ten minutes of seeing their first one.

Tabs are most useful for melodies, riffs, and fingerpicking arrangements. For strummed songs, chord charts are more practical. Most of the songs in this library use chord charts, with tabs reserved for songs that have a recognizable intro worth learning note for note. For a complete walkthrough of both systems, the guide on how to read ukulele tabs covers everything from scratch.

How to read a ukulele chord chart

A chord chart shows the ukulele neck from the front, with four vertical lines for the strings and horizontal lines for the frets. A filled black dot marks where to press a string. An open circle above the diagram means the string rings open without pressing. An X means the string is not played at all. The number inside or below each dot tells you which finger to use: 1 for index, 2 for middle, 3 for ring, 4 for pinky.

The thick horizontal line at the very top of the diagram is the nut, the white piece at the top of the neck that the strings pass over. When you see it, the diagram starts at the first fret. Some chords are played higher up the neck. In that case, a number appears to the right of the diagram showing which fret the diagram starts from. A chord with "3fr" next to it starts at the third fret, not the first.

Chord charts are faster to read at a glance than tabs, which is why most strummed songs use them. You see the shape, you form the shape, you strum. That feedback loop becomes very quick with practice. The first week with a chord chart feels slow. The second week it starts feeling obvious.

The essential ukulele chord chart: 8 shapes to know

Most songs in this library draw from the same small pool of chords. Learn these eight and you have the tools to play the majority of what is here. C, G, Am, and F alone cover Somewhere Over the Rainbow, Let Her Go, and dozens of others. Add D and Em for Country Roads and Can't Help Falling in Love. G7 and Dm round out the picture.

These eight shapes are not arbitrary. They are the chords that appear most frequently across folk, pop, and rock songs at beginner level. If you know all eight cleanly, you have the tools for roughly 80% of what is in this library. For a deeper breakdown of each shape, technique tips, and how the chords relate to each other musically, the complete beginner chord guide covers everything.

How to practice with ukulele tabs and chord charts

The single most effective practice habit is isolating chord transitions rather than running through full songs. Pick the two chords in a progression that feel hardest to move between. Practice just that pair, back and forth, for two minutes at the start of each session. Ten slow, clean repetitions of G to Em is worth more than ten runs through a full song where you rush the transition and hope no one notices.

Once the transitions feel reliable, add a simple strum. A single downstroke on each beat is enough to start. Playing along with the original recording is one of the most underrated tools a beginner has. The melody in your ear fills in the spaces between chord changes and helps you feel where the transitions land. Your fingers follow your ear faster than your brain can direct them.

Tune before every single session. A ukulele that is slightly flat sounds wrong regardless of how well you play, and in the early weeks your ear is still calibrating what correct sounds like. A clip-on tuner takes thirty seconds to use. That thirty seconds is never wasted. For a full breakdown of strumming patterns that work across most of the songs in this library, the strumming patterns guide is the right next step.

Standard ukulele tuning: G-C-E-A

Every tab and chord chart in this library uses standard ukulele tuning: G-C-E-A. The fourth string, closest to your chin when you hold the instrument, is G. Third string is C. Second string is E. First string, closest to the floor, is A. This applies to soprano, concert, and tenor ukuleles.

One thing worth knowing: the G string on a standard soprano or concert is re-entrant. Rather than running low to high like a guitar, the G is tuned higher than the C string below it. This is what gives the ukulele its distinctive bright, ringing quality. Some players use a low-G string for more bass and a fuller sound. Either works with the chord charts and tabs here. The shapes do not change. Only the character of the open G string is different.

Baritone ukuleles use D-G-B-E tuning, the same as the top four strings of a guitar. The chord shapes in this library will not produce the correct chords on a baritone without transposing. If you play baritone, use guitar chord charts instead, or transpose the shapes manually. For everything on tuning, including what to do when your strings keep going flat in the first weeks (they will, this is normal), the complete guide to tuning a ukulele covers it properly.

Frequently asked questions