Below is the lesson for “Down by the Bay” by Raffi

Helpful Tips

A joyful and cute sounding children’s song played with an upbeat and swung rhythm. I opted to play this arrangement with a pick (which is more commonly used in guitar playing), but you are more than welcome to fingerpick it.

These are the picks that I use (Jazz III). They are hard (not-bendable) and are made out of nylon, which offers a non-tiny tone quality that I often dislike with plastic picks. Jazz III picks are smaller than standard guitar picks, which is much more suitable for ukulele use.

If you opt to use a pick, your picking technique should be alternate picking (down/up). If you opt to fingerpick, a simple two or three-finger approach works well.