What Is Your Ukulele “Set List”?

[The_Bumble_Bard]

Heeeellllooo! 😊

Just thought this might be a fun topic.

What songs do you know by heart, or do you have memorized?

If you don’t have many songs memorized, what songs do you play all the time? What is your “ukulele set list”?

I joined Rock Class 101 about a year ago almost to the day–on July 1st, 2022. In the year or two before RC101 (I realized I have been playing longer than I thought, based on when I bought my first uke); in that time, I only learned 3.5 complete songs. 😅

After joining RC101, I learned 20+ songs in one year, including some of my own arrangements, which is very special to me that I’ve been able to do all of that. To me, it’s crazy. I never thought I’d learn so much, so quickly, and what I just thought was a cute little instrument could bring so much joy to my life and connect me to so many wonderful people. I cry about that, man. 😅

Anyway, here is my list (in chronological order, as I learned each song);

Before RC101:

– Bach Cello Prelude No. 1 (.5 of, but I played this so much I have to include it 😅)
– Cripple Creek (clawhammer uke)
– La musica notturna delle strade di Madrid (Boccherini), a song that Russell Crowe “plays” on violin in the movie Master and Commander that I became weirdly obsessed with, lol
– Chopin Nocturne No. 9 Op. 2

After RC101:

– Sweater Weather (YouTube lady + Andrew)
– Drunken Sailor (Matt’s YouTube arr)
– Aura Lee (Andrew)
– The Parting Glass (Matt’s YouTube arr)
– Etude No. 5 (Andrew)
– Mozart’s Lacrimosa (Steven)
– Zelda’s Lullaby (YouTube gent + Andrew)
– Spanish Romance (Steven)
– The Gael (Matt’s YouTube arr) 😅😂
– Funk Jam (Andrew)
– One Finger Etude (Andrew)

Since joining RC101, I was also finally able to complete some of my own simple arrangements, having learned so much here. I tried to figure out songs before by ear, but just couldn’t get very far because I didn’t know enough about uke. Since RC101, these are songs I’ve arranged and have memorized:

– In Christ Alone (Hymn)
– It Is Well With My Soul (Hymn)
– Pathetique by Beethoven
– Music of the Night (Phantom of the Opera)
– Ice Dance (Edward Scissorhands)
– How Great Thou Art (Hymn)
– Be Thou My Vision (Hymn)
– Somewhere Over the Rainbow
– Memory (from the musical Cats)

There are definitely other songs that I learned, but just can’t play by memory anymore. And countless songs I started to learn or arrange that I just haven’t finished, or no longer have memorized.

So, what is your list? Again, not necessarily songs you have memorized, but just your “go to” songs. Join me in my weird obsession with making lists. 😅

[ldarrow]

I wish I had a ‘set list’ my memory is just not that great. I find myself memorizing for the monthly challenge and within a few weeks of the challenge being over, I have forgotten it. That being said there are a couple that I tend to like to play and keep somewhat in memory. I tend to alway give go the Tarrega Etude in E minor , Saint James Infirmary and Stairway to heaven. I am also partial to Red is the Rose but don’t play it as frequently and have to pull out the music to review

[The_Bumble_Bard]

Haha, @ldarrow, I think the only reason I remember that list is because I play those songs very often. They’re in my “rotation” whenever I play. If I like a song, I find it relaxing and enjoyable to play it repeatedly, which, though it helps me remember them, that keeps me from learning new skills or new songs because I play the same ones over and over, and stay in my comfort zone. 😂 The challenges have helped break out of that pattern to a degree. But there are definitely tons of songs I’ve forgotten, too.

That’s part of why I thought this would be interesting, to know what other people play when they play and what songs. 😊 So thank you for sharing!

Your list is lovely. That Tarrega Etude is especially pretty. Thank you again! 😊

[akukes73]

@The_Bumble_Bard – wow that’s impressive!
I seem to only have the bandwidth to remember the song I’m currently learning and then as @ldarrow forget it quite quickly.

The only songs that have stayed with me are Spanish Romance and the Last of Us.

I have noticed that I am now able to remember songs I’m working on faster than when I first joined RC101. So maybe in a year or so time I might be back with an actual list!

PS @The_Bumble_Bard great version of the drunken sailor this month!

[The_Bumble_Bard]

@akukes73, thank you so much!! I don’t even know how I remember them. Honestly a lot of it is muscle memory. If you play a song enough, you don’t have to think about how to play it, only about conveying the feeling behind the music, which is why I play songs I like over and over. I try to get to that point (with a song I really like) as soon as possible. Some are definitely way, way harder to get to that point. 😅

I thought that this was something that everyone did, which is why I brought this up. But can I remember what day it is, appointments, and actual things I have to do? No, that’s what the calendar reminders are for. 😅😂😳

I love both those songs a lot. I never even really fully noticed classical guitar songs until I started playing uke but there are so many absolutely stunning classical songs written for ukulele and guitar. And the Last of Us theme Matt did was so lovely. Steven with a V (British ? Steven) also did a beautiful version of that one on his channel, “Ukulele Solos” on YouTube.

That’s so true!! Agreed. I also definitely learn songs way faster than I used to before I joined here. Yes, no doubt your list will just keep growing! I look forward to seeing that!! 😁

And thank you! 😁 It helped to have all the music already laid out, a lot. Definitely harder to create a clawhammer song from scratch! 😅

[lisadmh]

I have cards on a ring with my songs. Green for playable, pink for needs work. All are either my originals or from this site. I run through them often on the beach. They’re not all so clean I would play to strangers, but they’re all clean enough to play by memory for fun on the beach. I’m proud of my set list!

My current (green) set list is

A Grain of Sand (original)
Can’t help falling in love
Here comes the sun
Inspired tonight (original)
Étude 21
Étude 1
Étude 24
Day-o
Étude 3
Wonderful tonight
Waltz in C
Étude 14
Beginner blues
Now and then (original)
Étude 17
Étude 18
Surf and sand (original)
A beautiful life (original)
Golden skies
Moondance
Morning Dew
Jurassic Patk
Lover’s March
Parking lot (original)
Study in b minor
Waimanalo blues
Fields of gold
One finger Étude
Étude 29
Daybreak

• This reply was modified 9 months, 3 weeks ago by lisadmh.

[The_Bumble_Bard]

@lisadmh, holy crud, that is amazing! Such an impressive list. My mind is blown. 😅 I know some of those songs are lengthier and/or intricate, so that’s really wow (…wow is an adjective now).

I love your system for cataloging the songs you know, that speaks to me in a way I can’t quite capture. So beautifully organized. 😅

Did you post a longer video here of you playing a bunch of songs on the beach? I think that must be you that I’m remembering. That’s so lovely that you do that. That’s also part why I memorize songs “long-term” that I love because I like to have them with me in my brain and fingers, so I don’t have to look at tabs or worry about that (as much as possible).

Have you posted any of your originals separately on Rock Class? That’s so cool. I’d like to try writing something original now that I have a bit more experience.

Thank you so much for sharing!! 😁

[lisadmh]

Thanks! I play at the beach all summer, running through them all regularly. That keeps them stuck in my memory. I certainly do lose a lot of songs I learn. These are the ones I’ve made stock over the years. The harder ones were all challenges at some point.

Yes, the long video was me. That’s how I roll. 🙂

I have posted a few originals. They’re not very good, lol, but they entertain me. Let me see what I can find…

[lisadmh]

It seems I don’t have recordings of many originals. I’ll do this next weekend!

[The_Bumble_Bard]

@lisadmh, that’s so true! Playing songs regularly and many times is the only way to keep them in your memory. I’ve even almost forgotten my own simple arrangements if I stop playing them often enough. But the great thing is once you have a song really memorized, even if you do forget it, it’s way easier to relearn. There are songs on piano that I remember from when I started playing them in middle school, and I can still play them even though I rarely play piano now. I find that quite interesting how memory works. 😊

That’s so cool that you’ll record your originals separately to share! I look forward to hearing that!! 😁

I also would be really interested to know how @Andrew would answer this question. That would be very interesting. 😅 Would it just be a link to the song list on Rock Class 101? 😉😂

[lisadmh]

@The_bumble_bard, here they are!

My Originals

[The_Bumble_Bard]

@lisadmh, lovely! I’ll be able to look at those and reply tomorrow, this weekend’s been cray cray (crazy). Crazier than expected even! Looking forward to it! 😁

For some reason I don’t think your post was showing either. Now I see it and it could be the links that kept it from showing. That’s happened to me before. Otherwise I just missed that somehow. 😅

Anyway looking forward to it tomorrow!! 😁

[lisadmh]

@Bumble. I just pulled Paint out Blacker (concept lesson) out of somewhere in my brain with remarkable ease. It’s a song I learned a few years back, but never got it clean because of one or two chord changes I struggled with. Now it’s good enough to go on my set list and I don’t even know where it came from. How do I remember songs? It’s like my fingers just remember. Weird.

[robinboyd]

Here are the ones that I can more or less play without looking at a tab, or at least with minimal reference to a tab:

Sakura Sakura (Uke Hunt arrangement)
Moon (RC101)
A Forest Stroll (RC101)
Out in the North (RC101)
Greensleeves (RC101)
Lazy Sunday (Tobias Elof/The Ukulele Site)
Banana Pancakes (Jack Johnson/Ukulele Underground arrangement)
Creep (Radiohead)
Mario Bros Theme (Uke Hunt arrangement)
Path of the Wind (Joe Hisaishi)

[The_Bumble_Bard]

@lisadmh, that’s so awesome! I love when that happens. I don’t know if I know the song you’re referring to exactly, but that’s cool. It’s so interesting how memory works like that. Also, I checked a couple of the songs on my list, namely Lacrimosa, and while I still know it, boy does that need work. She rusty, dusty, and crusty. 😂 Also also you’ve inspired me to finish an original song I started a while ago so hopefully I can turn that into something. Thank you for that! 😂💕

@robinboyd, hello there friend! You were one of the people I was wondering about with this topic. You’ve got quite an interesting spread of songs there. I forgot about Forest Stroll, that’s a really lovely one. The ones by Tobias Elof are very interesting, I want to look at those. Do you sing Creep? If so…………… I sure would like to hear that. That song amuses me. 😅 I actually genuinely like Radiohead though.

Thank you for sharing!! 😊💕

Also, if anyone doesn’t have a lot of songs memorized at all, feel free to share your favorite songs to play. I think it’s just fun to hear what songs people like to play habitually. 😊

I wrote this super fast so hopefully it’s coherent. Bye and thank you again! 😅

• This reply was modified 9 months, 1 week ago by The_Bumble_Bard.

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