Favorite Pop Songs for Ukulele: C, F, G & Am Edition

Earlier this week, I shared a blog post about using Pop Songs for ukulele instruction. In case you missed it, you can read all about it here. I love using folk tunes for younger students, but with older students, I often need to find music that is more on their level.

If your students have the basic 3 chords: C, F, and G, then adding Am brings a whole new level of songs for your students!The lovely thing about Am is connecting it to the F chord. Introduce Am by having students finger the F chord, then lifting the 1st finger. Voila! So simple, right? Once they have that, playing these songs will be easy-peasy!

Counting Stars by One Republic

One Love by Bob Marley

One Call Away by Charlie Puth

I’m Yours by Jason Mraz

Ok, so this one has two quick fly-by D7 chords, but basically the ENTIRE song is C, F, G, and Am.

And bonus – this is a clean version!

Hey Ho! by The Lumineers

Waiting on the World to Change by John Mayer

Shake it Off by Taylor Swift

This one is just C, G, and Am!

Home by Philip Philips

YMCA by the Village People

Rise Up by Andra Day

Please note – you’ll need to vet these songs for appropriate lyrics and content. What I might choose for a 5th grade class may be different than what you choose for a 7th grade class. It’s amazing to see how many songs use 4 simple chords!

Do you have a favorite C, F, G, & Am song to use in the classroom? Why not share it below in the comments! I’d love to hear from you!

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12 Comments

Aimee on November 16, 2017 at 1:39 pm

Do you know how much I'm lovin' you right now? This was just what I needed for my uke club! Thank you!!!

Anonymous on March 21, 2023 at 3:41 pm

lol
Reply
- Mat on June 24, 2023 at 1:44 am
  
  Excellent.
  Reply

Jennifer Bailey on November 17, 2017 at 8:55 am

Yahoo! I'm so glad this is helpful Amy!

Hadar on May 16, 2020 at 4:54 pm

I lovvvvee it!!!
Reply

Elizabeth Caldwell on November 23, 2017 at 7:34 pm

Thanks for sharing these! I did Counting Stars last year and it was a big hit. I love showing students this video to demonstrate how many familiar songs from all genres use those 4 chords: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTYrkOZ5nCs After we watch it I have them choose one of the songs from the video to play and sing (just the phrase that's in the video).

Christina Svec on August 22, 2018 at 11:36 am

You’re a treasure!!!!!!!!!!

hentry on February 16, 2024 at 10:53 pm

ur welcom
Reply

Sheila on October 26, 2019 at 2:15 pm

New at this are we able to get the sheet music for these so I can learn?

Jennifer Bailey on November 23, 2019 at 5:55 pm

Hi Sheila,
I’m not the creator of these videos. You might try https://ukutabs.com/ to find TAB sheets for many of these songs. The wonderful thing about that site is that you can transcribe the chords into a key that works based on your (or your student’s skill level)! Hope this helps!
Reply

Anonymous on April 17, 2023 at 2:45 pm

Thunder by imagine dragons and stay with me are other very easy pop songs that don’t have the tricky G chord. . YouTube has playalongs for these.
Love this list very much.

lucie on November 14, 2023 at 8:06 pm

🙂