Brown Eyed Girl (Ukulele)

Here's how to play Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison, a simple four chord song on Ukulele!

Here we'll use the chords G major, C major, D major and E minor, plus a simple strumming pattern, which will enable us to play this full song. We also learn about bar and beats. At this stage, this can tell us how long to play each chord for, which in turn is how we can play songs.

Additionally, lots of playing tips are detailed at the bottom of this page!

Before we start, take a look here at how we can tune the Ukulele! Here are the notes below:

• String 4 - G

• String 3 - C

• String 2 - E

• String 1 - A

Chords - Fretboard finger positions

All four strings are strummed for each chord. Where there is no fretted note, we play an open string to get that full chord sound.

• First finger - 2nd fret - String 3

• Second finger - 2nd fret - String 1

• Third finger - 3rd fret - String 2

• Third finger - 3rd fret - String 1

All fingers for a D chord are on the 2nd fret

• Second finger - String 4

• First finger - String 3

• Third finger - String 2

• Third finger - 4th fret - String 3

• Second finger - 3rd fret - String 2

• First finger - 2nd fret - String 1

  

Strumming tips

There are four beats in a bar. If we start by playing the chords on each beat, this is the start of strumming and will help with our chord changes to begin with.

Using a pick or our first finger, the main strumming pattern for this song can be remembered as

Down - Down - Up - Up - Down

Chord changing tips

Learning to change chords smoothly takes time. It is always a good idea to keep the chord making hand relaxed and loose to avoid having too much tension in the fingers.

Try hold the shape of the chord loosely over the strings and press the chord down with only the pressure that is needed to sound the chord out but also what feels comfortable for you.

Chord playing tips

• Use our finger tips, with fingers bent slightly to fret our chords and sound out the notes

• Place our fingers on the side of the fret closest to us

• Strum slightly in front of the sound hole, towards the headstock for a softer and more comfortable playing style

Need more help than this video provides? Check out Andy's comprehensive online Ukulele Course here!