There's hope on the horizon for the ukulele yet

LAND PARK, Sacramento, Calif. USA - Today ukulele lesson introduced the piece of the puzzle that might finally let me make the last leap to playing some of the songs I want to - in a key that I can actually wrap my cranky fingers around.

My uke teacher, who also is helping Adm. Fox with the violin, showed me something called the Circle of Fifths. (No, it has nothing to do with bottles of either Grey Goose Vodka or Jim Beam, though both are sometimes useful musical accessories when singing.)

This circle is a representation of musical notes and makes it easy (easy being a relative term) to shift all the chords in a song. In my case, in my struggles with Two Pina Coladas, it makes it possible to avoid the use of a B-flat note, which my fingers just do not like and, in fact, refuse to play.

With the shift of a few notes, however, that B-flat magically is now an F - a chord I can hit without even looking at the strings.

Watch out Garth, I'm movin' up.


Circle of Fifths diagram

Now I have to go back and look at the other songs I've been avoiding on the uke, most of them with a D chord, which I have found impossible to play.

It could be that House of the Rising Sun guitar/ukulele throwdown in San Miguel de Allende in Mexico might happen this year after all.

In the meantime, consider practicing these lyrics so you can sing along:

Two Pina Coladas
By Garth Brooks

I was feelin’ the blues
I was watching the news
When this fella came on the TV

He said I’m tellin’ you
That science has proven
That heartaches are healed by the sea

That got me goin’
Without even knowin’
I packed right up and drove down

Now I’m on a roll
And I swear to my soul
Tonight I’m gonna paint this town

-----CHORUS----

So bring me two pina coladas
One for each hand
Let’s set sail with Captin Morgan
And never leave dry land

Troubles I forgot ‘em
I buried ‘em in the sand
So bring me two pina coladas
She said good-bye to her good timin’ man
---------------------------

Oh now I’ve gotta say
That the wind and the waves
And the moon winkin’ down at me

Eases my mind
By leavin’ behind
The heartaches that love often brings

Now I’ve got a smile
That goes on for miles
With no inclination to roam

I’ve gotta say
That I think I’ve gotta stay
‘Cause this is feelin’ more and more like home

-----CHORUS----

So bring me two pina coladas
One for each hand
Let’s set sail with Captin Morgan
And never leave dry land

Troubles I forgot ‘em
I buried ‘em in the sand
So bring me two pina coladas
She said good-bye to her good timin’ man