Today is the longest day of the year, the kick off of the summer. It’s also Make Music Day! The moment we celebrate our creativity with sound. It doesn’t matter if you’re an experienced musician or someone who can whistle one simple tune. This blog post is a buffet of inspiration, so you can enjoy making music today, tomorrow, anytime, and any place. 

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

Easy songs

‘Tulsa Time’ – Eric Clapton

There are different levels of easy. And sometimes one song can combine sophistication with simplicity. In this case, we’re talking about “Tulsa Time” by Eric Clapton. This track has a nice rock ’n’ roll edge, while at the same time sounding funky, bluesy, and even melancholic. Combined with the fact that it contains just two basic chords — G chord and D chord — this is the perfect tune to play whenever you feel like it’s time to go back to basics.

Eric Clapton jamming the blues on his Gibson Les Paul

‘Born in the USA’ – Bruce Springsteen

Here’s another classic that keeps it simple. For Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” you only need to know three chords — the B chord, the E chord, and the F# chord. If you’re a beginner, these barre chords might be a bit difficult. Here’s a little trick you can apply when you use Chordify. Use the Capo feature to check out whether there is a capo position that turns these barre chords into easier open chord shapes. 

In this case we did it for you. Put that capo on the second fret and see if you can play those new chord diagrams — A, D, E. Disclaimer: this tool is available only for Premium users.

Advanced songs

‘Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word’ – Elton John

If you’re a more advanced player, two- or three-chord songs will not float your boat. That’s why we raise the stakes. How about 19 chords, is that better? If you’re a guitarist or ukulele player, “Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word” by Elton John might be a bit more challenging than on the piano. But look on the bright side, you can add 19 new chords to your repertoire. 

Source: Flickr by yabosid

‘Karma Chameleon’ – Culture Club

Let’s keep it funky, poppy and happy shall we? “Karma Chameleon” by Culture Club has one of the catchiest choruses ever composed. If you play this track, you’ll fill the heads of your listeners with an earworm that will tease them for many days. “Karma, karma, karma chameleon… come and go… come and GOOOOOWOHOOHOOOO!” Don’t believe us? Try it out for yourself. And if the chords are too challenging, try transposing the song to C and see what happens.

Next level songs

‘Be Ok’ – Ingrid Michaelson

This track might look easy if you’re a guitar player or pianist, but for ukulele champs it’s a finger breaker. That’s why we’ve placed it in the next level section. Besides that, “Be Ok” by Ingrid Michaelson has a nice and light vibe, and you wouldn’t think the chord progression is so comprehensive. Try it out, jam along, and you’ll be okay.

‘Life on Mars?’ – David Bowie

Alright, alright, alright, here’s a challenge for the people on the keys and the six string. “Life on Mars?” by David Bowie has it all. From the challenging chord progression to the sophisticated composition, and of course the question that bugs us all from time to time: Is there life on Mars? Enjoy playing this little gem on Make Music Day.

Make Music Day… but wait there’s more

We’ve highlighted some tracks to get you started, but as you already noticed some songs are more challenging on ukulele than on guitar or piano. Different instruments require a different approach of skill level. That’s why we’ve created three channels per instrument. You can find more easy songs for ukulele, piano, and guitar in their own dedicated channels. 

Or you can choose to play some more advanced tracks for piano, guitar, and ukulele. For the virtuosos we have the pro channels for guitar, ukulele, and piano. Check out all nine channels even if it’s not your instrument. Just to get some inspiration. Happy jamming!

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Teo creates content, which means he writes, a lot, about music, and all things interesting. When it comes to jamming, his weapon of choice is the bass guitar.