Good things come in small packages, right? Look at the ukulele – all that joy and fun and learning packed into an instrument that can fit into a backpack! Well, that saying also applies to music, and in particular, I’m talking about easy ukulele riffs. These sweet little passages of just a few notes are instantly recognizable and very often the most memorable parts of the songs we love to play!
If you’re looking to add something new to your ukulele playing instead of just strumming the same old chords, why not learn a few of these easy ukulele riffs? You’ll definitely be able to shake things up when you’re playing, whether you’re performing in front of a group or just playing for your own enjoyment. Let’s learn more about easy ukulele riffs and how to play them!
What are those easy ukulele riffs?
Put simply, a ukulele riff is a short (or long) piece of music, usually fingerstyle, that is played during a song. A riff is usually the most memorable part of the song that you’re playing! A riff is usually a set of single notes but sometimes can include chords. A riff can occur at any time during a song, and creates a catchy melody as a transition between song parts (like between the bridge and the chorus, or between a verse and the chorus) or at the very beginning of a song like an intro.
If you need some examples of what a ukulele riff is, think about the intro to Sweet Child O’ Mine by Guns ‘n’ Roses, or that classic intro to Come Together by The Beatles. Come As You Are by Nirvana also contains a great example of a riff at the very beginning of the song.
Read more: Ukulele Easy strumming Patterns
What’s the difference between a ukulele riff and a solo?
I’ve often wondered what the difference is between a ukulele riff and a solo, and while the answer was sort of hard to pin down, I found some great explanations. A solo is sometimes (but not always) improvised and is usually longer than a riff. Other characteristics of a solo vs. a riff is that a solo is considered to be lead playing, and a riff is part of the rhythm playing of a song. Finally, the last explanation that I saw that I really loved is that the riffs of a song are the cake, and the solos are the icing on the cake. (Because who doesn’t love cake, right?)
How do you play a ukulele easy riff?
Well, you can always listen to a song with an amazing riff and then try to work it out by ear. But as a beginner ukulele player, that might be a tall order. Thankfully, there are lots of great ukulele riffs already written out in tablature and ready for you to play!
But what is a tablature and how do you read it?
How to read tablature to play a ukulele riff
Reading tablature is a great skill to have, since not everyone who plays the ukulele knows how to read standard musical notation. Tablature was how I first learned to play the ukulele, and once you get the hang of it, it’s pretty easy, so let’s have a brief tutorial on how to read tablature here before I get into the great ukulele easy riffs for you to play!
Tablature is basically a simple way of writing out what notes to play on a ukulele fretboard without using standard musical notation. You don’t even need fancy software or anything like that to write your own tabs for ukulele riffs – you can write them out by hand or you can use any simple word processing program on your computer.
Looking at our ukulele, we know that the ukulele strings are G – C – E – A, with G being the fourth (top) string closest to the ceiling when we hold our ukes, and A being the first (bottom) string that’s closest to the floor. When you see tablature for ukulele written out, you’ll see the strings laid out from top to bottom like this:
A
E
C
G
Also, pay attention to see if the tablature is written for high G tuning or low G (linear) ukulele tuning, as that will make a big difference in the range of notes that are available to you.
Music for ukulele that is written in tablature will have a series of numbers and dashes in a row in front of each string name, and that will tell you which frets to press down on to play the correct notes. For example, this is what a tablature of a C major scale would look like, written out for a high G ukulele tuning:
A I ———————2–3—
E I———0–1—————-
C I-0–2————————
G I—————–0–2——–
So you can see from the order of the notes that we would play the open C string (noted as a zero), then the second fret of the C string, followed by the open E string followed by the first fret of the E string, then the open high G string followed by the second fret of the G string, and finally the second fret of the A string followed by the third fret of the G string.
Learning how to read tablature is also a great exercise in ear training. When we read ukulele riffs from tablature, there are no notations to tell us how long to hold each note. This means we have to be able to sound out the riff and be able to play by ear in order to get it right.
Some tablature will have markings that indicate where the end of a measure would be if the piece was written out in standard musical notation. In this case, it’s usually just a series of vertical lines in between each set of numbers in the tablature. Sometimes this can also help indicate where the stress or accent of the notes should be placed when working out how the piece is played.
Now that you have some basic understanding of how to play tablature, let’s get on to the ukulele easy riffs!
Four Great Ukulele Easy Riffs by The Beatles
I wasn’t always a huge fan of The Beatles, but once I learned how much they loved the ukulele (and that Paul McCartney still occasionally plays the uke in his live performances!), I started learning some of their songs to play on the ukulele. The Beatles wrote some of the most recognizable riffs ever in their songs, so I thought it would be great to share a few of their easy ukulele riffs for you to try!
While all of these easy ukulele riffs are written for high G tuning, you can also play them on a low G (linear) tuned ukulele because they don’t involve the use of the fourth (G) string. Have fun!
Here Comes the Sun Ukulele Easy Riff
Let’s start with the classic riff from Here Comes the Sun, played at the end of the first verse:
A I——–0———0———0———0——————–I
E I—–3———3———3——–3———3–2–0–2—–I
C I–4———2———0——–2—————————-I
G I————————————————————-I
My best tip for practicing this one is to set up by putting your third (ring) finger on the fourth fret of the C string, your second (middle) finger on the third fret of the E string, and your first (index) finger on the second fret of the C string. Then as you pick the notes, just pick up your ring finger and place it back when needed. It takes a little bit of practice because that ring finger seems to have a mind of its own, but it’s worth it! You can hear the sunshine in this little riff!
Hey Jude Ukulele Easy Riff
Hey Jude is another one of my favorite songs, and I used to go to a yoga class where the teacher included this one in most of her class playlists! It’s a classic, and a nice way to get used to playing up the neck of your ukulele, since it starts on the seventh fret:
A I—-7—8—10—10——I
E I—————————I
C I—-7—9—11—11——I
G I————————–I
Play this little easy ukulele riff at the end of each chorus between the verses and before the big outro!
In My Life Ukulele Easy Riff
When I started playing The Beatles on the ukulele, a friend of mine requested that I learn to play In My Life, and of course I obliged! This is a great song, full of complex harmonies. And the riff in in the intro is a classic!
Now this ukulele riff includes some slides, which may not necessarily be considered beginner material, but are fun once you can master them. They are a great way to get into learning things like hammer-ons and pull-offs, and they sound just as fun on the ukulele as they do on the guitar.
Slides in tablature are usually noted with a backslash [/] in front of the fret that you slide up to. To play a slide, put your finger on the first fret and pluck the string, then slide your finger quickly and smoothly up to the fret number noted in the tablature.
This ukulele riff also has a chord, the C major chord, played on the seventh and eighth frets:
A I——-8————–7———-8————7—–I
E I–/5——-5–6–8—8—–/5—-5–6–8—8———I
C I———————–7————————7—-I
G I—————————————————–I
As I noted here, play this one twice and then you can start playing the chords! Have fun!
Come Together Easy Ukulele Riff
Even before I liked The Beatles, I loved this song. It was part of my life soundtrack when I was a teenager, while I was spending hours every day practicing piano for my college auditions. And the riff in the intro is unmistakable – once you get the hang of it, you’ll want to play it all the time!
This ukulele riff also includes a slide, and just like the others, it can be played on either a high G (re-entrant) tuned ukulele or a low G (linear) tuned ukulele. Personally, I love it on the baritone ukulele where those low tones really shine!
A I—————–8–5–I
E I———-/5————I
C I–2—2—————–I
G I————————I
Repeat this one twice before you go into the chords for the song, and you can play it in between the verses, too!
So there you go! Now you’ve got a handful of fun and easy ukulele riffs for some of my favorite songs by The Beatles that you can play!
If you’re ready to learn more about fingerstyle, soloing, and all the fun stuff that comes with playing the ukulele, make sure you check out all the great courses available for ukulele in the Terry Carter Music Store. You can find dozens of classes for every skill level, and you can work at your own pace to really master the material. Whether you decide to join through the monthly membership or purchase a one-off course, you’re sure to find everything you need to turn you into the ukulele superstar we know you are!
