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Stone Sessions Season 1, celebrating the artists of Guam, is in production with Thrive Media Group.

Your seven-day practice plan.

Ten minutes a day for one week. Every chord on this page plays when you tap it, and every progression plays with its strum, so you always know exactly what you are going for.

Tune to G C E A before you start each day. Holding the ukulele to play, the string nearest your chin is G, and any free tuner app does the job.

The sound is a reference tone made in your browser, so you can check a chord by ear. It is not a recording of a Stone tenor.

  1. Day 1: Hold it, tune it, and play C.

    By the end of today, your C chord rings clean on all four strings.

    Ten minutes

    1. Rest the ukulele against your chest with your strumming arm over the body, and let your thumb sit lightly behind the neck.
    2. Tune to G C E A, plucking one string at a time from the top.
    3. Press the A string at the third fret with your ring finger, strum down four times, and listen. If a string buzzes, press a little closer to the fret wire.

  2. Day 2: Add Am and switch.

    Move between C and Am without stopping the strum.

    Ten minutes

    1. Warm up with C until it rings.
    2. Am needs one finger: the G string at the second fret, played with your middle finger.
    3. Now switch, four strums of C and four of Am, and keep going. Slow is fine, as long as you do not stop.

    • C, Am, C, Am

      Listen for where the chord changes, then play along.

    Play along

    1. Down
    2. Down
    3. Down
    4. Down

    Four even down-strums to each chord. Keep your wrist loose and let the strings ring.

  3. Day 3: Add F and play three chords in a row.

    Loop C, Am and F with clean changes.

    Ten minutes

    1. F uses two fingers: the G string at the second fret and the E string at the first fret.
    2. Moving from Am to F is easier than it looks, because the finger on the G string's second fret stays right where it is.
    3. Loop C, Am, F, Am until the changes feel easy.

    • C, Am, F, Am

      The finger on the G string barely moves between Am and F.

    Play along

    1. Down
    2. Down
    3. Down
    4. Down

    Four even down-strums to each chord. Keep your wrist loose and let the strings ring.

  4. Day 4: G7 unlocks the campfire songbook.

    Play the three-chord progression behind hundreds of songs.

    Ten minutes

    1. G7 takes three fingers: the C string at the second fret, the E string at the first fret and the A string at the second fret.
    2. Moving from F to G7, keep your first finger on the E string's first fret, because both chords use it.
    3. Loop C, F, G7, C, and hum along if you know a song that fits.

    • C, F, G7, C

      Three chords and the whole campfire songbook.

    Play along

    1. Down
    2. Down
    3. Down
    4. Down

    Four even down-strums to each chord. Keep your wrist loose and let the strings ring.

  5. Day 5: Learn the island strum.

    Keep the down, down-up, up-down-up pattern going without thinking about it.

    Ten minutes

    1. Rest your fretting hand lightly across the strings to mute them, and practice the pattern on its own: down, down-up, up-down-up.
    2. Keep your hand moving on the beat you skip. The strum only misses the strings, it never stops.
    3. Play the pattern on C, then on Am, then switch between them.

    • C, C, Am, Am

      Watch the strum light up in time, and play along.

    Play along

    1. Down
    2. Down
    3. Up
    4. Up
    5. Down
    6. Up

    Count it slowly, keep your wrist loose, and let it swing once it feels natural.

  6. Day 6: Add G and play the four chords.

    Play C, G, Am and F with the island strum.

    Ten minutes

    1. G uses three fingers in a small triangle: the C string at the second fret, the A string at the second fret and the E string at the third fret.
    2. Loop C, G, Am, F with the strum.
    3. If a change is rough, slow the strum down rather than stopping.

    • C, G, Am, F

      The four chords behind more songs than anyone can count.

    Play along

    1. Down
    2. Down
    3. Up
    4. Up
    5. Down
    6. Up

    Count it slowly, keep your wrist loose, and let it swing once it feels natural.

  7. Day 7: Play your first song.

    Play a full progression at speed, then play it for someone.

    Ten minutes

    1. Warm up with each chord, one strum apiece.
    2. Play along with C, G, Am, F, then try it on your own.
    3. Start on the minor instead, Am, F, C, G, and hear how the same chords feel completely different.
    4. Then play it for someone. That is what all of this is for.

    • C, G, Am, F

      Bright, open and ready to sing over.

    • Am, F, C, G

      The same four chords with a little more feeling.

    Play along

    1. Down
    2. Down
    3. Up
    4. Up
    5. Down
    6. Up

    Count it slowly, keep your wrist loose, and let it swing once it feels natural.

You play the ukulele now.

The full chord chart has forty-eight chords whenever you are ready for more, and when it is time for an instrument of your own, we would love for it to be a Stone.

Open the chord chartShop the tenors