How To: Play "Oh! Susannah" on the ukulele

Ukulele Mike shows his viewers how simple it can be to play "Oh, Susannah" on the ukulele. According to Mike, "Oh, Susannah" is an old classic story song. This means that it is a song that has been handed down that tells a story and doesn't just throw words together because they sound nice.

This song is written in the key of C with only 3 chords: the C chord, F chord, and the G7 chord. When Ukulele Mike plays the song, he uses a shuffle pattern that can be played in several different ways to create a different feel. A shuffle pattern is basically a fancy name for strumming. According to him, his favorite way to play "Oh, Susannah" is to use a syncopating accent shuffle pattern. This means that he syncopates while accenting the back-beat. If you think of the pattern in 4 notes, he would be accenting notes 2 and 4.

Here is how he breaks the song down:

C chord: Well I came from Alabama

G7 chord: with the banjo on my knee.

C: I'm goin' to Louisana

G7: my true love

C: for to see.

C: It rained all night the day I left. The weather

G7: it was dry.

C: The sun so hot I froze to death

G7: Susannah

C: don't you cry.

F chord: Oh, Susannah

C: OH

G7: don't you cry for me.

C: I came from Alabama

G7: with the

C: banjo on my knee.