I’ve recently been enjoying working out Irish tunes on my tenor ukulele.  It’s tuned GCEA, like a concert ukulele.  But, the G string is an octave lower.

For a guitarist, this sounds like the four thinnest strings on the guitar (standard tuned), with the capo on the 5th fret.  So, if you’re used to playing tunes in standard tuning, the tenor ukulele is no problem.

I really like the punchy but mellow tone you get from the ukulele.  It gives this lively polka a definite lift.

The tune I’m playing is John Ryan’s Polka.  It’s a pretty universal tune when it comes to sessions, always popular and one where you’ll usually hear everyone join in.

Here, it’s in the key of G, because of the tuning of the tenor ukulele.  It would work just as well on a baritone ukulele.  But it would then be in the key of D – which is the usual key for this tune.

Below is the sheet music in standard notation and tab.

Semiquavers are played with alternating down and up picks – as shown with the arrows.  Notes without arrows are all down picks.  Alternating the pick direction on the semiquavers makes it possible to go much faster.

If you want to try this tune on guitar, the tab works if you take the four lines to be the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th strings.  If you want to be in the same key as I’m playing it, then put a capo on the 5th fret.

More Irish tunes on ukulele coming soon!