Click here to jump straight to the TAB.
If not for the all-time great children’s singer, Raffi, “Down By the Bay” might be wallowing in obscurity. Instead, it enjoys a special place in the hearts of countless kids young and old around the world. Raffi included the tune on his debut 1976 album Singable Songs for the Very Young, and it soon became one of the songs he is most well-known for.
Many people (myself included, up until recently) probably thought Raffi wrote the song, but like many of the songs Raffi included on his children’s albums, “Down By the Bay” is an old folk song. Raffi (full name Raffi Cavoukian) was originally a folk guitarist and singer living and working in Canada, performing at coffee shops learning from other folk musicians in Toronto and Montreal.
He eventually found his niche singing for children, and he brought his folk repertoire with him, introducing a whole new generation to the catchy tunes of the past. “The More We Get Together” and “Mr. Sun” can both be found on Raffi’s first album and right here on LowGUkulele.com, though due to the influence of Raffi and others, you’ll find them in the Children’s category rather than Folk.
Raffi wasn’t just a cover artist, though. He wrote more than a few bangers, including “Baby Beluga” and “Bananaphone.” He’s still writing and performing to this day, though he is putting most of his time, effort, and considerable influence into being an advocate for children and for other worthy causes like climate change.
“Down By the Bay” Playing Tips
This one is simple enough that you can probably play and sing the melody line at the same time with a bit of practice. That’s actually a great thing to get used to doing, even if the tune you are practicing doesn’t have words.
If you are trying to commit songs to memory, one of the best things to do is to make sure you can also sing (or hum or whistle) the tune. It gets the song in your head in a different way, sort of translating it. The crazy thing is, that eventually it will start working the other way around, too. You’ll be able to hear a song, hum it, and then translate it to your fingers on the uke.
It’s not something that will happen overnight, but getting a tune in your head by singing or humming it first is one of the ways people who can “play by ear” are able to work their magic. It’s all about developing a connection between your ear and your hand, and your voice is the perfect bridge.
Playing that B Flat Chord
The high G version of this is the easier of the two for me to sing, but it includes a tricky B flat chord. There are two ways to approach the B flat. One is to play it like an E minor but shifted over a a string and up one fret, muting the E string:
If you already know how to play an E minor, this is a handy shortcut. The note you are leaving out is a second B flat, so while the chord will sound a little thinner, you still get the full major triad. And once you get this shape down, it doesn’t take too much work to flatten out your index finger and barre across the E and A strings.
The other way to play the chord, and this will make a lot of sense if you are coming into ukulele with some prior experience on guitar, is with a barre across the entire first fret like this:
This is the ukulele equivalent of the movable E-shape barre chord on guitar (which on ukulele would be an A-shape). You can put this shape anywhere on the neck, and you will always be playing a major chord. The name of the chord is determined by the note you are playing on the G string.
Click the link or the ‘Download’ button below to see the sheet music if your browser doesn’t display the embedded PDF.
“Down By the Bay” Low G Sheet Music Download
“Down By the Bay” High G Sheet Music Download
Leave a Reply