Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

Why this is the right first song

The whole tune lives inside one octave, so you never have to move your fretting hand out of first position. C, F and G7 are the three shapes that unlock hundreds of sing-alongs, and the chord changes land on the first beat of each line, which gives you a full bar to get there.

Twinkle also teaches the habit that matters most on a ukulele: letting the A string ring while your other fingers stay put. Park your ring finger on the third fret of the A string for C, then slide your middle finger to the second fret of the G string for F. Nothing else moves.

The strumming pattern, slowly

Use D-DU-UDU — down, down-up, up-down-up. Count it as 1, 2-and, and-3-and. In this song the pattern is slow enough that you can speak the words on the downstrokes and let the ups fill the gaps.

• Keep the wrist loose; the motion comes from the forearm, not the elbow.
• Miss the strings on the upstroke at first rather than speeding up.
• If the pattern collapses, drop to four plain downstrokes and add the ups back one at a time.

Where singers trip

The last line of each verse ("like a diamond in the sky") has two chords in four beats. Count it out loud before you play it. If it still feels rushed, put a capo on the second fret and play the same shapes a whole step higher — the chord shapes stay C, F and G7, and the song sits better for a low voice.