Level 1 · First steps — hold, tune, strum

posture, C-tuning (g C E A), the down-stroke, your first chords

Everything rests on a clean stroke and an in-tune instrument; the C–F–G7 trio already plays hundreds of songs.

What you learn

• Hold the uke against the chest, fretting hand cradling the neck (Peterson: ‘Holding the Ukulele’).
• Tune to C / ‘My dog has fleas’ — g–C–E–A; check each string at the 5th/4th frets.
• The basic down-stroke with the index finger across all four strings.
• First chords: C, F, and G7 — the I–IV–V of C major.
• Two-chord then three-chord changes in slow common time.

Grounded in: Peterson Ukulele Method (early 20th c.) — for holding, tuning, the strokes, chords in all keys, transposition. source

Note: a method-grounded technique curriculum (no score corpus for this instrument); levels are graded skills, not pieces.