About this Lesson

Welcome back to Ray's Ukulele! Today we're going to learn to play the ultimate modern ukulele classic, "Riptide" by Vance Joy.

The chords for this song are pretty simple and straightforward. You'll primarily use Am, G, and C. When you get to the bridge, you're also going to include an F chord.

Strumming Patterns

There are two ways you can play this song, depending on your comfort level:

1. Main Strum (Whole Song Option)

You can actually use this single strum pattern for the entire song. It's a classic down-down-up-down-up.

↓ Down ↓ Down ↑ Up ↓ Down ↑ Up

2. The Island Strum (Chorus Option)

If you want to mix it up, it sounds great if you switch to the Island Strum when the chorus hits!

↓ Down ↓ Down ↑ Up ↑ Up ↓ Down ↑ Up

Song Sheet

(Intro: Am G C C) (Verse 1) AmI was scared of Gdentists and the Cdark AmI was scared of Gpretty girls and Cstarting conversations Oh, Amall my Gfriends are turning Cgreen You're the Ammagician's aGssistant in their Cdream (Pre-Chorus) AmOoh, Gooh Cooh AmOoh, Gand they come unCstuck (Chorus) Lady, Amrunning down to the Griptide Taken away to the Cdark side I wanna be your Amleft hand Gman I love you Amwhen you're singing that Gsong and I got a lump in my Cthroat 'cause You're gonna sing the words Amwrong G C (Verse 2) There's this Ammovie that I Gthink you'll Clike This Amguy decides to Gquit his job and Cheads to New York City This Amcowboy's Grunning from himCself And Amshe's been living Gon the highest Cshelf (Pre-Chorus) AmOoh, Gooh Cooh AmOoh, Gand they come unCstuck (Chorus) Lady, Amrunning down to the Griptide Taken away to the Cdark side I wanna be your Amleft hand Gman I love you Amwhen you're singing that Gsong and I got a lump in my Cthroat 'cause You're gonna sing the words Amwrong G C (Bridge) I just wanna, I just wanna Amknow If you're gonna, if you're gonna Gstay I just gotta, I just gotta Cknow I can't have it, I can't have it any other Fway I swear she's Amdestined for the Gscreen CClosest thing to Michelle Pfeiffer that you've ever seen, oh (Chorus) Lady, Amrunning down to the Griptide Taken away to the Cdark side I wanna be your Amleft hand Gman I love you Amwhen you're singing that Gsong and I got a lump in my Cthroat 'cause You're gonna sing the words Amwrong G C Lady, Amrunning down to the Griptide Taken away to the Cdark side I wanna be your Amleft hand Gman I love you Amwhen you're singing that Gsong and I got a lump in my Cthroat 'cause You're gonna sing the words Amwrong