If I Didn't Have You (from Monsters, Inc.): Ukulele

This arrangement works beautifully for young ukulele students because it balances accessibility with genuine emotional content. The melody sits naturally on the ukulele, the harmonic progression is straightforward enough to support learning but interesting enough to engage older elementary and middle school players, and the song's humor gives students something to smile about while they're learning.

Warm, genuine, and genuinely funny. The song captures that moment when two characters realize how much they mean to each other, delivered with just enough comedic timing to keep things light. There's tenderness here, but it never tips into sentimentality.

This arrangement suits ukulele students in grades 3 through 6 who have basic strumming skills and can read simple melodies in standard notation. It's equally at home in a school ukulele ensemble, a music class, or as part of a larger concert celebrating film music and contemporary songs.

• Lean into the conversational quality of the duet; treat the two ukulele parts as characters talking to each other rather than as separate musical lines.
• Keep the strumming pattern consistent and relaxed to match the song's gentle, affectionate tone.
• Pay attention to the phrasing at the ends of phrases, allowing small breath spaces that mirror natural speech rhythms.

This pairs naturally with other songs from animated films, or use it to build a "friendship and kindness" themed concert for elementary and middle school audiences. The 5-page length makes it manageable for classroom learning without demanding excessive rehearsal time.

• Reading melody and chord charts in standard ukulele notation
• Executing steady, consistent strumming patterns across multiple measures
• Singing or playing with rhythmic independence from a partner part
• Interpreting musical phrasing and dynamic shaping in a melodic context
• Balancing ensemble blend while maintaining individual part clarity