What Is This Thing Called Love?: Ukulele

This arrangement captures the urbane charm that made Porter's music so adaptable across ensembles, and the ukulele's brightness actually serves the song's melodic clarity beautifully. Students tackle a tune with real harmonic substance without the density of a full jazz combo arrangement, making it an excellent entry point into standards repertoire.

Sophisticated and conversational. The melody sits comfortably on the ukulele's range and breathes naturally, while the harmonic underpinning suggests late-night jazz club intimacy. It balances elegance with approachability, never asking for technical showmanship but demanding musical maturity.

Ukulele students ready to explore beyond beginner arrangements, and teachers seeking quality standards for students making the jump into jazz idiom. Ensembles building ukulele repertoire at the intermediate level will find this a genuine musician's arrangement rather than a novelty interpretation.

• Shape the melody with subtle dynamic contours rather than playing it straight; Porter wrote these lines for singing, and even on ukulele they reward phrasing that mirrors vocal phrasing
• Attend to the harmonic rhythm in the accompaniment pattern. The changes matter more than raw speed, so lock in the chord movement cleanly before adding tempo
• Let the bridge breathe. This song's architecture relies on contrast between sections, so give that moment its own character rather than coasting through it

Pair this with other Porter standards or jazz repertoire in a concert celebrating American songbook composers, or use it as a solo feature that demonstrates your ukulele students' musical depth. It works particularly well in programs mixing classical and popular idioms, offering a bridge between those worlds.

• Reading jazz chord symbols and understanding seventh chord voicings on the ukulele
• Phrasing melody with sensitivity to harmonic rhythm
• Interpreting rhythmic nuance in swing or straight eighth-note contexts
• Building familiarity with the architecture of AABA song form