Creating Melody and Chord Arrangements, in theory are as simple as harmonizing the melody with a chord. Which is playing a chord that has the melody note as the top note of the chord voicing. In practice it is a little more involved, but not much more.

Here is a page of tips and guidelines for creating your own arrangements.

A few things you should know before starting:

• The notes of the Ukulele Fingerboard and what they look like in standard music notation. TAB will NOT help with this.
• The ability to identify the notes of a chord. Chord Spelling, A C major chord is C E G, a G7 chord is G B D F

• You do not have to play a chord for every melody note.
• Chords can also played before or after the melody.
• Play a chord for dotted quarter note and longer.
• Play a chord when there is a chord change.
• Add melody notes if needed and wanted.
• If melody is an arpeggio, play as single notes and sustain the notes to get create the chord.
• Use chord substitutions to fit the style.
• Look for places for parallel, oblique, similar and contrary motion in your chord voicings.
• Double stops, octaves, intervals, arpeggios, sequences and chord scales.
• Use the principles of Voice Leading
• Chromatic passing chords and fills.
• Close chord voicings. The re-entrant tuning of the ukulele gives you this automatically.
• Incorporate open strings in to chord voicings
• Use Free form chord voicings.

  A free form Chord is a chord that does not fall into the open position, movable form or 4-part chord catagories.

• Alterations, upper partials (chord extensions) and substitutions. Root to 9, b9, #9, third to 11, #11, fifth to 13, b5, #5 to fit the style
• Alterations should not change the chords harmonic function.
• Embellishments - slurs, hammer-ons, pull-offs, tremelo, etc...
• Idiomatic cliches - These are things such a bends and glissandos (slides) in blues.
• Alternate chord voicings - A melody of a ninth can be harmonized by raising the root of a chord 2 frets or lowering the third of a minor chord one fret and the third of a major seventh or seventh chord two frets.
• A melody of an eleventh can be harmonized by raising the third of a minor chord two frets and the third of a major seventh or seventh chord one fret. Or, lowering the fifth of a seventh, minor seventh or major seventh chord two frets.
• Learn the critical notes of a chord such as the thirds and sevenths of major, minor and sevenths chords. Without these notes in the chord you loose the essence of the chord.
• The two most critical notes are the melody and the seventh of a chord.
• Leaving out the root and fifth of a chord implies 5, 6 and 7 part harmony. This is very useful on an instrument such as the a ukulele.
• Intros, Endings and Interludes equal an arrangement.
• Theme, variations and re-harmonizations.

Here are a few links to site that have some already created or transcribed arrangements. The goal of this JazzUkulele.net site is to teach and collect resources for learning to create you own arrangements.