The chord progression that accompanies the first section of Greensleeves (What Child Is This) is a common chord progression known as the Andalusian Cadence. You might have heard or played it in the song “Hit the Road Jack.” Can you think of other songs that use it?
The Andalusian Cadence comprises of four chords starting with a minor chord, descending until it reaches the dominant of the starting minor chord. That final chord can be a major or dominant seventh chord. Sometimes it’s easier to play the seventh, such as E7 instead of E major on the ukulele.
It’s also possible to have a modal sequence, using the E minor rather than E major for a progression starting on the A minor chord.
In my book, I listed 40 songs that use this chord progression, alphabetically ordered by title from Paul Simon’s 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover to Cat Steven’s Wild World. The strange thing is that I did not list Greensleeves (What Child Is This) !
Here’s the arpeggio accompaniment using the chord progressions in Greensleeves as an exercise in the Andalucian Cadence.
Try substituting the four chords listed above for other keys of F minor, E minor, and G minor.
How to get access to the sheet music
These one-page PDFs will be sent to all those who registered and paid for the 8-week Ukulele Winter 2025 course. See the Classes Webpage for further details.
Sign up for the celebrated Ukulele Enthusiast e-blast (newsletter) to get on the mailing list for notification of such new arrangements. Use the Google Form.
To be sure, subscribe to this website to get instant notification of these daily tabs.
Subscribe to the YouTube Channel to get notification of new livestreams and uploads. It’s my intention to record my new work in due course.