How To Play "Close To You" by The Carpenters on Ukulele

Close To You is a song recorded by The Carpenters for their second studio album, Close To You in 1970. It was written by Hal David and six-time Grammy Award winner/three-time Academy Award winner Burt Bacharach. The song topped both the US Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts when it was released on May 15, 1970.

The song was first recorded by Richard Chamberlain. It was initially titled, “They Long to Be Close to You” and released as a single in 1963. Sadly, the song was not quite successful when it was first released. Surprisingly, it was also recorded as a demo by Dionne Warwick in 1963. In August 1964, Dusty Springfield also recorded the song but her version was not released commercially. In 1971, Bacharach released his version. Still, the song was not successful. Not until The Carpenters recorded their version that it became a hit.

The song was originally played in the key of C. Jeff made some adjustments and played it in the key of Bb as he is following an interesting chord melody arrangements by Kiyosi Kobayashi. Kobayashi plays through the whole song using only the thumb of his right hand. Jeff made his own version by bringing in strumming and small edits to his playing. The song is considered a great beginner to intermediate level tune so check out the video below.

Jeff is offering a free 30 minute lesson over Skype to ukulele players of any level. Jeff is the best in the business and can provide expert knowledge on mastering "Close To You" by The Carpenters and many more songs of your choice. Jeff is a friend of ours at UkuleleMate and has been teaching Aussie students for many years, we can't speak highly enough of him. We encourage you to go ahead and schedule your free lesson today.