A study compiling online search results lists Elvis Presley's "I Can't Help Falling in Love" as the 11th most popular song in the US among those learning to play cello, guitar, piano, violin and ukulele.
Ukulele World compiled the numbers after analyzing over 1,000 songs. American standard "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" ranks No. 1, with a bulk of its search traffic attributed to ukulele players. A modern indie hit that's played on ukulele, Vance Joy's "Riptide" finished second.
The rest of a very eclectic Top 10 lists hymns ("Amazing Grace"), classical (Beethoven's "Fur Elise"), rap (Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg's "Still Dre"), R&B (John Legend's "All of Me"), indie (JVKE's "Golden Hour"), modern standards (Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah") and classic rock (Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody").
"I Can't Help Falling in Love" barely missed the Top 10. Surprisingly, nearly half of its searches imply that it's a favorite among ukulele enthusiasts.
Other country music-adjacent selections include "You Are My Sunshine," which was co-written by country singer turned politician Jimmie Davis, and Lynyrd Skynryd's guitar showpiece "Sweet Home Alabama."
"It's always inspiring to see people keen to learn how to play a song on an instrument and it's fascinating to discover which songs they want to start with or are just curious to check out," a Ukulele World spokesperson shared in a press release. "Songs like 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow', 'Hallelujah' and 'Fur Elise' are considered classics that it's very common to start from, mostly for their popularity rather than their level of difficulty.
"It's also very interesting to see a modern and fairly new song such as 'Riptide' by Vance Joy in the top three, this is probably because the song is almost entirely played on an ukulele, and for anyone keen to play the instrument one it must a great fun to learn," the statement continued.
Top 25 Songs That Americans Want to Learn to Play the Most
1. "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," Harold Allen
2. "Riptide," Vance Joy
3. "Jingle Bells," Popular
4. "Hallelujah," Leonard Cohen
5. "Fur Elise," Beethoven
6. "All of Me," John Legend
7. "Amazing Grace," John Newton
8. "Golden Hour," JVKE
9. "Still Dre," Dr. Dre Feat. Snoop Dogg
10. "Bohemian Rhapsody," Queen
11. "I Can't Help Falling in Love," Elvis Presley
12. "Let It Be," The Beatles
13. "Runaway," Kanye West
14. "Silent Night," Joseph Mohr and Franz Xaver Gruber
15. "Wonderwall," Oasis
16. "Ode to Joy," Beethoven
17. "You Are My Sunshine," Jimmie Davis and Charles Mitchell
18. "Sweet Home Alabama," Lynyrd Skynyrd
19. "Hey There Delilah," Plain White T's
20. "Howl's Moving Castle," Joe Hisaishi
21. "Stand By Me," Ben E. King
22. "Someone Like You," Adele
23. "When I Was Your Man," Bruno Mars
24. "A Thousand Years," Christina Perry
25. "Glimpse of Us," Joji
