Comments on: Famous Solos & Duets for the ‘Ukulele by John King – Review

By: Woodshed

Woodshed — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 20:06:45 +0000

Tamster: Thanks very much for the info. I thought it might be on Google Books but it looks like they haven’t got round to scanning it yet.

By: Tamster

Tamster — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 02:03:40 +0000

The song “Maile Waltz” is from Ernest Kaai’s “The Ukulele: A Hawaiian Guitar and How To Play It”. It’s from 1910. The song is on page 18 & 19 for those who have the book.
I bought the fascimile from Elderly Instruments a few years ago. I don’t know if they still sell it but here is the link about it from John King’s own website:

http://www.nalu-music.com/nalu-music-store/the-ukulele-ernest-kaai/

By: Woodshed

Woodshed — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 17:21:42 +0000

Pascal: Nice work on the video. I enjoy that tune too. “Maile Waltz” has me baffled as well. The tune is definitely Lokelani. I can’t find any reference to a tune called ‘Maile Waltz’ other than this John King video.

Andrea: That’s fascinating. If you ever want to write a guest post about Ernest and/or ukes in New Zealand let me know.

Jim: I’ve been practicing the double time part of Spanish Fandango. Can’t get it right. I’ve just had it pointed out to me that even John is playing it slower than double time.

By: Pascal

Pascal — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 16:20:55 +0000

I do not understand, this video seems to correspond to the first song Loke Lani but did not carry the same name??

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb-owEOQXR0&feature=related

By: Jim D'Ville

Jim D'Ville — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 15:30:17 +0000

I love the picking arrangements in this book, Spanish Fandango, et. al. I use two brass finger-picks and a plastic thumb pick to bring out the brightness of my tenor ukulele for these songs. The picks also help for speed, especially the double-time part in Fandango. Downside, some of the recordings being in a different key than the arrangements. Why?

By: Andrea Low

Andrea Low — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 07:17:40 +0000

Hi – I’m currently doing my DocFA and it includes a history of the introduction of the ukulele to New Zealand (where I’m from) but I’m interested in anything related to Ernest Kaai – apart from him being my Grandfather I think he may have introduced the instrument here or if he didn’t then he popularised it with his touring groups – The Royal Hawaiians, The Hawaiian Troubadours, The Waikiki Hawaiians (there are a lot of names to sift through) so great to see something about Ernest on your site (great site too by the way).

By: Pascal

Pascal — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 21:22:21 +0000

I have this method and I appreciate it very much. At first the songs surprised me a little, but ultimately it is very endearing. I listen to the cd even when I do the dishes (so my wife likes too). Some tracks seem very difficult as the first “Loke Lani” but others are very accessible and they are very pleasant !
After reading your article I decided to record one – the second “Haele”- to illustrate my reply.
This is very far from perfect but it proves we can play with some of the pieces of this method even with a modest level:))

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBXWbV9JOe4

By: Woodshed

Woodshed — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 17:59:30 +0000

Josh: I know what you mean. I usually skip intros. But not in the case of John King.

I would never have pegged Funiculi-Funicola as an early ukulele standard.

By: Josh Gordon

Josh Gordon — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 17:42:52 +0000

I’m really fond of the “famous solos” book; in fact, it’s sitting in front of me right now. It took me a bit to realize that many of the arrangements are putting early 20th century material into modern format. (For some reason, I always dive straight into the tab, and skip the introduction.) Some of them are downright goofy, in a good way — an odd blend of Polynesian, Portuguese, and classical European musical influences. The “Banjo Schottische” is just a hoot!