Apr/1/11
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Friday Links

James Hill has launched his new ukulele teacher certification course.

Amanda Palmer sings the funniest tweets of the year.

Charles Shultz’s plans for newborns.

Johnn Carson and Bob Newhart get a ukulele lesson from George Segal.

Jim D’Ville‘s series of ‘3 Questions with…’ videos are well worth watching. Particularly the one with Bosko. And what better complement to it than Honey’s percussive uke tip.

Zooey Deschanel records a ukulele song for Winnie the Pooh.

Ukulele Ike is unknown in his hometown.

When Tiny Tim met Liz Taylor.

Breaking a string.

Frank Zappa on Uker Tabs.

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17 Comments

  1. Howlin' Hobbit April 1st, 2011 4:20 pm

    I heart Amanda Palmer.

    also Honey. that uke tip is amongst the very few “strumming patterns” that I’ve bothered–or am going to bother–to learn. (usually I just strum how the song feels to me, which makes it very hard to answer those email questions I get about “what strumming pattern are you using in that video?”)

  2. Boheeka April 1st, 2011 8:49 pm

    The zappa uke arrangement that I put up is a bit beyond the range of my own ability so I’d love to see someone else try it.

  3. UUrayan April 1st, 2011 10:53 pm

    Aww no love for our April Fools joke this year Al? lol

  4. rON-hALe April 1st, 2011 11:04 pm

    Some uke news odds and ends, Al –

    Fleas and Flukes now come from Flea Market Music strung with Aquila (AH-qui-la, of course) strings
    as the stock strings…Elderly Instruments have the new 2011 Flea and Fluke designs listed as In Stock, but Flea Market doesn’t list them yet. Elderly say they’ll be getting the Yamaha GL-1 Guitalele in stock towards the end of May and will be pricing them at $99…Amazon have a bunch of the new Kala Ukadelic line in stock.

  5. pepamahina April 1st, 2011 11:18 pm

    Funny you should post that clip with Bosko now. I just saw it a few days ago and it actually made me get mad and order an eBook from you. I was getting all excited at the beginning because he was making so much sense at first. He starts by saying “you really only need to know 5 chord shapes and if you know those 5 you know all the others.” Sounds great, yeah? So he shows the 5 chord shapes and I get even more flushed and happy because I’m thinking “Sweet! I know all five of those! They are so simple! How can this be?”. But then…and deep down I knew all along it was too good to be true…he starts making the chords up the neck and he says “you just make a an A shape.” Only the *!&#^#(#*&**! chord he makes doesn’t look anything like an A, and he does the same with all of the others, making shapes that look absolutely nothing like the shapes that he just put on the screen. So I swore at his little video image and pulled my hair out and then I went and ordered your chord progression eBook in a big huff because I figured if YOU can’t teach me than then I should just give it the hell up and follow the damn tab and forget about it! (Don’t worry, I’ll go take my medication in just a second). You’ll be relieved to know I haven’t looked at the eBook yet, although I’m quite sure if I can’t figure it out in the end it is probably just me.
    Now that sweet Honey on the other hand…THAT is a tutorial that should be bronzed! Maybe it’s a girl thing?

  6. George Stone April 2nd, 2011 8:44 am

    Thank you Al, thank you so much!

  7. Woodshed April 2nd, 2011 9:38 am

    Hobbit: I have similar problems when it comes to strumming pattern questions. I might have to do a post on this.

    Boheeka: Thanks very much for submitting the tab.

    UUrayan: I think you set the bar too high with the AG record deal fool. That was a masterpiece. Even I got emails asking what was going on.

    rON-hALe: Thanks very much for the heads-up on those. Obviously the season for tacky ukulele decorations.

    pepamahina: It is quite a tricky thing to explain without diagrams (and he didn’t have much time). I’ll try to put together a post about it.

    George: You’re welcome. Thanks for finding that video. Very sad.

  8. cardboardfrog April 2nd, 2011 11:06 am

    zooey deschannel singing for winnie the pooh. what is not excellent about that? nothing. that is brilliant, brilliant news.

  9. Baz Maz April 2nd, 2011 12:25 pm

    rON-hALe – if that is true about Fluke and Flea, then that is a shame in my book. Sure, I like Aquilas, and they have to be a step up from the strings they used to ship those instruments with, but to me its another onward march into the Aquila or nothing territory. I own a Flea and a Fluke and have tried about half a dozen or more strings on both – including Aquilas. To my ears, the Aquilas were overkill, almost boomy. I go with Worths on mine. Just my opinion of course.

    Woodshed – thanks for the link to GAU

  10. Bosko and Honey April 2nd, 2011 11:53 pm

    Thanks for the links Al :)

    @pepamahina If you go to our website (by clicking our name) There is a complete set of diagrams mapping out the CAGFD system and a bit of an explanation also.

  11. Rob NY April 3rd, 2011 1:34 am

    I’ll say it again, I LOVE FRIDAY LINKS!

  12. pepamahina April 3rd, 2011 2:30 am

    Hi B&H:
    Ahhhh, thank you for pointing me towards the more detailed explanation of the CAGFD system on your website. I appreciate it! Hopefully I can figure it out now, and Al is right, they there wasn’t a lot of time for detailed explanation in the video (not that I should look free uke tips in the mouth in any case). Thanks also for the wonderful Safari Volume One Compilation CD that you are selling to raise money for tsunami relief. I got mine about a week ago, and loved it. (Your nifty sticker looks pretty sweet on my case too). You two are a class act. Many thanks!

  13. Woodshed April 3rd, 2011 8:32 am

    cbf: I know. I was disappointed that the uke song didn’t show up in that video.

    Baz Maz: You’re welcome. I’m a Worth man too.

    Bosko: A pleasure. Thanks for the videos.

    Rob: Very glad to hear it.

  14. Kempo April 5th, 2011 1:52 am

    B&H:

    Free Guero with every uke, I had no idea!!

    I can’t play it the way Honey does in the video so I play the scrape-then-strum (for want of a better term) as the ‘2 &’ so the pattern is:

    1 – ‘scrape’ & knock-knock 4 &…

    Fantastic tip, legends – I just wonder what will wear out first, my finger or the fretboard. Now I really should get to bed…

  15. Brad April 5th, 2011 4:57 am

    Someone edited that Charlie Brown comic. I have the book in print and it actually says that every newborn should be issued a banjo.
    Frankly, I still think ukuleles are a better idea.

  16. Baz Maz April 6th, 2011 8:22 pm

    They did? oh no! I prefer this version!

  17. Woodshed April 9th, 2011 8:14 am

    Kempo: Thanks for the simplified pattern.

    Brad and Baz: If it is edited, they did a really good job. They must have realigned the bottom line because ‘banjo’ would look strange there.

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