Jim D’Ville looks at the science of learning to play by ear. New French ukulele magazine. The Rights of Man on Uker Tabs. MP3s: Big favourite of mine, Lila Burns has an album of demos up on Bandcamp. Helen Arney was on the Infinite Monkey radio show/podcast and you can download the track she played […]

Waltzing Matilda (Tab) Waltzing Matilda (MP3) Another example of a national anthem that isn’t. This one is a bit more murdery, but still preferable to a song expressing pride at being girt by sea. This arrangement is pretty easy. There’s no fancy picking, it’s all done with the thumb. The only thing to watch out […]

It’s nearly the half way point of the year. Already. So here’s a quick round-up of my favourite videos so far (in the order they showed up on the blog). One thing I’ve noticed putting this together: the number of pro musicians using the ukulele has crowded out the bedroom players. Whether that’s established musicians […]

The Avett Brothers – I and Love and You (Chords) Saying, “I love you,” might be hard but saying, “I love this song certainly isn’t.” Makes for a pretty easy transfer from piano to ukulele as well – which isn’t always the case. Suggested Strumming A good main strumming pattern would be: d – d […]

If I ever launch a range of ukuleles, I’m going to get Kimo Hussey to demonstrate them. That guy has incredible touch. As well as Kimo showing off his DeVine, this week has videos from The Vespers, The Jive Aces, Peter Brooke Turner of the UOGB under his Tony Penultimate pseudonym and plenty more besides.

I couldn’t find much information on KoAloha’s Gumbalele other than this video (thanks to Mark). Looks like it’s part of KoAloha’s efforts towards helping the Japanese Red Cross. On the subject of which, KoAloha are giving away an MP3 including Alvin Okami and Herb Ohta Jr to help raise money. Eddie Vedder’s ukulele sold for […]

The ukulele show Bossarocker did for Chorlton Arts Radio is now available to listen online. You can hear two hours of ukulele goodness including sessions from Pyjama Party and David Leech on her new website. Dhani ‘son of George’ Harrison is busting out his Dad’s ukes on his new album. Last week‘s video of Peter […]

I’ve had quite a few people contact me recently with barre chord problems. My main advice is: practice and lots of it. But here are a few more pointers to help you on the way. What’s a Barre Chord? A barre chord is any chord that involves playing more than one string with the same […]

The Vaccines – Wreckin’ Bar (Ra Ra Ra) Posting So Long and Thanks for All the Fish put my chords-per-song average way out of whack. So time for something nice and simple. Three chords. 80 seconds. Bosh! The original is in Eb, if you want to make it even simpler you can move it down […]