Gus Raucus (of GUGUG fame) has been sharing his spreading the uke love to the BBC with his fabulous video overview of 100 years of the ukulele along with Highs and Lows of the Ukulele and 5 Steps to Ukulele Fame. An excellent edition of the Song Exploder podcast with Stephin Merritt discussing the making […]

Penguin Cafe Orchestra – Paul’s Dance (Solo Tab) This lovely PCO tune is a duet between ukulele and cuatro. But it also stands up very well as a solo ukulele piece. If you do have a spare cuatro player laying around the tab is exactly the same. They take advantage of the fact the uke […]

There are no shortage of fancy techniques you can learn that will improve your ukulele playing: campanella picking, split strokes and roll strums. But there are two quick wins that don’t require hours of practicing. They just need you to be more conscious of how you’re playing and to take control of it. Dynamics Dynamics […]

The Smiths – Unhappy Birthday (Chords) You’ve got a song to wish your friends Happy Birthday. But what to sing to sing to the vast majority of people whom you despise? I’ve got you covered. Suggested Strumming You can use this as the main strum in the chorus: d – d – d u d […]

Full Playlist

Dr Liz Price at the University of Hull is surveying ukulele players to find out how the ukulele might, “protect and enhance mental and physical well-being.” In my experience, not at all but… Videos – … clearly my experience isn’t universal: Madeline’s Story: Conquering Muscular Dystrophy with a Ukelele. – Madonna picks up a ukulele […]

I’ve tackled Ray Parker Jr’s Ghostbusters theme once before way back in 2007. But I wanted to return to it to tidy it up and make it into a full instrumental version for a ukulele group. Also because it’s a stone-cold classic. This version has five different ukulele parts of differing levels of difficulty (including […]

I’ve written up a fair few Halloween songs over the years and have spotted a few common traits that make for a spooky song. Here are some tricks you can use to write your own terrifying tune or spook up an existing one. Dissonance The quickest way to create a creepy, unnerving chord is to […]

Now you’ve got your immoral zomboni costume together, here are some tunes you may wish to bone up on before the big night: Addams Family Theme Tune Chopin – Funeral March Jonathan Coulton – Re: Your Brains Dance Macabre The Fall – Mansion The Gothic Archies – Freakshow Halloween Theme Harry Potter – Hedwig’s Theme […]

Adele – Hello (Chords) Holy Cribbins! Now that’s a comeback song. I managed to see through the floods of tears long enough to write up some chords. As well as being incredible, it’s sparse (in the first half at least) which makes it ideal for ukuleling. Strap on a capo at the first fret and […]