Austin, Texas guitar and ukulele maker Bill Collings died this week. Collings began making guitars in the 1970s and launched a line of beautifully made ukuleles in 2009. Window Shopping – This September Fender are releasing a whole batch of cheaper ukuleles: the Seaside, Rincon, Zuma and Montecito. You can see some here and here. […]

Raggle Taggle Gypsies (Tab) Jonathan Lewis’s campanella ebook is right up there with John King’s as one of my favourite tab books. And he’s just relased a new one Classic Folk Songs for Fingerstyle Ukulele (affiliate link). Which also has traditional tunes but this time arranged in a simpler, more approachable form. Jon was kind […]

Muted strums are a useful tool to have in your repertoire. They can add percussion and syncopation to an otherwise boring strum. You perform them by resting a finger or fingers from your fretting hand on the strings. You need to hold them down enough so the strings don’t ring open but not strong enough […]

Loudon Wainwright – Swimming Song (Chords) I did Loudon’s ukulele song way back and it’s high time I did one of his classic songs. I’ve written the chords up with a capo on the second fret. That’s the easiest way to play it and without the capo it’s the same key he plays it in […]

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You might have seen me raving about Jonathan Lewis’s campanella tabs in the past. He’s back with a new tab ebook Classic Folk Songs for Fingerstyle Ukulele. This one has much simpler arrangements but still up to his high standard. I was very kindly gifted this two vintage tiny ukuleles made by Cy Tuff. He […]

Ode to Joy (Tab) I’ve already tabbed Ode to Joy twice: a dead easy strumming version and the UOGB’s group version. This third and final tab is a fuller solo version. For this piece Beethoven nicked Nirvana’s loud-quiet-loud-quiet… trick. So I use strumming for the loud bits and picking for the quiet bits. In the […]

Time for the Uke Hunt Annual Chord Quiz. Test your chord knowledge, theory knowledge and musical ear. The method is as low-tech as ever. – Grab a pen and paper. – Answer the questions (using a ukulele to help you is entirely allowed and encouraged). – There might be spoilers in the comments. – Check […]

Haim – Want You Back (Chords) It was Glastonbury the other weekend. The one time of year British music fans get the same value from the license fee as sports fans do all year. The standout performances I caught were Songhoy Blues (the whole show is here if you’re in the UK) and Haim. I’m […]

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