Famous Solos & Duets for the ‘Ukulele by John King – Review
September 2, 2009
I’m a huge fan of John King’s Classical Ukulele book (in an, “OMG!!!1! It changed the way I think about the ukulele,” way). So it was only a matter of time before I picked up his Famous Solos and Duets for ‘Ukulele as well.
The book contains tab and standard notation for 22 tunes (18 solo pieces, 2 ukulele duets and 2 ukulele/guitar duets) and comes with a CD of the tunes faultlessly performed. Most of them are Hawaiian tunes and, despite the cover proclaiming ‘arranged by John King’, many of the arrangements are by the original ukulele arrangers such as Ernest Ka’ai and N. B. Bailey
The full tab list is:
Loke Lani by Ernest Ka’ai Arr. by John King
Haele by Ernest Ka’ai
Hone A Ka Wai by Ernest Ka’ai
Polka-Mazurka by Ernest Ka’ai Arr. by Henry Kailimai
Ka Wehi by Ernest Ka’ai
Funiculi-Funicula by Luigi Denza Arr. by N. B. Bailey
Hene by Henry Kailimai
Ahi Wela by Arr. by Keoki E. Awai
Spanish Fandango by Henry Worrall Arr. by N. B. Bailey
The Blue Bells Of Scotland by Arr. by T. H. Rollinson
Leilani by Ernest Ka’ai
Banjo Schottische by Ernest K. Ka’ai
Lauia by Henry Kailimai Arr. by Ernest Ka’ai
Wailana by Malie Kaleikoa Arr. by Keoki E. Awai
The Good Stuff
Lovely Tunes: For the most part, the pieces are beautiful, lilting Hawaiian tunes. They’re pleasurable to play and repay attention to dynamics and touch – something that I’m definitely guilty of neglecting.
Strummed and Picked: There are quite a few strummed tunes in the book. And the strummed arrangements are just as much of a challenge as the picked tunes. They involve a whole load of tricky techniques which are explained in the introduction.
Range of Difficulty: While it’s not for beginners, there’s a good mix of difficultly in the tabs. Some, like Hene, you can have a reasonable stab at playing on sight. Others are very challenging.
Introduction: John King is probably the best writer on the history of the ukulele there’s ever been. The lack of his writing in Classical Ukulele is one of my few complaints I have about it. It’s not a complaint that could be made about this book. There’s a big chunk of ukulele history and ukulele tab history (a delight for me, but I’m the world’s biggest uke tab nerd) at the beginning and it’s a great read.
The Not So Good Stuff
Famous?: Despite spending a lot of time playing tunes from the book, there is a noticeable lack of people saying, “Hey, was that Hone A Ka Wai you were playing just then?” I must admit that before getting the book you could count the number of tunes in the book I could confidently hum on the fingers of one finger.
Duets: It’s a little light on the duets, if that’s what you’re looking for. As it happens, there are more duets in the Classical Ukulele book. Luckily, I have no friends anyway.
Tuning: The notation is for a C-tuned ukulele, yet the ukuleles on the recording switch between D-tuning and D#-tuning.
No Campanella – The arrangements are excellent. They sound great and are very playable. But the don’t have the distinctive harp-like sound of the arrangements in Classical Ukulele.
Overall
It’s probably not fair of me to keep comparing this to Classical Ukulele. I regard those arrangements as a work of genius.
This book is really a tribute to the original ukulele arrangers – Ernest Ka’ai in particular – and it has given me a whole new appreciation for those musicians who took the instrument and created new techniques and a new repertoire for it. Playing the pieces the way they played them gives me a more direct connection with its history than any amount of reading. Well worth the price of admission.
If you’ve got the book, let me know what you think in the comments.
Buy Famous Solos & Duets for the ‘Ukulele on Amazon
John King – Larry O’Gaff (Tab)
June 28, 2009
John King – Larry O’Gaff (Tab)
I’ve spent hours and hours examining John King’s arrangements (particularly his Classical Ukulele book) and working out he decided to play things a certain way. I’ll always regret not emailing him and asking him a for an interview (although I’ve recently discovered that emailing your heroes can be a bit disappointing).
I had lengthy discussions with Ken Middleton about the opening run of this tune. I couldn’t believe that John King would play two consective notes on the same string. The only other time he does it in this piece is on the lower reaches of the C string where he doesn’t have a choice. But it is very difficult to get the phrase fluent any other way (and it’s still tricky the way it’s played).
And it’s not the only tricky passage. One part I had big trouble with is bar 28/29. So I play it like this in my version of the tune:
Buy John King’s The Classical Ukulele (And you really should – it’s the best ukulele tab book around)
10 Things I Learnt from John King
April 8, 2009
This was an incredibly difficult post to write. Not for the usual reason that tribute posts are difficult to write – to my regret, I was always too intimidated to even email him – but because everything he did is absolutely fascinating. A quick scan through his writing for a few juicy quotes ends up being half a day spent engrossed in his extensive and detailed histories. A glance through Classical Ukulele turns into hours picking apart his note choices (and trying to my fingers in the position 9058 for Bach’s Prelude). Visiting his YouTube page to pick out a couple of examples results in endless rewinds and ‘How did he do that?’ moments.
As someone who plays, writes about and tabs for the ukulele, I’ve always been a John King wannabe. Here are just ten things I’ve learnt from him.
1. Campanela Style Playing
Truth be told, if I had been rich you wouldn’t be reading Ukulele Hunt right now but Harp Hunt (or possibly Genial Harpes). I love the sound of the close harmony notes bleeding into each other. Which is why I was drawn to John King’s campanela style of playing. A technique he resurrected from re-entrant players of JS Bach’s time.
The idea is to play one note of the melody on each string and let the notes ring into each other. For example, you would usually play a descending E major scale like this:
And here’s how you’d play it in the campanela style (letting the first four notes and the last four notes ring together):
And here’s how they sound (standard technique first).
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Playing in this way the re-entrant tuning from a restriction into the element that lets the ukulele ring and shine. It’s been a huge influence on how I arrange tunes: take a look at my arrangement of Baby Elephant Walk for example.
For a masterclass on campanela, watch John playing Carol of the Bells and get his tab for it here.
But it ain’t easy. As John himself said:
The truth is it’s a crazy way to play the uke; ease of execution is all but sacrificed, subordinated to whatever it takes to get that shimmering, harplike sound.
2. You can be classy on the ukulele.
Just watch his performance of Bach’s Bouree. Fluid and perfect.
Whenever I feel the need to impress someone with the classy potential of the ukulele I break out Tarantella Italiana from Classical Ukulele
3. If you’re really good you can make it look easy.
While some idiots can’t get through a tune without gurned and waggling their tongue around, John King made it all look simple and effortless. No matter how difficult it actually is. On his Larry O’Gaff & Swallowtail Medley with James Hill for example.
4. Dynamics are more than just quiet verse/loud chorus.
Take a listen to what he does with Chopsticks. Without a great deal of light and shade in the dynamics, it would be a very boring piece.
5. Every bit of information I trust about ukulele history.
A lot of the ukulele history out there tends to be either dull and superficial or romanticised. But everything John wrote had obviously been thoroughly researched and carefully disected. Whether it’s a quick overview of the uke’s history for a museum exhibition or a post on the development of plastic ukuleles.
6. I’m not the only one who thinks the ukulele is difficult to play.
I might have caused a bit of a kerfuffle with last week’s post, but if John King was on my side I was probably right.
Some people may tell you the ‘ukulele is easy to play, but don’t you believe them… anytime someone tells you something is easy to learn, it’s probably because they want to sell you lessons.
7. Concentrate on your playing by thinking about boobs.
Finally, an aspect of playing in which I can call myself a master.
8. Anyone who tells you they know the origin of the word ukulele is lying.
I love his article debunking one of the ukulele naming myth: taking in discussions of political wranglings, the pestilent nature of fleas, racist stereotypes and whether Edward Purvis got the nickname ukulele by being an asshat.
His conclusion on the real origin of the word ukulele:
Final answer? Your guess is as good as mine.
9. I should be more pro-active with my emailings.
10. Always end on a joke.
At the ‘Ukulele Guild of Hawai‘i Exhibition and Conference in Waikiki last November, someone was interested in buying one of my collections of uke music, but after attending my workshop she was worried it might be too difficult for her. “No, no, you should try it,” I assured her. “It’s easy.”
Posts for First Timers
April 2, 2008
I’ve been bashing away at this blog for 11 months now. In that time I’ve amassed around 350 posts. That’s way too many for people to sift through, so here’s a quick list of my most popular posts (and after that some posts for people who are new to the uke as well as to the site). For long term readers, I’d love to hear what you think people should read when they first pitch up here so I can add it to the list.
Posts for First Timer Visitors
Get up to speed on the blog. I’m completely OCD on posting the same thing on each day of the week. The about page will let you know what to expect when.
This is what most people come here for. The chords start on this page and the tabs start on this page. Whatever your tastes, you’ll probably find something that takes your fancy.
Perennial favourites include Beirut (whose entire back catalogue I’ve put up), While My Guitar Gently Weeps (my entirely ineffectual plea for people to come up with their own version rather than parroting Jake Shimabukuro), and Sweetafton23’s cover of Britney Spears’s Toxic (YouTube classic). More recent hits include Yael Naim’s New Soul, Daft Punk – Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger and Antsy Pants’s Vampire (from the Juno soundtrack).
If you’re desperate for more, check out the Rag Bag for some works in progress (sometimes glacially slow progress).
Rock out with the world’s greatest guitar riffs arranged for ukulele.
Once you’ve gorged yourself on the archives, you can be sure of getting new stuff by putting your email in the doo-hickey at the top right, subscribing to the RSS feed by clicking here, or getting the latest posts on my Twitter feed.
Posts for Beginners
There’s plenty of stuff on the blog that should be helpful to the noobiest of ukulele noobs.
There’s a whole section of ukulele songs suitable for beginners. These songs usually contain just a few of the basic chords. To go along with that, the Ukulele 101 category covers the sort of uke knowledge that beginners should find helpful.
If you haven’t even got your hands on your own uke yet, you might want to check out this post about buying your first ukulele. It has a Christmas emphasis, but it still applies.
One post to check out is Ten Tips for Ukulele Beginners and if you want more tips, try my Ukulele 101 ebook.
If you’ve yet to learn, there’s a post here on how to read ukulele chord charts. A lot of the pieces on the blog are written in ukulele tablature. There’s a guide on how to read ukulele tab here.
Anything that I’ve missed?
Christmas Gifts for Ukulele Players: How To Play Ukulele eBooks
December 22, 2007
You’re still looking on the net for Christmas presents this late? You are screwed. Unless…
The big advantage with ebooks is that they’re delivered straight away (unless you pay be echeck – slogan: “Do you miss the hassle of real-world checks?”) and you can send them to anyone, anywhere instantly.
In my opinion, the best ukulele ebooks around are those available at How To Play Ukulele. Of course, I might be slightly biased in that opinion since I wrote them. If you want a more even handed view, here’s what other people are saying.
How to Play Ukulele Chord Progressions
“This is the first time someone’s explained basic chord formation and scales and transposition in a way that makes sense to me”
Mike Dickison of Mike’s Ukulele Page
I started using the book – it’s great!!! This is really a helpful and friendly guide.
Jen Kwok
I am really glad I bought your chord progression theory book. You did just a great job! I am taking piano from my daughter’s classical teacher. He is great but somewhat hardcore classical. He tried to explain some of the theory to me, but I think that your book is way more accessible and directly applicable. And this comes from me, someone who has taken theory classes in the past!
Carol Seigal
“Your ‘How to play ukulele chord progressions’ is excellent. It cleared up a number of things for me. I’m just getting into music theory and having something that relates directly to the ukulele was very useful.”
Chris Double
The “How to Play Ukulele Chord Progressions” was great. I got a better sense of hamonized chords, and their fretboard relationship. The feelings the sounds generate for different chords, and how the tension is built and released really made sense.
This ebook is key to understanding chord relationships, and I can take my music to whole new levels.
Terry Truhart
An excellent selection of tabs and playing tips… I highly recommend picking it up.
Chris of The UkeCast.
Just have to say again that your “How to Play Christmas Ukulele” is really terrific. There is a fair amount of ukulele Christmas music out there but very little as good as your arrangements. All of your music is very easy to play as well a lot of fun to play.
Art Crocker
The selection of songs is great. There are popular favorites, along with some that I’d never heard of before. All are arranged for beginner to intermediate. I’m definitely in the beginner camp, but have been able to play a few bars of each… Priced at $7.00, this eBook is a bargain.
Ukulele Review
Christmas Gifts for Ukulele Players: CDs
December 17, 2007
Beirut – Flying Club Cup
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Beirut – Sunday Smile (mp3) via their website
Beirut are hugely popular with hipsters and college kids. Whichever record exec focus-grouped the idea and found out that brass band waltzes and ukuleles were what the youngsters wanted deserves a raise.
You can check out the songs at flyingclubcup.com where the all the songs are performed in various locations (in an abandoned house, on the river bank, on the street) to great advantage.
Beirut are responsible for turning loads of people on to the ukulele and my Beirut posts are some of the most popular on the blog. So if you buy this for your uke playing loved one, be sure to give them the url of this blog too.
Craig Robertson – That Dress
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Higher Heels (mp3)
Leopard (mp3) via his website.
Whoever said, “They don’t write ‘em like the used to,” obviously hasn’t heard Craig Robertson. His songs have a classic, timeless feel to them and could have been written yesterday or ninety years ago. They’re full of dark and sinister ne’er-do-wells.
If you’re not drinking whiskey and smoking when you start listening to this album, you will be by the end of it.
Craig has a huge pile of mp3s available for free download. You can find cover versions here and demos of his originals here.
Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain – Precious Little
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Theme from Shaft (clip)
How Can You Mend a Broken Heart (clip)
God Gave Rock and Roll To You (clip) via their website.
The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain seem to be popular with just about everyone. They’re a viral YouTube smash; writer Howard Jacobson called them, “the best musical entertainment in the country”; George Harrison wanted to jam with them; they’ve appeared on kids TV a number of times and Brian Eno said that they, “may well turn out to be one of the turning points of 21st Century Art.” I think that’s a fair demographic reach.
Personally, I could happily go without the covers of Nirvana and the like that seem to have made them popular. I find them much more impressive when they’re being musical rather than ironic.
More Christmas gifts for ukulele players
Christmas Gifts for Ukulele Players: Patterned Ukes
December 16, 2007
When you’re giving someone a gift, you do want it to be that little bit more special. Ukuleles with an added design give that extra ‘wow factor’. You could commission yourself a painted uke. Or, if you’re a bit more strapped for cash and time, buy off-the-shelf.
Flukes seem to be almost universally popular. Even more so when there’s a half naked dolly-bird holding one aloft.
Inspiration for Fluke designs ranges from Hollywood to Dollywood (with their cowboy fluke). Flukes sell for between $200 and $300. You’ll pay a bit of a premium for the design and also if you want a rosewood fretboard (rather than the standard plastic).
Black Bear Christmas Bell
At the other end of the price spectrum is the beauty.
Duane Heilman of
The auction eBay auction for this one has finished now but it didn’t sell so it may return. If you’ve got a loved one worth $2,000 to you, keep your eyes peeled.
Pahu Kani
Another heftily priced ukulele. I have no idea how these sound but ooooh pretty, pretty, pretty. And, at the end of the day, isn’t it what’s on the outside that really counts?
More Christmas gifts for ukulele players
Christmas Gifts for Ukulele Players: Electric Ukuleles
December 15, 2007
If you can’t stand the sound of your loved one strumming incessantly, it might seem a little counter-intuitive to buy them an electric ukulele. Were it not for one word: headphones.
With their round backs and distinctive sound-holes, Ovation Applause tenor ukuleles are heavily based on their guitar big brother. In my opinion, they have a slightly dated look – there’s a definite whiff of Bon Jovi unplugged about them. But recently, Kaki King came along and rescued the Applause image.
Buy for: the hair-rocker in your life.
Bugsgear’s Eleuke has a much more modern look. They come in a sparkling blue or a more understated natural wood.
They now have one you can plug headphones straight into, so no excuse for waking up family members with midnight strummings.
Kala Archtop
The Kala Archtop Tenor has a more classic look with jazzy f-holes and an archtop.
Buy for: midnight jazzers, those who find the term ‘f-hole’ endlessly amusing.
What’s your electric uke recommendation?
More Christmas gifts for ukulele players
Christmas Gifts for Ukulele Players: Bob Brozman’s Ukulele Tunes & Techniques
December 11, 2007
Bob Brozman’s Ukulele Tunes & Techniques (DVD)
Bob Brozman is one of my musical heroes. A quick check on YouTube will show you why. It’s not just his playing, it’s his musical philosophizing too. He’s always interesting and often highly quotable (the quote of him on my About page is from this DVD). All that meant that buying this DVD was a bit of a no-brainer for me.
The DVD has Brozman playing through different arrangements of a number of Hawaiian and American tunes tabbed out in the accompanying booklet. Towards the end, he is joined by Hawaiian guitarist and ukulelist Ledward Kaapana. Brozman’s tunes are arranged on D-tuned ukulele and Kaapana’s tunes for low-G ukulele.
The full tab list is:
Hi’ilawe, Meleana’E, The Beach at Waikiki, Ukulele Blues, Sweet Georgia Brown, I’ll See You In My Dreams and Spanish Eyes (Kaapana).
There are also untabbed performances of Ukulele Spaghetti, Tomi Tomi and L&D Slack Key (Kaapana).
The Good Stuff:
- Techniques. This DVD was a huge inspiration on my playing. Each time I watch it I’m itching to to try something new I’ve picked up from it.
- Some of the stuff Brozman pulls off is just fantastic to watch and hear.
- There’s a lot to be learnt here about how to use chord inversions and how to incorporate them into chord solos.
- Some very good examples of how to arrange the same song in different ways to keep it interesting.
- Ledward Kaapana. He’s a big teddy bear and probably the most adorable man in the world. He also pulls of tricks in L&D Slack Key that are worth the price of admission by themselves.
The Not So Good Stuff:
- Tunes. I haven’t learnt a single tune from the DVD. It’s sometimes hard to work out exactly which piece of tab is being played. Sometimes what is being played isn’t tabbed out at all. Brozman turns in a fantastic fingerpicked version of The Beach at Waikiki but all we get tab for is the strummed version. When I watch this DVD I promise myself I’m going to learn one of the songs but it never happens.
- Kaapana isn’t a natural teacher. Bob has to play both faux-naif “What ya doing there, Led?” role and the know-it-all teacher role.
- Tunings. Bob’s in D-tuning which makes chord names confusing for C-tuners (particularly if they’re a bit slow in the head like me). Led’s in low-G which isn’t really a ukulele.
Overall: Inspirational.
More Christmas gifts for ukulele players
Christmas Gifts for Ukulele Players: Herb Ohta – Sophisticated Ukulele
December 6, 2007
Herb Ohta – Sophisticated Ukulele (Book and CD)
Herb Ohta (or Ohta-San if you prefer) has been playing the uke professionally for over 60 years and has released over 60 albums – he probably knows what he’s talking about when it comes to the uke.
Sophisticated Ukulele
The book features 26 songs mainly from the Great American Songbook but with 5 Ohta originals. The accompanying CD has Ohta playing solo ukulele versions of 15 of these. The full list of songs:
Dinah, Feeling Like It Lately, Fools Rush In, Georgia On My Mind, I’ll Be Seeing You, Imagine, I Won’t Dance, It’s A Sin To Tell A Lie, Ja-Da, Jeanie, The More I See You, My Blue Heaven, The Nearness Of You, Night & Day, Poipu-I Hawaii, September Song, Sophisticated Hula, Stardust, Sukiyaki, Sunny, Take The A Train, The Very Thought Of You, Waikiki Beach, Waikoloa, When I Fall In Love, Yesterday
Good stuff:
- There are some very nice arrangements here.
- I think anyone who works through this book will come away with some new chord ideas.
- Ja-Da.
Not so good stuff:
- No tab. That’s a big disadvantage to me. Just chords and melody line don’t give the entire story of what he’s actually playing. For those who want to strum and sing, this will not be an issue.
- Many songs aren’t on the CD.
Suitable for: Beginner to intermediate. Those who love to strum through and sing the old standards.
Overall: Well worth the price of admission. The fact you have to do some of the work yourself in putting together arrangements isn’t an entirely bad thing.
If you have this book, leave a comment letting us know your opinion.
