I’m taking my How to Play Ukulele Chord Progressions ebook off sale at the end of the year. It was the first one I wrote and it’s a bit long in the tooth compared to my others. If you want to get it before it departs I’ve dropped the price from $17 to $7 until it leaves. You can pick up a copy here.
I’ve been doing a few quick tabs and videos as inspiration hits. I’ll be posting collections of them on here. Or you can keep up with them on my social media: Instagram, Twitter and Tumblr.
It’s been another golden year for the ukulele. Time to wrap it up with some of my favourites to make sure you didn’t miss anything. Feel free to share yours in the comments. Particularly if it’s something I’ve missed.
I’ve featured a few songs by, Nashville folkies, The Vespers in the past but they’ve been a bit cutesy for my taste. With their latest album Sisters and Brothers they’ve really hit their stride. There are half a dozen tracks on the album that rank amongst my favourites of this year including this ukulele song .(I feel the need to point out that the album version doesn’t include the questionable bass solo that’s in the live version.)
And prize for Most Predictable Choice of 2015 goes to… me for picking this. I’m a huge fan of everything the Cobblers have put out and this year’s Wildfire is no exception.
It’s totally cheating for Hawaii Music Supply to have Corey Fujimoto demonstrate their ukuleles. He makes everything sound incredible. But it does mean we’ve been spoilt for blazing ukulele tunes from him this year.
Thailand isn’t a place you usually think of when it comes to high end ukulele making. But Rebel have changed that this year. The team grew out of makers trained by KoAloha to make their lower end ukes (KoAlana and Opio). And they certainly picked up KoAloha’s flair for making gorgeous instruments.
This one wins just for making me feel like a cool 50s jazz guy when I played it. It took me years to get it to a point where I was happy with my version of it. I love the tune and I really wanted to do it justice.
Runners Up
Back to the Future Medley – Only Back to the Future could make me think Huey Lewis was the epitome of cool. Penguin Cafe Orchestra – Paul’s Dance – Really shows what you do can when you concentrate on playing well rather than playing fancy. Mark Ronson – Uptown Funk – Really shows what I do when I concentrate on playing fancy rather than playing well.
Conflict of interest warning: If you buy it through this site I get a kick back (and I am purely interested in money – you can tell by the way I ditched working as an accountant for the lucrative world of ukulele blogging).
Runner Up Sam Muir – The Little Book of Giuliani – You can buy this one safe in the knowledge I don’t get a penny. And I recommend you do if you’re up for some challenging classical guitar tunes rearranged for ukulele.
When I first stumbled across Owl & Mouse I had deep suspicions they were a fake band in a Belle and Sebastian movie. Turns out they’re a Brisbane band formed around sisters Hannah and Jen Botting (sisters to Bill Botting of Australia’s other indie ukulelists Allo Darlin). Their debut album Departures is packed with great melancholy indie pop in the vein of B&S and Camera Obscura.
Runners Up Nakisha Esnard – Anyone for ukulele reggae opera? The Prettiots – Too cool for school New Yorkers.
I like my music moody and depressing. And I don’t the ukulele is really suited to cheerful music. So I thought I should give cheerful music its own category to offset my bias. And the music of the Jive Aces is always fun enough to put a smile even on my grumpy, curmudgeonly maw.
As you might have guessed from my Steven Universe post, I’m a big fan of Rebecca Sugar’s songs. And this is a new gem from the Adventure Time miniseries Stakes.
You might be unfamiliar with some of the chords in it. But don’t be intimidated. There’s nothing too difficult to play.
Suggested Strumming
You can use this as the main strum:
d – d u d –
Mix that up with a few chords where you just play one down strum per chord.
The tune uses the same basic chords as the final version except she’s tuned down half a step. But I prefer to keep it in standard tuning and play in the same key as the final version.
Eagles of Death Metal – I Want You So Hard (Chords)
I think the best response to Batclan is to look out for the people around you and check where the fire exits are when you go to shows. And to keep making and enjoying music that celebrates fucking and satan.
Suggested Strumming
Just down-ups for the most part:
d u d u d u d u
But change from A (or D) to C for the last u d u. It sounds like this slow then up to speed:
