It’s Uke Hunt t-shirt season again! I’ve had a few requests for another run of the shirts. You can pre-order yours here.

I’m using Teespring again this year. It is sort of a Kickstart for t-shirts. So you put in an order for your shirt, if there are enough orders by the end of the campaign the shirts are made and sent out. You’re not charged until the end of the campaign (and you’re not charged at all if the shirt doesn’t reach its goal). This way of doing it means all the shirts are printed at once and exactly the right shirts and sizes are made.

So if you want one of the shirts they’ll only be available until 14th October. After that you’re all out of luck.

The system worked very well last time. My shirt came here (the UK) quickly and without any hassle. It’s nice quality and it’s still in good shape. You can see me modelling it in my recent videos.

The Shirts

There are two different styles. The standard fit American Apparel crew-neck (at the top of the post) and after a couple of requests for a v-neck the other is a Bella Missy slim fit (directly above). Both are $22 plus shipping.

This time you can combine the different shirts into one order. Just click ‘Reserve now’ then ‘Add another style’.

Pre-order both of them on this page.

Delivery

Teespring is based in the US so shipping outside of that is more expensive and will take longer.

Domestic (United States): shipping $3.85 + $1.00 for each additional t-shirt. Your shirt will arrive within 7-14 days from the end of the campaign.

Domestic (Canada): $9.50 + $4.00 for each additional t-shirt. Your shirt will arrive within 14-21 days from the end of the campaign.

International Ahipping is $12.50 + $4.00 for each additional t-shirt. Your shirt will arrive within 14-21 days from the end of the campaign.

For more information on the shirts and the system take a look at Teespring’s FAQ.

The Smiths – Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want (Tab)

I’ve written up a few Smiths songs in the past but there aren’t many Smiths songs that translate smoothly to the ukulele. This one is a rare exception. It’s a strumalong with some nice, jazzy chords.

Plus it’s been on a bunch of movie and TV soundtracks so people are bound to know it.

Suggested Strumming

It’s in 6/8 time so this strum should see you all the way through the song:

d – d u d –

When there are quicker chord changes just change half way through this pattern.

Twiddly Bits

Please, Please, Please (Outro Tab)

The song finishes up with a tremolo picked mandolin solo. You can do the same on ukulele if you like but I’ve gone with just picking each note once.

Outro

Links

Buy it on iTunes
More Smiths tabs and chords

Full Playlist

Read the rest of this entry »

Very sad news this week that Marko van der Horst of The Uke Box and the Jumping Flea Circus has died at the age of 45. My thoughts are with Shelley and Marko’s family.

Kickstarting

– Jim Boggia is Patreoning his ukulele videos.

Learning

– Will “off of the UOGB” Grove-White’s ukulele book is now available for pre-order.
– Ukulele Bartt’s book is out in paperback
– Helen Arney Songbook :: free songs & PDF

New Releases

– Another magnificent record from the Keston Cobblers A Pocket Guide to Escaping.
– thank goodness’s Echo Park 7″

Videos

– Luthier roundtable with Gordon “Mya-Moe” Mayer, Rick Turner & Eric Devine.
– “Unknown Chinese Variety Performer with a Ukelele (1925)”.

Pictures

– Custom Kanilea.
– Where all music in vlogs comes from.
– Holographic ukuleles (the effect is somewhat lost in pictures).

There are a bunch of nice ukulele tunes on the Rayman Legends Soundtrack.

I got a request for this one and went with it because the whole thing is done with chords. That means you don’t have to be able to read tab to play this one. I’ve included all the chord charts you need above the tab.

Feel free to vary the strumming in the piece. That happens in the original and in my version.

Links

Buy it on iTunes
More game theme tabs

If you’re looking for someone to inspire your ukulele playing you couldn’t do much better than Kimo Hussey. He’s about the smoothest and classiest ukulelist around.

Lucky for us he’s also a great teacher and he’s put up a series of masterclasses on his YouTube channel. I find them incredibly inspiring and highly recommend you give them a watch. To start you off here’s a selection of my favourites.

Patience in Ukulele

TL;DW:

– “We’ve become very accustomed to hearing and playing music on the ‘ukulele that goes relatively fast. But the degree to which we play the ukulele slow opens up some wonderful horizons in what we can hear the ‘ukulele do.”
– “One of the things about the right hand that we can utilise in terms of musical interpretation – the way we express songs – is how we use tempo and dynamic.”

Right Hand Technique

TL;DW:
– “The degree to which you try and improve the quality of your music is the degree to which you create a balance between the left and the right hand.”
– “The right hand controls five things that are extremely important: melody, harmony, rhythm, dynamic, tempo.”

Chord Funtions

TL;DW:
– Try out these chord shapes.

Strum Patterns, Melody and Harmony

TL;DW:
– Play a descending C scale:

– Then for each note play a triplet strum on all the strings:

Tobias Elof Take 2

TL;DW:

– “One of the wonderful things about ‘ukulele is that it can play anything. This little instrument is so smart it can play any song that’s ever been written.”
– Tobias: “With the ‘ukulele you can have so many layers. You can have the rhythm, the chord and the melody at the same time.”

Left Hand Technique

TL;DW:
– “I think it’s most important for you to learn 36 chords: 12 major chords, 12 minor chords and 12 7th chords.”
– You don’t have to memorise them all but you have to know how to derive them if you need them.

Links

Kimo Hussey on YouTube
KimoHussey.com

Joe Brown – I’ll See You in My Dreams (Chords)

I’ve been decidedly tardy putting up this 1920s song by Isham Jones and Gus Kahn. It was meant to go up about 7 years ago. But it’s here at last.

The song has been recorded by a huge number of people including Ukulele Ike. But it became an instant ukulele classic when Joe Brown played it at the Concert for George Harrison. And it’s his version I’ve written up.

I’ve tried to capture all the nuances of the arrangement. Which has resulted in 26 chords. Equaling So Long and Thanks for All the Fish as song with most chords. So I’ve also written up a simplified version.

Simplified Version

26 chords is a lot to get your head around in one go. So I’d recommend having a play through this version first so you know what’s going on. Then you can introduce elements from the full version as you see fit.

For this version I’ve also simplified the F – F6 – Fmaj7 move to F – Dm – Am to make it easier to play.

Twiddly Bits

There’s a few little ukulele licks in the song. Here’s the line that leads into the solo:

The solo itself uses notes mainly picked from the chords. With this to end it off:

And the lick right at the end:

Links

Buy the Joe Brown version
Buy the Cliff “Ukulele Ike” Edwards version

Full Playlist

Read the rest of this entry »

New Releases

– Tricity Vogue All Girl Swing Band Live at Earl Haig Hall
– John Nash’s Moment

Pictures

– Asilomar 1918
– Bass ukuleles how they should be done.

Video

– Preview of the new Pixar short featuring Uku. A singing volcano voiced by Kuana Torres.
– You might have seen the movie Frank loosely based on Frank Sidebottom and other outsider musicians. Frank with an American accent is no big deal but Frank playing a guitar is egregiously wrong. But you can watch Frank play his ukulele and chat with Tony Slattery and Stanley Unwin. (Via Things I Saw that I Love.)
– Ukulele tap dancing.

Olympic gold medal diver and ukulelist, Matthew Mitcham is starring in an autobiographical ukulele musical.

Sanshin/ukulele/sanlele.

To counteract yesterday’s gloomfest I decided to do a version of the most cheerful song of the summer. Plus I was feeling like a room without a roof so this is the smiliest I have looked in any video ever.

Technique Notes

For the most part I’m playing the verses and the middle picking and the chorus with strums.

In the chorus I’m using a triplet technique (although I’m not actually playing triplets) by strumming down with my index finger, then flicking my index finger up, then my middle finger up. But that’s very much optional. You can strum it however seems appropriate to you.

In the middle section I’m recreating the soul-claps by playing muted notes on the g-string.

Variations

In the tab I’ve just indicated to repeat the verse twice. Which you can certainly get away with. For my version I’ve done a few variations in the timing. The only big difference is the “No offence to you…” bit. There I play this:

Making it Easier

This one is a bit tricky. So a couple of pointers for making it easier.

You can drop the harmony in the riff and just play it like this:

The muted notes in the middle section are very tricky. So you can just drop those in that section and play it with just the sparse melody.

Links

Buy the original on iTunes
Ukulele chords for Happy