A bumper crop of Martins this week:
– Martin 5K
– 30’s 2M
– Martin Style 3 (I think this is the one I’d go for)
– 1932 Martin 2K
And this one covered in beads. I’m not sure how it could play, “like a million dollars,” and sound, “fantastic,” with all that stuff on it. But the artist has been on Oprah so it must be good.
Decorated resonator baritone (via Phredd).
Kapono 8-string baritone.
Miniature ukuleles.
100 ukulele players help to open the Rugby World Cup.
Charlie McDonnell has become the first UK vlogger to cross the million subscribers mark and the press coverage has really focussed on his uke playing. Including on ITV’s Daybreak (another video here if you’re outside the UK).
Ukulele for Dummies has picked up its first bad review. Which I was expecting to happen. But it’s annoying that the review seems to be based on solely on the video clip on the page. So if you’ve got a copy, now would be the perfect time to leave a review. Good, bad or indifferent. So long as it’s based on the actual book. I’d really appreciate it. And a huge thanks to everyone who has left review.
Fozzie Bear is confirmed as my favourite Muppet. He’s hot shit on the ukulele and shreds Kermit to pieces (thanks to Carrie).
10 Warren Buffett quotes for guitar players – obviously meant for ukulele players.
Eardumspop is giving away three songs from Laura K.
I’ve been turned into a work of art.
Youngsters are bored by ukulele festivals.
I’m going to have to revise my opinion that Lisa Hannigan and Damien Rice are the Brian Clough and Peter Taylor of Irish music; earth-conquering genius together but a bit disappointing apart. This song and the free track you get when you join her mailing list have got me very excited about her next album.
You need to tune all the strings down three frets so you get e – A – C# – F#. Which sounds like this:
The picking pattern stays the same the whole way though. But she takes advantage of the re-entrant tuning to make it sound more varied than it actually is.
The picking pattern goes like this:
Thumb picks g-string
Index picks E-string
Thumb picks C-string
Middle picks A string
Here’s how the pattern sounds slowed down:
Because the pattern doesn’t vary and is fast you need some hand strength to get all the way through.
Pre-Order via LisaHannigan.ie
UPDATE
Joe Dan emailed me with some interesting info about the tuning Lisa uses:
That tuning, e-A-C#-F#, is the tuning recommended in Wendell Hall’s Ukulele Method (edited by May Singhi Breen and copyright 1950, published by Forster Music, Chicago, Ill) for his “Taraguitar” (played like a uke but tuned three tones lower), an instrument I have never seen pictured or identified anywhere. Some believe the Taraguitar might have been modeled on the taropatch ukulele, but perhaps with a somewhat larger body and longer scale length. Hall, of course, was one of ukulele stars of the 1920s ukulele boom (“It Ain’s Gonna Rain No Mo” was his biggest hit of that era.)
Breen, of course, is in the Ukulele Hall of Fame. Hall also developed a variation of the tenor ukulele that he called the “Teeviola,”which was made by Regal and carried Hall’s signature on the peghead, and I own one of those instruments. Sometime after acquiring my first quality ukulele, a Martin concert model in 1961, I stumbled on that same tuning and used it, entirely by ear without even realizing exactly what I had done, and did not fully understand until many years later when I happened upon a copy of the Wendell Hall Ukulele Method, mentioned above. I liked the lower tuning on my Martin concert ukulele because it seemed better suited to my voice and I still use it today on my concert, my tenor and some of my baritone ukuleles.
It was not until the advent of electronic tuners that I knew exactly what tuning I was using, as I had previously only tuned the instrument by ear without comparison to pitch pipe or piano. Perhaps someday you can do the research and publish some background and photos of the elusive Taraguitar mentioned by Hall?
Yes, this is post number 1,500. And it’s just a mish-mash of stuff that reaching that milestone brought to mind.
If you’ve got any thoughts on any of these, leave a comment or send an email. I’d like to know what you think and which direction you’d like to see things go over the next 1,500 posts.
First off, it’s time to refresh things. The eagle-eyed amongst you will have noticed a few changes to the theme. There’s now a podcast bit on the front page and a Dummies bit in the sidebar. And a few other clean ups. If you spot any issues (like the titles in the How to Play and Review sections are screwy) please do let me know. And if you’re seeing a font like this for the post title (on the website) rather than the Saul Bass type font in the header, could you leave a comment.
I’m also rewriting the ebooks and giving them the same look as the blog. That might mean some of them disappear for a little while before they get a re-release.
And there are a lot of old/outdated news and window shopping posts. What do you think I should do with those? Delete them? Leave them? Rewrite them to make them more timeless?
Realising I’d written 1,500 posts, ten ebooks and a 360 page paper book made me wonder if I’d written more about the ukulele than anyone else ever. Anyone know of any other contenders?
After doing all that, I’ve decided to slow down posts here. So I’ll be doing one-week-on, one-week-off for a while and seeing how that goes.
If you’re desperate for more, I’ll probably be upping the amount of stuff I post on Tumblr, Twitter and Google+. I’ve been posting a few previews and extra bits of tab to my circles on Google+. So if you’re on there add me and I’ll put you in the ‘Ukulele Players’ circle. Unless your only following me to get in my pants in which case I’ll add you to the ‘Pants’ circle (but I think circles are limited to 5,000 so that one is going to fill up quickly).
1,500 posts in and I’ve posted loads of stuff I love, a few things I used to like and now I’m not so sure about, some stuff I don’t like (those are the most popular), and plenty of deeply unpopular stuff.
Here’s a round-up of the stuff I like most.
Magnum P.I. Theme
Irish Washerwoman
Ellie Goulding – Starry Eyed
Duelling Banjos
Five Black Keys Riffs
Jonsi – Go Do
Sigur Ros – Hoppipolla
Penguin Cafe Orchestra – Music for a Found Harmonium
Harry Potter – Hedwig’s Theme
Jay-Z – Death of Auto-Tune
Iron & Wine – Naked As We Came
Elliott Brood – The Valley Town
James Bond Theme
Star Wars – Cantina Band
The Office: An American Workplace Theme
Match of the Day Theme
Bon Iver/Kina Grannis – Michicant
Jonathan Coulton & GLaDOS – Want You Gone
Carly Simon – Nobody Does It Better
Mumford & Sons – The Cave
Mr B the Gentleman Rhymer – Chap-Hop History
Sophie Madeleine – Take Your Love With Me (The Ukulele Song)
Melissa Polinar – Beyond the Blue Horizon
Bon Iver – Skinny Love
Erika Eigen – I Want To Marry A Lighthouse Keeper
The Pogues – Streams of Whiskey
The Ramones – Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want To Fight)
Beirut – Elephant Gun
Gothic Archies – Scream and Run Away
Jim Tranquada
Cory McAbee
Bob Brozman
Kate Micucci
Podcast 8 with Helen Arney
Podcast 4 with Uke Punk
10 Things You Hear About Ukuleles That Might Be Bollocks
10 Things I Wish I’d Known About Ukuleles Before I Bought One
10 Things I Learnt From John King
10 Reasons It’s Easier To Learn Guitar Than Ukulele
Ten Reasons You NEED To Buy A New Ukulele
How would one go about making this song the official anthem of the internet?
It seems there are two types of site on the internet: sites about things people do (like Facebook, Twitter and Perez Hilton) and sites about things that people make (like YouTube, Tumblr and Boing, Boing). And I think you can guess which side of this I’m on.
The chords up top are for baritone. It’s not quite as nice to play on standard tuning but here it is:
You can do two down strums for each for Am, E and F; and one each for C and Cmaj7).
Or you can do what Mathias does in the intro and do this for Am, E and F:
d – d u
And a set of triplets each for C and Cmaj7.
A mixture this week of angel voiced young girls (including Bella Hemming and Agathe and Fine) and beardy bluesmen (including Manitoba Hal and Blue Dean).
The Garfunkel and Oates song contains a cavalcade of cursing. You should know that by now. I’m going to stop issuing warnings.
Never trust a tattoo artist that doesn’t know how to play D7.
You can listen to four tracks from James Hill’s new long player Man with a Love Song. The emphasis on this one is shifted away from virtuoso ukuleling and towards songwriting. And it really shows – they’re the best songs he’s ever written.
Amanda Palmer demonstrates her Carnegie medal winner shaped music stand.
Back to school time (in the UK anyway) and Uke’s Cool is kicking off a new term of courses in London next week.
Kartiv2 does a MysteryGuitarMan cut-up music thing and is including quite a few ukuleles at the moment. This one is the most uke-heavy, this one is my favourite and this one has MysteryGuitarMan on uke and a brief appearance from Julia Nunes.
Tally Deushane is one of the top ten college women thanks to sound words like, “Don’t request ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ from a ukulele player.”
Tyrone is kickstarting his album.
I think I’ve mentioned before that I hate musicals yet all my favourite films are musicals. And This Is Spinal Tap is definitely up there. Despite their huge impact on ukulele music (obviously been an influence on Jake’s key selection), I could only find two uke Tap covers. So I’m writing up to up that number and in tribute to the last of the great working, family-owned sex farms.
I’m always tempted to break into Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You Tonight when I play this bit.
This part uses palm muting (resting the palm of your strumming hand on the string just in front of the bridge so it dampens the sound) which is a bit tricky on a ukulele. An alternative is just to play the g and C strings a bit softer.
And the widdle at the end of the verse is my favourite part:
No messing around here, full chords for the chorus part.
An extension of the verse end lick then finish up with an A5 (2450) and a big crotch spray.
I was in the process of updating the Songs with Chords You Know page and became curious about the most used chords on the site. Here are the results (click it for the full size image):
And here’s one showing all chords used four times or more. The first thing that struck me was that it’s a Pareto distribution (near enough) which means if you learn the first few chords you’re going to be able to play most of the songs.
I was curious, so here’s a chart for the chords for ukulele-tabs.com’s most popular songs. The results are similar but there’s a much clearer gap after the top four. So if you want to write a successful ukulele song use the chords C, G, Am, F.
Just learn these six chords:
C, F, G, Am, Dm and Em
And you’ll be able to play these songs:
NeverShoutNever! – Your Biggest Fan/Did It Hurt?
Noah and the Whale – Five Years Time
OK Go – This Too Shall Pass
Paolo Nutini – High Hopes
SoKo – I Will Never Love You More
The Bobby McGee’s – A Dog At All Things
The Lancashire Hotpots – He’s Turned Emo
The Tiger Lillies – Start A Fire
Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra/Kings of Leon – The Bucket
Addams Family Theme Tune
Alton Ellis – Rock Steady
Black Kids – I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend to Dance With You
Darren Hanlon – All These Things
Electrelane – Cut and Run
Garfunkel and Oates – Me, You and Steve
Florence and the Machine – Dog Days Are Over
GUGUG – California Sun
Israel Kamakawiwoíole/Jason Castro – Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Julien Dore – Cet Air-La
Kate Nash – Foundations
Kate Micucci/The Gooch – Mr Moon
Last Shadow Puppets – Standing Next to Me
Phosphorescent – Wolves
She & Him – Sentimental Heart
If you come across a song that’s all Eb and Bb and you haven’t mastered those chords yet, there is a way to make it easier: change the key.
To do that visit this site. Take your complicated chord chart. Copy and paste it into the box. Go to the ‘New Key (required)’ drop-down menu and select C. Click ‘Click Here’.
Whatever it spews out will sound right and will usually be easier to play (if not to sing).
All of which raises this question: what’s your favourite chord?
I’m going with Caug (1003) or add in the 7 as well (1001). Leave yours in the comments.
While you’re waiting for me to get more Beirut stuff together, here’s one from their recent support act Basia Bulat.
The song is in 3/4 time. You can just use three down strums:
d – d – d –
Twice for each chord (apart from the fancy bits and the end of the verses and first chorus).
But you can fancy it up by playing a touch strum (t) as the first strum:
t – d – d –
For the touch strum you only do a half strum (hitting just the g and C strings). Although I like to do the IZ thing and pluck the g-string with my thumb then do two down strums.
In the chart I’ve written up the verse ends as C6 and C7. But she actually hammers-on the g-string notes like this:
She does an extended version of this at the end of the first verse (don’t play it at the end of the second verse).
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