I’m a big fan of Lil’ Rev‘s playing and have featured him a few times on the site. So I was really looking forward to checking out his latest book 101 Ukulele Licks. And Rev was kind enough to send me a copy for review.

What You Get

48 page book containing tab and standard notation for 102 licks (according to my count) of either one or two bars in length. They’re divided by genre (and within the blues section also by key). Here’s my count:

Blues: 68 licks
Country: 16 licks
Bluegrass: 16 licks
Rock ‘n Roll: 2 licks

36 track CD containing examples of the licks (usually four per track) and backing tracks to play over.

There’s a short guide to reading notation but you’ll need to know how to read tab before you tackle the book. There’s not much text and what there is focuses on uke history and players. So you’ll need to be familiar with how to play bends, slides, hammer-ons and pull-offs.

The Good Stuff

Variety of licks: There are a whole lot of ideas in here and there are loads of really tasty licks. I’ve found plenty that have caught my attention and I’ll be integrating into my playing. The licks are spread across most keys (and most are movable). A few ideas are repeated in different keys, but the variety of the licks is very strong.

The only thing I’d say if I was being really picky is that almost all the licks start exactly at the start of the bar.

Good range of difficulty: If you are used to single note playing, you’ll find plenty here you can play. Most of the licks are very straight forward and there are a few more challenging ones.

Short on fluff: The book is very lean. The focus on the book is very strongly on the licks. There’s very little padding.

Good price: It’s cheapest on Amazon where you can get it for 10 cents per lick (don’t get me started about rip-off Britain).

The Not So Good Stuff

Not much explanation: It’s obviously not meant as an instruction book, but a bit more guidance in areas like fingering would have been nice.

Being an arrangement nerd, I’m really interested to know the thinking behind some of them. Like this very tasty lick. The book shows it the top way, I would have played it the bottom way.

It’s a bit guitary: Most of the licks sound like guitar licks transported to ukulele (and guitarists are mostly cited as influences). It’s fair enough being a lick library, but it would have been nice to see more use of the re-entrant string and some chord based licks.

The ukulele history bits are superfluous: The book is aimed at more advanced players so I don’t think there’s any reason to rehash ukulele history again. I’d have much preferred that space to be used to discus the techniques used.

Overall

101 Ukulele Licks isn’t aimed at everyone and it’s all the better for that. If you’re looking to make your soloing more interesting and you find yourself repeating the same stuff, definitely get this book. There are loads of ideas in there that will inspire you. I tend not to memorize and slavishly follow licks, but I always store away ideas that I can drag out and this has given me plenty.

Buy it on Amazon US and Amazon UK.

Randy Newman seems to be popular with a lot of Uke Hunt readers. He topped the what should Molly play? poll and came third in the Video of the Year vote with this one. He is a completely individual and unmistakeable songwriter. Which makes him very
easy to parody.

He also uses plenty of jazzy chords. Which sound nice but can be tricky to figure out. Andy did a version of this which differs a little from mine. So compare, contrast and decide which chords you want to use.

Baritone Version

I included the standard tuning chord shapes in the chart. But if you want to make like Bret and do a baritone version use these shapes:

Suggested Strumming

In the intro and chorus, this for each chord:

d – d u

In the first half of the verses verses you can do this once for every chord:

d – d – d u d u

In the second half you can continue with that or do what the WIUO do and strum once for each chord.

You could also use that pattern in the bridge section. Or just strum once for each chord.

It was a close run contest, but in the end Manitoba Hal won Ukulele Video of the Year 2010 with his funky blues of Poulet Shack from his latest album Huckster ( you can buy it on BandCamp, you can also get a ukulele songbook for it on his website).

Rather than a huge gong and a substantial cash prize, this award only carries with it the chance to be pestered with some of my question.

(And before you ask, yes, I will be putting up tab).

How did you first get into playing the uke? And why did it become your main instrument?

My grandfather had a 1955 Martin Soprano Ukulele in his house. He was a piano player and I’d never seen him play the uke. I asked him about it when we were moving him from his house into a seniors care home. He gave it to me on the sole condition that I learn to play it. I loved my grandfather very much and I would do anything for him. So I agreed and it changed my life. When I started to learn there were no resources anywhere nearby to use. There wasn’t any YouTube or online lesson sites. The were no radio stations playing ukulele music (there still aren’t here in Canada). I literally had to buy old sheet music and learn to read music to hear the way this instrument should sound.

Right away I noticed that sonically it occupied this space that was in pitch above my voice. This gave my vocals a lot more room in the song without colliding with the notes of the accompaniment as they did when I played guitar also I noticed that people seemed amazed at the sounds I was producing with the ukulele. The last thing that clinched my decision to switch to uke full time was that for all the years and concerts I’ve given as a guitarist, people usually didn’t tell me stories of their life when I played guitar. There is hardly a show where I play the uke where I don’t hear about the first time people heard a uke or how their uncle Alex used to play. People seemed compelled to communicate about their life when the uke is played. I like that.

You went with a very stripped down sound for Huckster. What was behind that decision?

I wanted to show the uke off as a qualified blues instrument. I think there is a great deal of popular ukulele that is just strumming and even many “blues” players that simply play the basic chords with the occasional riff thrown in for good measure. I wanted to do more than that. I wanted to show that with nothing more than a ukulele, my voice and a foot to stomp that I could deliver a solid honest blues performance such as one would expect from a slide delta blues player. Not sure if I got there but I think I did alright.

Do you approach playing blues ukulele differently to playing blues guitar?

Yes. I think you have to. Even though the guitar and the uke are related it’s a very different thing to have those two other strings and all the bass available. I generally think in terms of bass riffs on guitar and they don’t exist on the uke. My guitar background comes again from that “solo blues guy” delta background where I would sit on a stage and play a groove that would get people moving, sing a lyric that would move their spirit and add some slide soloing to impress the ladies (as they say). The uke makes me think more in terms of pure rhythm when I play solo or of melodic chord based soloing. There is more space for the vocal to be evocative and that space demands an extra bit of confidence and ego to fill the stage.

What are your top blues-ukulele playing tips?

Know your chord vocabulary and your scales! That’s it. Well getting a mojo hand or a John-the-Conquerer root doesn’t hurt none either.

What’s your uke and effects set-up on the Poulet Shack video?

For Poulet Shack I ran the uke through a Boss Blues Driver for the “edge”, an Electro-Harmonics POG octave generator for the bass sound and a Boss RC-20XL Loopstation, to create the background, then the signal was amplified through my little acoustic amp. The vocal mic also went through the same amp. The sound on the video is the audio my video camera recorded from that live set up. The track developed like this. First I set the POG for a sound 1 octave below the root of the uke, then I turned on the loopstation and captured a simple quarter note bass pattern. After that the rest of the song is just me playing on top of the loopstation groove.

What else is in your uke collection?

I own two RISA tenor ukulele’s which are basically identical except for the tops and strung GCEA with the low G. Other than that I’m running lean right now. I have a signature model aNueNue uke coming out this spring, and a double neck custom uke this summer. That’s my compliment right now. I am looking into a good cigar box uke though….

Who are your favourite uke and non-uke musicians?

I gravitate to good songwriters over pure virtuoso picking. As for uke players, Melvern Taylor, Tim Sweeney, James Hill, Craig Robertson and Gerald Ross pretty much top the list. I’m always open to more and new voices though and I love discovering someone who just floors me with a lyric.

I listen to alot of blues performers (both old and many newer unknown acts) and as I said gravitate to the solo singer-songwriter types. Taj Mahal, Robert Johnson, Bukka White, Willie Dixon, Mississippi John Hurt, Seasick Steve and Otis Taylor for the more famous names. Colin Linden, Kelly Joe Phelps, Harry Manx, Ray Bonneville, Paul Thorn, Rick Fines for the lesser known roots guys.

What can we expect to hear from you this year?

Well I’ve been working on this one-man-band concept alot this year and I think it really showcases well in my latest live video Learned Pigs & Fireproof Women. This song was recorded much like Poulet Shack with the video camera recording the audio live as it happened in my little studio room. The sound is more of a traditional electric blues band with some funky beats and a solos over the groove. I think the next recording will definitely be moving more in this direction. Right now though all I’m thinking about is getting out on the road this year and playing Huckster live to folks all over the US and Canada. I’d love to get over to the UK and Stockholm too though. Know anyone who can arrange a gig?

Buy Huckster. Visit ManitobaHal.com

Official ukulele video of the year winner is Manitoba Hal. More on that next week. But this week there’s a new one from him and looks like a strong contender for this year’s contest.

Also this week a glorious song from Seryn (those indicoustic bands do like to hang out in gloomy rooms), rawuke covering Metallica, Raiatea Helm (who deserves the two Hawaiian Grammys that Tia Carrere has inexplicably won) and plenty more.

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Three chances to buy ukuleles handled by the greats this week:

– Lewis Fine Resophonic Ukulele is up for auction at Bonhams (via Ukulelia – I agree with them, the estimate seems very low).

– John King’s 5 string Giussani> (although it wasn’t used for the Jumpin’ Jim “classicle ukulele” book as claimed – that was all Fluke).

– And the Jake Shimabukuro signature uke from last week has had a price drop.

John King’s isn’t the only five-string uke. here’s another one.

The Bluebird Valentines ukulele turns up a little late.

Kepasa soprano ukulele.

Kala skateboard.

Molly ‘Sweetafton23’ Lewis is raising money for a top secret mission. You can commission a signed CD, a doodle, or a cover song. Which is exactly what I’ve done. And you can help me decide by voting at the bottom of this post or here (it’s just four songs I want to hear covered on uke and haven’t). Poll closes when I remember to close it on Monday.

Interview with Will and Dave from the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain.

I love Yahoo Answers. It goes gives me huge laughs and also inspires me to try to play uke one handed.

MP3s: Grab I Am Autumn’s album free for a limited time, Tune-Yards is giving away a new song for the price of an email address although I signed up and haven’t seen it yet, and so is Misty Miller.

In the comments: Daniel Ho’s ukulele album didn’t win. But he did produce and play all the instruments on Tia Carrere’s album so the controversy will keep going. There was a passionate and interesting debate over the Hawaiian Grammy.

A Level Ukulele Project.

When I asked about instrumental versions of songs, the message was they’re fine but could I do some easier ones. Your wish is my command (unless it’s a stupid wish) so here’s a very straightforward arrangement of Pua Lililehua. There’s no fancy picking – it’s all done with the thumb – and you don’t move higher than the 4th fret.

If you’re looking for a more interesting arrangement, check out John King’s version.

UPDATE: Find the ukulele festivals in 2013 here.

No shortage of ukulele festivals lined up this year. Here’s a preliminary list. If there’s any I’ve missed leave a comment or send me a message.

United States of America and Canada

Ukulele Melee

Location: Decordova Museum and Sculpture Park
51 Sandy Pond Road Lincoln, MA
Date: July 28, 2011, 5:00 PM
Performers: TBA
Website: http://www.bostonuke.com/events/23593621/
Local Amenities: Map

Mighty MO Ukulele Festival

Location: New Haven, MO
Date: May 13 – 14, 2011
Performers: The Flea Bitten Dawgs, Victoria Vox & Katie Chambers
Website: http://www.mightymoukefest.com/
Local Amenities: Map

2011 Tampa Bay Ukulele Getaway

Location: Tampa Bay
Date: November 4 to 6, 2011
Performers: Tripping Lily, Holland Greco, Jen Kwok, Taimane Gardner.
Website: http://www.tampabayukulele.com/
Local Amenities: Map

New York Uke Fest 2011

Location: The Ailey Citigroup Theater and Studios, The Joan Weill Center for Dance, 405 W 55th St at 9th Ave., New York, NY 10019
Date: May 5-7, 2011
Performers: TBA
Website: http://www.nyukefest.com/home.cfm
Local Amenities: Map

Gorge Uke Fest ’11

Location: Hood River, OR
Date: March 4 – 5, 2011
Performers: TBA
Website: http://www.gorgeukuleles.org/
Local Amenities: Map

Lone Star Uke Fest 2011

Location: Dallas, Texas
Date: April 7 – 9, 2011
Performers: Kimo Hussey, Mike Lynch (Ukulele Mike), Gerald Ross, Michelle Kiba, Ukulele Bartt, Pops Bayless, The Wahooligans, Mark “Spanky” Guiterrez, Dennis McBride
Website: http://www.lonestarukefest.com/
Local Amenities: Map

Reno – Tahoe Uke Fest

Location: John Ascuaga’s Nugget, Spark, Nevada
Date: March 18 – 20, 2011
Performers: Daniel Ho, Kris Fuchigami, Victoria Vox, Boulder Acoustic Society, Matt Dahlberg, Ralph Shaw
Website: http://www.playuke.net/
Local Amenities: Map

Ukulele Festival of Northern California

Location: Chabot Junior College Performing Arts Center
Date: April 3, 2011
Performers: TBA
Website: http://www.ukulelefestivalnorcal.org
Local Amenities: Map

Ukulele Hoopla

Location: River City Omaha, NE, USA
Date: September 24, 2011
Performers: Kimo Hussey, Pops Bayless, Brook Adams, Rebecca Lowry, Mark ‘Spanky’ Gutierrez, Heather Hooton
Website: http://www.ukehoopla.webs.com/
Local Amenities: Map

Ukulele World Congress

Location: Needmore, Indiana
Date: June 3 – 4, 2011
Performers: TBA
Website: http://ukuleleworldcongress.wordpress.com/
Local Amenities: Map

Vancouver Ukulele Festival

Location: Vancouver Live Sound
Date: March 25th – 27th 2011
Performers: Jim D’Ville, Ralph Shaw, Guido Heistek, Black Gardenia (Daphne Roubini & Andrew Smith), The Ukesters and Ruby’s Ukers
Website: http://rubysukes.vpweb.ca/
Local Amenities: Map

West Coast ‘Ukulele Retreat

Location: Asilomar, Monterey Peninsula, CA
Date: May 18 – 22, 2011
Performers: Brook Adams, Andy Andrews, Mike DaSilva, Jim D’Ville, Dave Egan, James Hill, Gerald Ross, Del Rey
Website: http://winecountryukefest.com/
Local Amenities: Map

Wine Country ‘Ukulele Festival

Location: Wine Country, CA
Date: Sept. 9, 10, & 11, 2011
Performers: Aaron Keim, Brook Adams, Faith Ako, Gerald Ross, Jim D’Ville, Ken Middleton, Mandalyn May, Li’l Rev, Steven Espaniola, and many more!
Website: http://winecountryukefest.com/
Local Amenities: Map

Hawaii

41st Annual Ukulele Festival

Location: Kapiolani Park Bandstand in Waikiki, Oahu
Date: July 17, 2011
Performers: TBA
Website: http://www.ukulelefestivalhawaii.org/en/oahu/index.htm
Local Amenities: Map

11th Annual Waikoloa Ukulele Festival

Location: Queen’s Marketplace in Waikoloa
Date: March 5, 2011
Performers: TBA
Website: http://www.ukulelefestivalhawaii.org/en/waikoloa.htm
Local Amenities: Map

6th Annual Maui Ukulele Festival

Location: Maui Arts & Cultural Center – Kahului, Maui
Date: October 16, 2011
Performers: Herb Ohta Sr. (Ohta-San), Jake Shimabukuro, Holunape, Raiatea Helm, Manoa DNA, Paula Fuga, Richard Ho’opi’i, Brittni Paiva, Kelly Boy Delima, Derek Sebastian
Website: http://www.ukulelefestivalhawaii.org/en/maui.htm
Local Amenities: Map

United Kingdom and Ireland

Ukulele Festival of Great Britain 2011

Location: Town Hall, Cheltenham
Date: June 17 – 19, 2011
Performers: James Hill, Ukulele Bartt, The Re-entrants, Hot Potato Syncopators, Nico’o, Steven Sproat, The Anything Goes Orchestra, Krabbers, Ukulollo, Gabrielle Sproat, Paul Moore
Website: http://www.ukulelefestival.co.uk/Home.aspx
Local Amenities: Map

Hollesley 2011

Location: Alderton Road Hollesley, Woodbridge, UK
Date: July 22-25, 2011
Performers:
Website:
Local Amenities: Map

Extalgic Festival

Location: Hainault Forest Country Park, London, UK
Date: July 8-10, 2011
Performers:
Website: http://extalgic.com/about.php
Local Amenities: Map

Ukulele Hooley by the Sea ’11

Location: People’s Park, Dún Laoghaire, Ireland
Date: 20/21 August 2011
Performers:
Website: UkuleleHooley.com

Europe

Festival Belgium Mei

Location: Sint-Niklaas, Belgium
Date: Saturday, May 28 at 8:00pm – May 29 at 8:00pm
Performers: Winin’ Boys, The Original Redcats and THE HULA BLUEBIRDS feat. multi-instrumentalist Martin Wheatley
Website:
Local Amenities: Map

Festival International de Ukulele de Lerrain

Location: Lerrain
Date: June 17 – 19, 2011
Performers: TBA
Website: http://fiul.weebly.com/le-programme.html
Local Amenities: Map

Youkulele – Roma Ukulele Festival 2011

Location: Centro di Cultura Ecologica inside V Municipio
Date: September 23-24, 2011
Performers: Aldrine Guerrero, Adriano Bono & La Minima Orchestra, Jontom, Ukulelezaza, Enrico Farnedi, Shelley O’Brien, Danilo Vignola, U.K.E, Quote Latte Boys, Paul Moore, Matta Ukulele Ochestra
Website: http://festival.youkulele.com
Local Amenities: Map

Ukulele Boudoir! Le festival

Location: Les Trois Baudets : 64 boulevard de Clichy 75018 Paris-France
Date: 15 – 16 April 2011
Performers: James Hill, Les Chauds Lapins, April Shower and more.
Website: festival.ukuleleboudoir.com and ukuleleboudoir.com
Local Amenities: Map

3rd Belgian Ukulele Festival

Location: Stadspark, Sint-Niklaas, Belgium
Date: Saturday, May 28 at 8:00pm – May 29 at 8:00pm
Performers: Winin’ Boys, Herman Vandecauter, Hula Bluebirds
Website: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=189895931037374
Local Amenities: Map

The Ukulele Hotspot Winterswijk

Location: Emma School, Vredenseweg 170, 7113 AE Winterswijk (near Bocholt / Germany)
Date: June 3 – 5, 2011
Performers: TBA
Website: http://www.kleinleed.nl/hotspot/hotspotwinterswijk2011.html
Local Amenities: Map

Ukefesta

Location: l’Ateneu Popular de Nou Barris, Barcelona, Spain.
Date: April 1, 2011
Performers: TBA
Website: http://ukefesta.com/en/
Local Amenities: Map

Australia and New Zealand

Cairns Ukulele Festival 2011

Location: Cairns
Date: July 1-3, 2011
Performers: Daniel Ho, Sweet Hollywaiians, IWAO, Shigeto Takahashi
Website: http://cairnsukulelefestival.net/
Local Amenities: Map

Katikati Ukulele Festival 2011

Location: Katikati, New Zealand
Date: April 2, 2011
Performers: Big Muffin Serious Band from Te Pahu
Website: http://www.culturevulture.co.nz/blog/ukulele/festivals-events/katikati-ukulele-festival-2011/
Local Amenities: Map

The Melbourne Ukulele Festival 2011

Location: The Thornbury Theatre and the Northcote Uniting Church
Date: February 25th – March 1st, 2011
Performers: Bosko and Honey, Ukulelezaza, Jontom, Uni and Her Ukelele, Shelley O’Brien, Paul Moore, Dino Divo.
Website: http://www.muk.com.au
Local Amenities: Map

Asia

Location: Thailand Ukulele Festival 2011
Date: March 12-13, 2011
Performers: Abe Lagrimas, Aldrine Guerrero, IWAO, Julia Nunes, Shigeto Takahashi.
Website: http://www.thailandukulelefestival.com/

If you’re quick, you’ve still got time to cast your vote for the 2011 ukulele video of the year. It’s really close between Manitoba Hal and Bella Hemming (just a handful of votes between them at the time of writing). Voted? Right, down to business.

I’ve done plenty of Christmas and Halloween posts but never a Valentines post. And not because I’m one of those people who hates Valentines. But because most love songs – mutual-love songs – are tripe. Not a word you could ever use to describe the Beach Boys’ Wouldn’t It Be Nice.

I wrote up the chords based on the Beach Boys version but She and Him’s version is in the same key and is very similar.

Suggested Strumming

You can use this as the main strumming pattern:

d – d u d u d u

In the verses use it twice for F and once for the Bb. Then split it in half and do d – d u on the Gm7 and d u d u on the C7 (in the She and Him version they do the full pattern for Gm7 and C7

In the bridge and the middle use it once for every chord.

Twiddly Bits

The main reason I wanted to do this song is so I could write up the intro.

Intro

Science Bit

Bollocks to L’Oreal, you can skip the science bit if you’re so inclined.

One small difference between my version and the She and Him version is in the middle section. I’ve gone with the F#m shape for Dmaj7 (2120). Zooey uses 2224. I went with that because I prefer the sound of it with a band playing along. Neither of the versions are particularly good with just uke though. I think I’d go for 7654 for Dmaj7 and 7675 for Gmaj7.

Two nominees for last year’s video of the year in this week’s selection (be sure to cast your vote if you haven’t yet). But the act that caught my attention (thanks to Humble Uker) was the Talilele Ukulele Orchestra from Kobe. They’re stretching the instruments used and creating a massive sound.

Also this week Uke’s Not Dead singing about Jeremy Kyle (think Jerry Springer without a sense of humour), Des O’Connor and Tricity Vogue singing a song that sounds like a Jeremy Kyle show (don’t listen to that song- I’m warning you), me breaking the Beatles embargo and more besides.

If you’re still jonesing for more: here’s William H Macy busting out the uke for pro-choice and an interesting video from Richard Durrant.

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