Sophie Madeleine’s much anticipated second album The Rhythm You Started is out now and packed with fantastic songs. You can listen and buy on Bandcamp (if you’re cherry-picking the essential tracks are 1, 2, 3 and 5). Which leads nicely into this years most requested song.

Suggested Strumming

You could use old faithful:

d – d u – u d –

And throw in a bit of:

d – d – – u d u

Do either of those once for each chord except:

– Am – D at the end of the choruses (twice for each).
– Just one down strum in the ‘Five gold’ and ‘Fa la la’ bits.
– The intro and outro. She moves down the whole G chord shape one fret (0121) and slides it up into G.

Buy The Christmas Song Song on Bandcamp.

Requested by Jessie, Mindy and Kate.

David’s Lyre is putting up one video a day for advent and they’re all available for free on Bandcamp. Two of those featured today – one cover and one original – in what’s quite a melancholy and jazzy selection.

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I’ve been cooing over the 4-figure vintage ukes this week:

* 1920s Martin 5K
* Style 3 Taropatch
* 1920s Martin 3K
* Gibson Uke 3

Lest you think using ukuleles in ads is a recent development: Ansco and Miller.

Ukulele kitsch: The battle for tackiest ukulele Christmas ornament is as heated as ever with wooing Santa taking the prize. The seller of this uke-heavy shirt was obviously unsure of it attracting attention on its own merits.

Photos of ukes from the 2010 Ukulele Guild of Hawaii Exhibition with this one being the nuttiest.

I think I recognise this banner (Thanks to Tim).

Jim Beloff finds his bliss.

I don’t want anyone to get the impression I might respect women for their intelligence, energy and individuality, but I’m slightly flabbergasted that beauty contests are still going on. This is wrong in so many ways (comments are disabled but you can still express yourself via the medium of thumbs).

Molly Lewis interviewed on MusicLA (looks like her MySpace wish has already come true).

An interesting way to think about chord progressions from guitarkadia.

MP3s: Daytrotter session from Neutral Uke Hotel, Sophie Madeleine on Beatles Complete on Ukulele.

In Soviet Russia my fleas have dog.

Photos: Kochel guitars, Ukulele Ike, Groomsmen.

One of the many, many, many things I love about Christmas is that you can unselfconsciously use as many jazzy chords as you like. So I take every chance I get in this arrangement to use the devil’s interval and bust out my favourite turnaround chord of all time: the +5. There’s the G+5 (0332 and 0576) for most of the turnarounds and a C7+5 (3443) to introduce the key change in the “…” section.

This arrangement uses mostly strums. Generally, wherever all strings are notated you’re strumming and otherwise you’re picking.

A quick round up of the past two years’ worth of Christmas tabs and chords:

12 Days of Christmas (Chords)
All I Want for Christmas Is You – Mariah Carey (Chords and Tab)
Christmas for Cowboys – John Denver/Ballard C Boyd (Chords)
Cold Outside – Julia Nunes & Wade Johnson (Chords)
Fairytale of New York – The Pogues (Chords)
Give the Jew Girl Toys – Sarah Silverman (Chords)
German Christmas Carols (Tab)
It’s Cliched to be Cynical At Christmas – Half Man Half Biscuit (Chords)
Jingle Bells (Tabs)
Let It Snow (Chords)
Mele Kalikimaka (Tabs)
Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want To Fight) – The Ramones (Chords)
Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence (Tab)
Merry Xmas Everybody – Slade (Chords)
No Christmas – Zee Avi (Chords)
O Christmas Tree (Single Note Version) (Tab)
Present Face – Garfunkel and Oates (Chords)
Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree (Chords)
Rudolph the Red Nosed Raindeer (Tabs)
Santa Baby (Chords)
Silent Night (Harmonics Version)(Tab)
Silent Night (Single Note Version) (Tab)
Sleigh Ride – U900 / The Ventures (Tab)
White Christmas (Chords)
White Christmas (Tab)
Winter Wonderland (Chords)
Year End Letter – Garfunkel and Oates (Chords)
You’re a Mean One Mr Grinch

And don’t forget my Christmas ukulele tab ebook:

How to Play Christmas Ukulele

Time to break out the Christmas songs. In case you’ve joined us in the last year, the Christmas tabbing policy is tabs for well known songs and chords for completely obscure songs. Thus neatly dividing themselves between songs you can’t play and songs you don’t want to play. Weezer’s Christmas Song qualifies by virtue of it being, I’ve read, a Japanese B-side.

Suggested Strumming

It’s in 3/ 4 so you can go with:

d – d u d –

Once for each chord in what I’m calling the verse (except the final F – do it twice). Then four times each in the bridge section

You can vary it up with all down strums for the intro and the, “Since I found…” section.

Twiddly Bits

Some D minor pentatonic for the intro:

And F major scale for the solo (reprised over the last verse):

I’m not sure how you can buy this song but you can buy Weezer’s Christmas record on Amazon.

Videos in today’s round-up include Patrick Wolf covering Joni Mitchell, Max De Bernardi laying out with the Red Wine Serenaders, Goodriddler taking his time before breaking out the uke, a banjo-uke cover of Danzig and another prodigy to make us ashamed of our meagre abilities.

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I used to be pretty easy to buy for. A CD or anything ukulele related would serve. Spotify has completely killed off the first and I have more ukulele stuff than anyone of limited abilities can make use of. So here’s a list for those of you dying to send me over-priced junk for Christmas (or my birthday – 9th Decemeber, make a note – for that matter). Feel free to add yours to the comments – Santa reads the blog.

1) RISA LP: This year’s wishlist contains just one uke. And a decidedly non-standard uke at that. I have no intention of laying down the uke, but I am starting to feel a bit restricted and I’m eager to try out some new sounds – perhaps why so much of the stuff I want is a bit gimmicky.

2) Effects Pedals: I do like my nasty, lo-fi sounds. I’ve ordered myself a WMD Geiger Counter and I like sound of many of Subdecay’s pedals – not least the Prometheus. All of which I intend to use to play songs like this.

3) Zoom Q3HD: Most of the handheld cameras out there are a good picture rather than decent audio. But Zoom come at it from the other direction. They’ve long been churning out very handy portable audio recorders and the new video camera is very impressive. Here’s a useful sound comparison video.

4) An Electric Autoharp: Maybe I’ve just got a thing for folk instruments that get dismissed but are capable of creating wonderful music. Cory McAbee’s use of it has also got me curious.

5. Books: My two favourite reads of this year have been And Did Those Feet and The Big Short. So I’m looking to get my hands on Charlie Connelly’s new one and anything else by Michael Lewis. On a more decorative note, the Wainwright box-set.

6. A Flat with an Office/Music Room

7. Caterpillar Vinson boots in black: I have a pair of these in brown and they are the best thing I have ever put my feet in.

Kate Micucci has a new EP out: EP Phone Home (also available on iTunes).

Soothing a mono-browed wrestler with a ukulele.

Just showing off: playing uke and guitar at the same time and playing ukulele with your teeth.

Herman’s pinkie practice.

Police raid ukulele record attempt by nephew of Mexican president.

Time-wasting ukulele game.

Pictures: Nabuaki Date’s art ukes, snow hula (thanks to Emily).

JS Bach on Uker Tabs.