Usually I wait until just before Halloween before I put up the Halloween stuff. Partly because it seems strange doing it much earlier but mainly because of lack of foresight. But this time round I’m giving you plenty of practice time.
Suggested Strumming
You can go with a very simple strum:
d u d u d u d u
Or you can 70s it up a bit with some 6 chords and a glam-rock rhythm.
After the, “Let’s do the time warp again…” there’s a chance to throw in a few widdles. You can use the A minor or A major pentatonic or, in this case, a bit of both.
With three weeks’ videos to choose from, this post really packs the fantastic. This is usually the point where I say which is my favourite, but this time the first six are all contenders.
There’s no shortage of Les Paul type ukuleles but the RISA Les Paul is more authentic looking than most. It has steel strings so it gets the humbuckers and toggle switch. And I want one.
A couple of ukulele manufacturers venturing into the 6-string world. Kanilea with a guitarlele. And a Kamaka guitar from the 20s(I had no idea they’d ever made a guitar).
Super-sweet mango and spruce soprano from Michael J King.
But sometimes mango can make it look like someone has vomited down uke.
I think we can all agree that ‘ukulele comeback’ news like this piece in the Wall Street Journal is hopelessly out of touch. The comeback is old news, but recently I’ve been wondering if we’ve passed the high-tide mark. Certainly some of the people originally attracted to the uke for its uniqueness are moving away from it. Jens Lekman has vowed never to play it again, Stephin Merritt has moved on to bouzouki, the last Beirut album was uke-absent. Now even Ingrid Michaelson is ditching it for her next album because of its association with Hey, Soul Sister.
I’m taking a blog break for the next 3 weeks. Including an actual holiday (in Slovenia) and two weeks working on the top secret Operation Exploding Carrats.
Two videos you only need to watch half of this week. Lou Barlow (off of Sebadoh) does two songs but the most entertaining part of the second is watching the people stood out in a rain storm. In the Polytecnik video the song stops and the visuals keep going. I assume it’s a video screw up but you can never tell with these arty types.
Also this week UOGB’s Richie lays out, She and Him and the only Nirvana ukulele cover I’ve enjoyed.
It’s interesting to see more US companies bringing out banjo-ukes recently – particularly the mix between the smaller style of banjolele which I associate with the US (like this one Aaron Keim is playing) and the larger type played by English ukers like George Formby and Mr B (I have no interest in banjoleles so these terms are completely wrong). Lanikai have gone with the English style for their LBU-C. The Mainland banjolele is a minimal one. And Morgan Monroe have a mixture of both. I’m a bit surprised Lanikai have gone with the English-style. The influence of Mr B? Or am I missing something?
Last week’s highly ornate Blueberry ukulele divided opinion in the comments. According to shumanyo, “Blueberry ukes look very nice but they are way too braced and damn heavy so the uke simply doesn’t vibrates resulting in a uke that is not and not ‘’singing”much. The soundborad is way too stiff.” Which isn’t a surprise. But we all know it’s how pretty the outside that matters, so here’s another one – this time featuring a scantily clad lady.
Hester Goodman from the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain has a solo record coming out You Could At Least Smile. You can on UOGBfans. And here’s the first TV interview and performance from a very fresh faced version of the Ukes back in 1988.
Missing uke in Auckland: Friend of the blog, Zoway was supposed to be getting a Mango Fluke for her eighteenth birthday. Her Dad was bringing one over from the big island, got as far as Auckland airport and lost it. It’s a long shot but if anyone knows its whereabouts shoot me a message.
Live ‘Ukulele has an interesting post about tabs vs. working out by ear. While I think there’s a lot to be gained from using other people’s tabs, you certainly do get to know a song better and come up with something more personal if you work out your own version.
Why was I using my Sceptre in this video? The trickiest part of this song is the clapping: keeping the rhythm is tricky but dealing with the constant danger of your uke dropping to the floor is the big worry. So don’t use your favourite uke. Of course, you could save yourself the bother by doing chnks instead of claps. But where’s the fun in that.
Twiddly Bits
In place of a set of claps, I did a couple of fills. They were improvised using the C major pentatonic. Here’s the first twiddle I did:
I expect a fair few of you have seen Mighty Uke already. They’ve been touring the film around and it’s been shown at a number of festivals. As a matter of fact, they are planning a tour of the UK later this year so if you’d like to host them at your uke group send them a message here.
For those of you not familiar with it. Mighty Uke is a documentary charting the history of the ukulele and the current uke boom. It has interviews with Jake, Shimabukuro, James Hill, John King, Dent May among many others.
The DVD is released this month and Tony Coleman (half of the team behind it with Margaret Meagher) was kind enough to send me a copy for review.
The Good Stuff
An enjoyable watch: It’s a very pleasant way to spend 79 minutes. There’s plenty of good music, lovely archive footage, and lots of ukulele friends (and one enemy). By the end of the film I was dying to pick up my ukulele and get playing. Definitely well worth a watch for anyone interested in the ukulele.
The Shorts: Easily my favourite part of the DVD. There are ten little segments of between one and a half and ten minutes each focusing one group or individual (and one on Martin ukuleles). Outside of the film – where people have to fit into the narrative – you get a much clearer sense of individual personalities and motivations. So Taimane loves being centre of attention, Steven Sproat sits alone under a tree wanting to show the bigger boys that the ukulele could be as cool as Nazareth and Pink Floyd, The Langley Ukulele Ensemble are pulled from their beds and marched single file at great speed whilst spraying notes everywhere.
Quoteables: There are lots of little nuggets in the film (many of which I intend to steal). My favourite comes from Aaron Keim: “No one ever failed the audition for the ukulele band then quit.”
The Not So Good Stuff
The Inter-what?: It’s a little unfair to criticize films like this for what they leave out. It can’t just be a long list of everyone who has ever played the ukulele. It’s an independent film so there’s not enough money for IZ’s music and it’s quite focused on North America. And some people just don’t want to take part (the UOGB declined). The fact that it isn’t comprehensive doesn’t diminish it at all. Except…
How you could possibly cover the current ukulele boom without a single mention of the internet? I realise I’m completely biased in this respect, but to my eyes the internet has played such a huge part in the spread of the ukulele that it’s impossible to ignore. If you think I’m too deep into this to recognise the truth that no one cares about the net, let me know in the comments.
One big happy family: The film’s central theme is that the ukulele brings people together and players love strumming in a big circle and all ukulele players are happy and well adjusted and if everyone played the ukulele there wouldn’t be any war and… OH MY GOD I WANT TO PUNCH SOMEONE IN THE FACE!
I’m a maladjusted, loner, bell-end and that doesn’t stop me playing the ukulele. Sometimes all this group-hugging makes me want to go back to playing the guitar where it’s acceptable, even encouraged, to roll with the badass-outsider/reclusive-genius image.
Overall
Mighty Uke is a very enjoyable film. If it’s rolling through your town, definitely go see it.
As for shelling out $30 for the DVD (or $35 for international orders), I’m a little more circumspect. It didn’t inspire me enough to warrant repeat viewings. But if you have uke-ignorant family and friends that you want to lay some knowledge on, get a copy and show it round. There’s no better way to introduce non-ukers to the ukulele world than watching Mighty Uke. And by the end they’ll want to play themselves.
The Mighty Uke is released on DVD on 28th September. You can pre-order your copy here. The Mighty Uke team are planning a tour of the UK later this year so if you’d like to host them at your uke group shoot them a message here.
