The ukulele is best known as an accompanying instrument but many players have stretched what it is possible to do with a uke and used it as a solo instrument. Here are some of the most important.
Ernest Ka’ai
Who? Hawaiian ukulelist who set the groundwork for all ukulele soloists to come.
What’s so special? Earnest Kaai was the first person to establish the ukulele as a solo instrument. He was massively influential in the Hawaiian music scene in the first decade of the 20th Century. As well as being the greatest ukulele player of his generation, he wrote the first instruction books for the ukulele and established a ukulele manufacturing company.
Who? Canadian virtuoso ukulele player who has released 4 albums since his debut in 2002.
What’s so special? He’s the best ukulele soloist in the world today. As well as being a virtuoso performer, he is continually pushing the boudaries to get new sounds out of the ukulele and has set up a guide to teaching ukuleles in schools with Ukulele in the Classroom.
Learn to play like him James Hill has recently produced the Ukulele in the Classroom set of books intended for teaching ukulele in schools. You can find tab for his tunes on Dominator. Read the rest of this entry »
Ukulelezo has been a favourite on here since I first featured one of her videos two years ago. What I didn’t know then was that she’d turn out to be such a witty and unique songwriter.
I dragged her away from her constant toil recording her debut album to talk about songwriting, puns and winning the Bushman contest.
How did you come to play the uke and why have you stuck with it?
I, like many people, picked it up on a lark at my local music store. My first uke was a J. Chalmers Doane designed Northern. It looked cool and it sounded fun. I’ve stuck with it, first and foremost, because I love it. It has been the most fantastic creative vehicle for me. But a big part has also been the support and friendship I’ve found in the amazing ukulele community. If you had told me two years ago, that I would play the ukulele and have all these great friends all over the world, I wouldn’t have believed it. Yet here I am, reduced to a cliché but, having the time of my life.
You’re a very distinctive songwriter. Who are your songwriting influences?
I grew up going to summer music festivals so I have a great fondness for the whole singer songwriter experience. Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell were the first artists I heard as a child and I have always loved old bawdy blues songs and folk tunes from all over the world. I would say songwriters such as Ani Difranco, Jonatha Brooke, Dar Williams, Jonathan Coulton and author Tom Robbins have been my greatest influences in the last 15 years. But I cannot discount the effect of all the wonderful musicians in and around the city I live. I’ve been blessed to know some pretty amazing songwriters within a 100 mile radius of my home. Lately I’ve found a lot of inspiration in the conversations I’ve had with people. I am truly influenced by everything I’ve ever heard, read or seen.
Your songs seem to have moved away from the tongue-in-cheek to more heart-felt. How do you see your songwriting developing in the future?
I think I needed to give myself permission to write the more personal and heart-felt songs. It took me a little while to get past the happy, quirky feel of the ukulele and realize that I could write songs with a more serious bent. I’m not really sure where my songwriting is headed. That’s the beauty of it. I’m open to any and all directions. I’m just going to keep writing.
When will you be releasing your album from you and what can we expect from it?
Arg. The album is hopefully coming out in the next few months. I’m in the process of trying to finish a bunch of songs so it doesn’t feel like a fractured offering. It will most likely include a lot of old favorites with a smattering of new tunes sprinkled in for good measure. How’s that for a non-committal answer? Basically, I’m working on it.
You’re the only person I know that comes up with more obscene puns than I do. What’s your favourite?
Who? Adorable Japanese knitted pair with a love of the Ventures.
Why is it popular? The characterful pair and wonderful animation proved a big hit amoungst ukulele players and kitch lovers across the net – making a big splash on Boing Boing.
More than any site (yes, even this one) YouTube has been the place been have first encountered the ukulele and had an urge to pick one up. Here are the most popular ukulele videos on the site. Read the rest of this entry »
I hate Facebook. I used to have a secret account and then people started finding me. I ended up shutting it down. But, to my shame, I had to set up a new secret secret account just to play Happy Island. I have to admit I’m completely addicted. When a game starts influencing your sleeping patterns, you need to take a good look at your priorities.
Despite being set on a Hawaii-like island, there are no ukes in its theme tune. But there are ukes aplenty in the tunes that back the Happy Island-a-like Tiki Resort and its sister game Tiki Farm. So, obviously, I had to get tabbing.
The tune is fairly straight-forward. It sounds like it’s being played with a pick, but you can just about get away with not using one.
Ukulele & accordion is fast becoming the new ukulele & kazoo. This week’s contribution to the combo comes from Les Poupées Gonflées (literal translation = The Swollen Dolls – that has to be a French euphemism).
Also this week, Seeso has moved all his covers to a new channel and has bravely reupped his cover of the Red Hot Chunky Puppies (it’s now illegal to use their name on the internet). Other performers in this week’s selection include gentle-folkie Anna Ash, noise-merchant Williwaw and The Polyjesters with a song about Mrs Nahasapeemapetilon.
Another new uke and another new wood for Kala with the Kala Butterfly. MGM refers to it being made from bicote. He might mean bocote – the heavy grain certainly looks a lot like bocote. Either way, I don’t think it’ll make its way on to my shopping list.
Two lovely vintage Favilla ukuleles: Favilla Teardrop and a Favilla Wimbrola modified into a four string ukulele.
Check out the Stackridge podcast on Monday for a ukulele special including George from the UOGB co-present and tracks including Uke Hunt faves the Bobby McGee’s and Mr B the Gentleman Rhymer. And there’s a performance by Fairport Convention.
I’ll be heading off to Ukelear Meltdown this weekend. If you see me, say hi. I won’t bite.* Other festival possibilities include Wukulele (they’ve only announced one act, but that act is Bob Brozman), the Belper Ukulele Day and, of course, Donington. Let there be rock.
Sara Watkins has a few ukulele songs knocking around but this one – from Nickel Creek’s Why Should the Fire Die? – is the standout. The tuning she uses in this one is rather unusual. It’s like a low-G ukulele tuned down two frets (to F Bb D G). I worked out the tune using a baritone ukulele with a capo at the third fret.
You may have noticed this is my seventh post in the space of six hours. It’s all part of the overhaul of the site that will be taking place soon.
With over 1,000 blog posts on Uke Hunt and a bunch more in the other sections, it’s getting impossible for people to find what they’re looking for. So these posts are designed to guide people towards the stuff that they’ll find most useful.
The first set of ‘lessons’ are divided by difficulty with a couple more focusing on styles (fingerpicking – which needs a bit of filling – and blues).
If you’ve got a suggestion for a section or something that should be included in a section, let me know in the comments.
For Beginners
Learn:
– How to read chord charts.
– Songs using only basic chords.
– Strumming technique.
– Essential equipment.
