I surprised I haven’t been knocked up side the head for not featuring this one yet. What was I thinking doing Enter Sandman before this? It’s easily one of the best riffs of all time. I believe the correct word is ‘immense’. And the bigger a riff is the more fun it is to play it on the ukulele.
If you’ve listened to the MP3 already, you might have noticed that I’ve used a pick for this one (blasphemy). The notes come to fast to play it any other way. And you need to do a fair bit of palm muting (i.e. rest the underside of your picking hand lightly on the strings just in front of the bridge to dampen the strings).
This week’s must-subscribe channel is spankyukes. As well as being incredible strummers themselves, they roped in Zoe Lewis. Other videos include high slapping fun from Polka Dot Dot Dot (who seem to be keen hamboners), Victoria Vox hooking up with Boulder Acoustic Society, Ingrid Michaelson, Mad Tea Party and plenty more. Read the rest of this entry »
I’ve given the Buy a Ukulele section an overhaul. The used for that section stopped being updated and I haven’t been able to change anything on it for a long time. So I’ve switched the whole thing over to WordPress. I’ll probably be adding to it and messing around with the layout in the next couple of weeks. So if you’ve got any suggestions, let me know. You can still find the old version here for the time being at least.
The Southern Ukulele Store (henceforth to be referred to as SUS) have the new Joe Brown signature Kala ukulele.
And the other TLA seller (MGM) has two new ukuleles from Kala: cedar top.
Mandolin on one side, ukulele on the other. The main picture looks very different from the actual item.
If you have twelve and a half million dollars burning a hole in your pocket, check out this Queen Lilioukalani music box.
Voting has started for Bosko and Honey’s Join the Safari Contest. The process of selecting a winner is closely modelled on that of the election of the Doge of Venice; I think you vote for one video from each country and then your overall favourite. Those favourites and possibly others go through to various rounds of judging by Safari participants, sponsers and relatives. Then the winner is paraded round Piazza San Marco on Easter Monday.
Help Victoria Vox record her new album and get yourself mp3s, a house concert or a chance to chat her up depending on how much you’re willing to donate.
Uke, Ubu, Uke! is a new uke blog that already has some cool posts.
I might have mentioned it before but it bears repeating, Tom Morello is an incredible guitar player. Or electric-guitarist at least. I can’t get into the Watchman stuff. He makes me want to buy a bunch of effects pedals and mess around with them.
Jim D’Ville recently released a DVD teaching you how to Play Ukulele By Ear and has been blogging helpful hints and interviews with ukers from the hugelyknowledgeable to the clueless but handsome. So I turned the tables on him and coaxed a few my tips out of him.
What does ‘playing by ear’ mean?
To me, playing by ear means listening to what a song is doing and being able to recognize what is going on and then playing along with it. Many genres of music have a certain form which simply repeats itself. For example, if you familiarize your ears with the sound of the 12-bar blues chord progression every time you hear it you’ll know how to play along with it without thinking about it. Play a C Major chord, then a C7chord, then an F Major chord. Millions of songs start with this I-I7-IV chord sequence. Once your ears are familiar with the pattern it’s like hearing the recognizable voice of a friend when these sounds come around in a song.
Why is it important for ukulele players to learn to play by ear?
Because it’s more enjoyable. When you are staring at a piece of sheet music your eyes are distracting your ears from truly hearing what is going on. You’re trying to do two things at once. It also prohibits you from listening to what the other players might be doing.
How does someone start out learning to play be ear?
By listening. It sounds simple, but at most of the ukulele clubs I’ve visited the first thing they do is hand out sheet music. My approach is to first introduce the ears to the sound of the one and the five notes of the C Major Scale (C & G). Since most simple songs only consist of two chords (C-G7), this is a great place to start the ear on its “play by ear” journey. The most powerful relationship in western music is the transition from the five to the one (V7-I). Think big rock concert encore, fiveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, one.
What’s your top tip for playing by ear?
Introduce your ears to the sound of the C Major Scale pattern of whole-steps and half-steps, the sound of the Major and Perfect Intervals found in the major scale and the sound of the Diatonic Chords in C (C Major, D minor, E minor, F Major, G7, A minor and B diminished). This gives the ears a solid foundation of the basic sounds found in songs. The primary thing to remember is that ear training does not happen overnight. Take your time and enjoy listening to the sounds you are creating.
I featured Wisdom Tooth a while back but, with her having a Google-proof name, I’d given up on hearing anything from her again. Luckily, TinyfolkTweeted to let me know she now has some stuff up on CLLCT.
If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll know from those five letters that Wisdom Tooth makes witty, honest lo-fi pop. And you’ll also know that I love it. And if your soul’s not out of tune so will you.
“Hey, they took my riff, made it a whole lot better and introduced it to a new generation. Sue them!”
The picking on this one is quite tricky. I’m playing the first half of it bass-style – alternate picking with index and middle fingers. But switching to using thumb and middle finger for the second half. Also, keep the notes in bars one and three short by muting the strings with your fretting hand shortly after you’ve played them.
This week’s picks includes Argentine ukulele from Coqui Reca, Max the Ukulele Punk Rocker being his usual calm and restrained self in hospital, Craig Robertson playing with the lights on, Aaron Keim doing a suspiciously complicated “two chord” song, Dr Dre remixed and plenty more. Read the rest of this entry »
I love the look of the old Django-endorsed Maccaferri guitars. It’s a shame Maccaferri didn’t use the shape for their ukuleles (other than the baritone). So it’s good to see the influence of the Maccaferri ukulele on Selmer.
For the sake of entertainment, I usually focus on more outlandish ukuleles but I do love beautifully simple ukuleles like this SpruceHouse and this Loprinzi.
If you had your interest piqued by the Mya-Moe interview earlier this week, there’s a fine looking tenor resonator up for sale.
Friend of the blog, Byjimini is selling off his Lanikai LU-21CE.
According to the Southern Ukulele Store, Eleukes are now being made in the Kala factory. Not much of a surprise when you look at the tabacco sunburst and f-holes on this one and compare it to the Kala archtop.
Musician’s Friend are having a sale on accessories. If you’re thinking of buying a case, looks like it might be a good time. They’re advertising this baritone case at 81% off.
Ukulele kitsch: miniature ukulele.
Ukulele photos: Robert Conrad, woman with ukulele and poodle
