Old-school riffery from Richie Valens. But the song is probably best known for Los Lobos’s cover version. The highlight of that version being the outro. Here’s the start of it in the same, uke-friendly, key as I used for the riff.
If you want to play it in the original key, move everything up 7 frets – something like this. It’s much more difficult but still playable.
Part of the Guitar Riffs for Ukulele series.
Amongst the videos of the Wine Country Uke Fest that have been uploaded, I noticed a few from Oceana Ukuleles. I wasn’t at all familiar with them, so to get myself up to speed I threw a few questions and Oceana mainman Zac Steimle.
How long have you been making ukuleles and how did you get started?
As an artist I have always been fascinated with the dynamics between instruments and musicians…. . The beauty and and mystery that surrounds an instrument! In 1995 I worked for a few months with a Luthier in Quito Ecuador, and that experience really piqued my interest. About 5 years ago I had the opportunity to do an apprenticeship with a world class luthier in Southern Ecuador that specialized in small instruments. All my passion and love fell into this work… as a surfer and surfboard shaper I found an easy flow into this art… It is fun to see all the different things I have done in my life come together and make great ukuleles and other instruments!
What sort of players are your ukuleles aimed at?
Oceana Ukuleles are aimed at people who love and play music. So far our buyers are both players and professional musicians….. but I’m not sure we’re aiming our Ukuleles at one group or the other, we just make great instruments that bring the best out of the people that play them!
What separates Oceana from other ukuleles?
The biggest difference between us and most Ukulele companies is the simple fact that we truly hand build the Ukuleles, we hardly use any power tools. What that means is that we spend a lot of time with each piece of wood that goes into a uke. We get to know it’s voice and we are able to utilize the wood so it reaches its maximum potential! We are building Ukuleles with the same techniques and traditions that the best builders used 80 to 100 years ago, but also bringing some great new school elements in as well. We don’t fabricate ukuleles we create them!
What do you think makes a great ukulele?
Music is very personal and the instrument you play is an extension of yourself. A great ukulele is an instrument that you want to play because it draws the music out of you. You will find a new song, one you did not know you had in you being expressed because the Uke you are playing is that good!
Some of your ukuleles have unusually placed sound-holes. How does that change the sound? Or is it just for show?
You must be referring a Kasha braced uke I built as an experiment, the sound hole was placed down by the first string and has a different look. I also built an Acoustic Bass Guitar with an off set sound hole, both these instruments have unconventional bracing that push the sound hole off to one side or the other…. other than that most things on our uke are where you would expect them!
We have not been simply following plans as we developed the Oceana ukulele but have been constantly refining our sound and look. For the past 5 years we have been putting them in the hands of musicians and working with their feed back. That means we have moved some things around. Our ukes have great playability and sound.. the balance is so smooth, none of this is an accident.
What made you choose to set up shop in Ecuador?
My family and I were living in Southern Ecuador working with a small non-profit clinic providing health education and care in rural communities. We came to respect Ecuadorians the more we worked in their culture with deep traditions that were birthed with the fusion of the Incas and Spaniards. In many ways Ecuador is a time bubble 10,50 and in some times up to 100 years behind many western countries, this is not mean in the “development” sense but rather in a very positive way such as, social values, connectedness, time not valued as we value it and that way more patience is applied to the craftsmanship. So building ukuleles in Ecuador was a natural step in the process. It was fun to see the Ecuadorians react to the “pulgas” (uke) I built and hear new melodies coming alive! One huge advantage to living high in the mountains of Ecuador was the perfect year-round relative humidity and tempter to build instruments.
After nearly five years of working with the Master Luthier he remains an integral part of Oceana Ukuleles. He is building ukuleles in Ecuador and now I’m building ukuleles in the North West of USA…We build instruments that your grandkids will fight over!
Enjoy your day and play music!
Visit Oceana Ukuleles.
Yep, more Tom Morello. After the whole rap/metal crossover started so promisingly – the Judgement Night soundtrack, Body Count, Rage – it’s a real shame it ended up with Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park.
UPDATE: Bugger, that 8 on the G string in bar 4 should be a 6 on the A string. I’ll try to get it fixed later.
Part of the Guitar Riffs for Ukulele series.
If you’re looking for some Halloween themed tunes to play on your uke, there’s a full list of the Halloween stuff on this blog here:
But if you’re looking for someone else to do all the hard work, you absolutely have to pick up a copy of Mad Tea Party’s Crampstastic Halloween EP Zombie Boogie. You can buy the downloads on BandCamp or the vinyl (ask your grandad) on their website.
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).
Part of the Guitar Riffs for Ukulele series.
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.
Ukulele kitsch: Marilyn Monroe on the ukulele Christmas tree ornament.
What do ukulele players like to eat? Rose Turle Ertler has answers from James Hill, Cat Green Bike, Jen Kwok and many others.
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.
The New Zealanders didn’t manage to break the mass-ukulele record. But they did have Bret McKenzie. His opinion: “It looked better than it sounded.” Keep fighting those New Zealand jibes, guys.
Mark Nelson has put up tab for Moana Chimes on Uker Tabs.
Ukulele zeitgeist on the wane according to The Guardian (via Mr D).
Roger Daltry: “Is it worth tuning it?” And Steven Tyler plays Little Grass Shack for Oprah.
Mike DaSilva has some interesting things to say about ukulele tone.
Ukulelezo won last year’s Bushman Contest. Yes, it definitely happened. And anyone who tells you a cover of Mmmbop won is obviously joking.
The Leisure Society are looking for an army of ukulele players to join them on stage in London.
Sheena Beaston has an interview with and track from Via Tania.
Ukulele pin-up of the week: Sari (a slight misunderstanding of the roots of the ukulele but who cares?).
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.
Part of the Guitar Riffs for Ukulele series.
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 hugely knowledgeable 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.
Read more and buy Play Ukulele By Ear on Jim’s blog.
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