Like money for nothing, I’ve given this one a constant note in the background (C this time). And you might need to read the post on how to play harmonics for the last note.
Money for Nothing is one of the songs that made me pick up the guitar (“Money for nothing and chicks for free, you say? Sounds like a pretty good return on some digital blistering. I’m in.”)
I’ve taken a few liberties with this one. I’ve given it a constant G note in the background to give it a bit more stability and taken away a few of the doubled notes for ease of playing.
It’s tricky to get this one up to tempo without a pick, but the riff works quite well on uke. The rest of the song though…
Suggested by Scorpion and mackral.
Will Grove- White & The Others – Sally Ann (MP3)
Via his website (where you can pick up two more free mp3s)
Will Grove-White has been the youngest (and handsomest) member of the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain since he joined them in 1989. He has just put out a solo album Will Grove-White & The Others and kindly agreed to chat about lost ukes, Pebble Mill and strum holes.
How did you get involved with the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain?
I joined when I was 16, in 1989. I’d not been tempted to take the guitar path at school and so I formed a little uke trio, playing 1920s and 30s stuff. I read about the Ukulele Orchestra in a newspaper and became a total fan. From then on I always went to see them play in this pub in north London, started pestering them for music after gigs, and when someone left the band I was asked to join. I started off as a quiet little lad, just strumming, but began singing after a year or so, and have ended up mostly squawking gibberish. I had to get the day off school do my first gig, we played ‘Chinatown, My Chinatown‘ on Pebble Mill at One, with Ronnie Spector watching us.
What was the impetus for your solo project?
In recent years, the Ukes has become more of a full-time job, making it harder for all of us to do other work, as the Orchestra’s demands grow and grow. I now find myself, at 35, a full-time Ukulele player – not something I ever thought I’d say, of course – I used to have a proper job. This album was really about seeing what it would sound like if I did something on my own, that could sit happily alongside the Ukes. The impetus was really from my wife, who kept telling me to get on with it.
What can we expect from your solo stuff?
Well, of course there are Ukuleles, but also plenty of other much maligned and overlooked instruments – the Musical Saw, Tuba, Melodica, Clarinet and Cardboard Boxes. I wish more mainstream musicians would cast their nets a bit wider in their choices of instruments. Bass, guitar and drums is a pretty tired formula. I think I can say it’s a good-time album, upbeat and optimistic – sort of Sid James meets Hoagy Carmichael and Tom Waits at a bluegrass concert.
What are your three favourite songs to play on ukulele?
Tricky question, but three I like are: Robert Johnson’s ‘They’re Red Hot‘, otherwise known as ‘Hot Tamales’, in C, really falls off the fingers; Syd Barrett’s ‘Here I Go‘ was the first song I worked out for myself on the uke; and at the moment I’m a big fan of the Ukes version of Limehouse Blues, a real mad strum-fest which should appear on an album soon I hope.
What’s in your ukulele collection?
I mostly play my Martin Ukulele which I got from a second-hand shop after I left my old Martin on the Tube (it was given to me by Ian Whitcomb). I’d fallen asleep and woke up at my stop, rushed off the Tube and only realised I’d left it when the train was gone. No-one ever handed it in, I always
imagine some guy picking it up and thinking, “Oh, a toy guitar! My kid will like this”… it was a pretty terrible day. Since then I’ve added some geared tuners (shock, horror!) to keep it in tune with the bashing I give it (I’m aiming to strum a hole in it buy 2010).
I recently got an Ohana uke from the Ukulele Shop which has a great sound for the price.
As spares we carry flat, black Bruko ukes, which we got from the eccentric Thomas Allander (Ukulelemannen) when we were in Stockholm. They’re Black Maple Ukes (S001) and are great for throwing in a suitcase. You can even post it to your friends through the letterbox. Other than that I mostly own old battered ukes that decorate the bookshelves, and even a few old banjo-ukes that get the occasional outing…
What advice do you have for the wannabe international ukulele superstars?
Pick some good fellow band members, who you can envisage sitting with for hours and hours on a bus, then a train, then a plane, then a bus, then another train, then another bus, and then share a room with. And never fart in the dressing room.
What can we expect from you and from the UOGB in the future?
At some point soon I’ll start more recording of my own, and get some live shows together with The Others. As far as the Ukes go, a hectic gigging schedule looms, lots of stuff in Britain, as well as Germany, Sweden and Austria, also some interesting new projects coming up next year. Right now
we’re in the final stages of assembling our first live CD – to be titled ‘Live in London #1‘ – which should be ready in the next month or two. I think it’s a real cracker, really captures the whole spirit of the band in a way we haven’t quite done on a CD before. And after that, of course, we shall all be enjoying a nice quiet Christmas together.
You can buy Will Grove-White & The Others on the UOGB site and visit his website here.
A popular one for covers, this one with versions by Marilyn Manson, Johnny Cash and Richard Cheese being the most famous.
When you do the pull-offs in this one, try to give the string a bit of a bend before letting go of it.
Suggested by UkeJill.
It’s not often I feature two videos by the same person in one week, but I’ve made an exception for Izumi. I’ve moaned about the bland, easy listening nature of most modern Hawaiian music before, but I love the traditional stuff. The Hawaiian yodel is one of those love-it-or-hate-it sounds. Personally, I think it’s beautiful and Izumi’s voice is incredible.
I was going to include Bosko and Honey’s Seven Nation Army but embedding is outlawed. You’ve seen it already though, right? Read the rest of this entry »
Pineapples and kiwis not to your taste? How’s about a watermelon ukulele from Kala?
Another seller thinning their collection, this time in the UK. Current picks include an adorable Gibson banjo-uke and a decorative Favilla with suspiciously blurry photos.
Plenty of stars put their name and face on a plastic ukulele, but Jimmy Durante? (Net research suggests Durante and Clark Gable were taught the uke by Bill Tapia).
A more understandable endorsement with this Johnny Marvin Professional. I think that bridge is supposed to be the shape of on aeroplane but it looks more like a goldfish playing the harmonica to me.
This week’s most staggeringly over priced ukes: Baritone Maccaferri Islander starting at $300, Swagerty Surf-a-lele for $400 and whatever this is supposed to be for $8,000.
Not a great deal to report on this week.
Aldrine is doing live ukulele lessons. If you missed the first one, you can find it here. On a related note, I’m changing the official Uke Hunt review policy while I still have some friends left: I’m not reviewing anyone’s music. I’ll be sticking to the usual Monday Exposure type thing from now on.
Play Well With Others wants to know your favourite jam tunes.
Play the ukulele on your iPhone.
UAS Warning: Secured Premises.
Is playing the ukulele just for girls?
Stark Online has a track from the new Rio en Medio album.
Amy Crehore is having a sale on her ukulele t-shirt.
Colin Murray (Radio 1 DJ) plays the new Oasis song on his uke (put down the plectrum, Murray).
This was the riff back in the day when I was in a band. As well as the riff, it has one of the all time classic guitar solos c/o Sideshow Bob.
There is a bit of a cheat in this tab. To be accurate, the last note in the riff should be both strings played at the eleventh fret. But that’s far too much of a jump.
I’ve been mildly obsessed with The Clash’s Straight to Hell since Cover Lay Down (one of my favourite mp3 blogs) posted a batch of cover versions of it. This riff only crops up briefly in the original song but was made more recognisible thanks to it’s use in M.I.A.’s Paper Planes. By the by, if anyone invites you to their serial killer warehouse, probably best to politely decline.
It’s important to make sure the notes in this riff are played staccato (i.e. they only sound very briefly). The easiest way to do this is it to fingerpick all the notes and mute them with your picking fingers.
