Unlike the major scale, there are a whole bunch of minor scales. For this post, I’m going to stick with the natural minor scale. The big advantage is that if you know your major scales on the ukulele, you don’t have to learn anything new. The notes in the A minor scale are exactly the same as C major, B minor is the same as D major. The minor scale has the same notes as the major scale three frets above it.

When you are improvising with these scales, make sure you emphasize the root note (A for A minor etc.).

As with the major scales, find patterns that start and end with the root note that can be moved up and down depending on which key you’re playing in.

A Minor

A# (Bb) Minor

B Minor

C Minor

C# (Db) Minor

D Minor

D# (Eb) Minor

E Minor

F Minor

F# (Gb) Minor

G Minor

G# (Ab) Minor

This is the first Uke Hunt/Ukulala collaboration. So I’ll shut up and let Laz’s video do the explaining:

If you want to use fancier chords, you can take your cue from the piano and replace C and D with Cmaj7 and D6 which means there a B note ringing through all the chords.

I thought the Ukulele Muxtape, deserved some liner notes. There were only two rules to it: uke featuring and no cover versions. Here’s a quick rundown of the tracks with places to visit to hear more from the performers.

1. The Cedar Tavern Singers AKA The Phonorealists – Artistic Statement

One band, two names. The Cedar Tavern Singers are a pair of artists who sing songs about art history in a shop window. How could that be anything but brilliant? You can hear more of their songs here and you can buy their stuff here.

2. David Ivar Herman Dune – Take Me To Your Country

As well as fronting up Herman Dune (check out chords for I Wish That I Could See You Soon), David Ivar Herman Dune puts out plenty of ukulele stuff: a ukulele covers project Yayahoni, a solo album Ya-Ya (from which this track comes) and playing uke with Kimya Dawson on Hidden Vagenda.

3. James Hill – One Small Suite For ‘Ukulele: I. Allegro Con Brio

James Hill is my favourite ukulele instrumentalist around today. By a long way. His technique is unmatched and he can write a catchy tune. This piece is the first segment of his Small Suite for Ukulele from the album A Flying Leap.

4. Jacob Borshard – Brains, Brains

Have I mentioned Jacob Borshard enough yet? His songs are irresistibly charming and so are his videos. As far as I’m aware, his only commercial release is Cocktail on the equally wonderful WeePOP! but you can download two of his albums free on his website.

5. MJ Hibbett – Chips and Cheese, Pint of Wine.

I interviewed MJ Hibbett not long ago. This is another song of his solo album A Million Ukeleles.

6. Shelley Short – The Sunny Side

I discovered this song by Shelley Short (not to be confused with the glamour model of the same name) while perusing eMusic. I love coming across unexpected ukuleles. It happened this morning when I was listening to Ryan Adams. The track comes from her album Captain Wild Horse

7. The Darlings – Emily

Another top notch release from WeePOP! The EP has sold out, but you can still download this track here and you can listen to the rest of it here.

8. Jens Lekman – Arms Around Me

Disappointingly, there was no ukulele on Jens Lekman’s most recent album Night Falls Over Kortedala. Fortunately, this solo ukulele version cropped up on the intertubes and blew the album version out of the water. I wrote up the chords for Your Arms Around Me here.

9. Mirah – Engine Heart

As she’s gone on, Mirah’s sound has got increasingly epic. But on her debut album You Think It’s Like This But Really It’s Like This there were a couple of stripped down ukulele songs. There’s tab for Mirah’s A Million Miles here.

10. Noah & The Whale – Five Years Time

I wrote about Noah & the Whale ealier and I love this song even more now. There’s a very healthy posh singer-songwriter scene in London at the moment. Check out Welcome to our TV Show for some class acts.

11. P:ano – Trouble Ahead

P:ano have officially called it a day, but their final act was to release an album packed with ukulele ditties Ghost Pirates Without Heads.

12. Craig Robertson – She Just Needs Her Head

You must know Craig Robertson by now. You can download this song and many more here and buy his albums here.

I’ve written up a page about Ukulele Songs: songs that are heavily associated with the ukulele. They’re the ones that people who know nothing about the ukulele will ask you to play, the ones you’ll see hundreds of ukulele versions of on YouTube.

It’s quite interesting to note that most of the songs are from the ukulele heyday of the mid-20s but weren’t primarily associated with the uke until picked up decades later.

As well as including the definitive versions of those songs, there are links to less well known but equally good (and often better) than the better known songs and also links to tab, chords and instructional videos.

Before any Jake fans get up in arms, this page is just for songs. I’ll be doing a ‘Ukulele Music’ page at some point.

If you think I’ve missed anything or you’ve got any suggestions for ukulele music page (and I need help on that one – I’ve only got three so far) leave a comment and let me, and everyone else, know.

Videos this week from Michael Wagner, Sam and Max (the ukulele punk rocker) Tripping Lily and plenty of others.

Michael Wagner – A Love Song Read the rest of this entry »

Genius or preposterous? Either way, after watching that video, I want a double-necked Mele ukulele. As luck would have it, this very uke is for sale on eBay. Now I just have to find a Russian oligarch in need of a kidney.

At the other end of the spectrum is this Gold Tone GU-100 soprano. Gold Tone are mostly known for their banjos – their wooden ukuleles had completely passed me by until recently. This one, sold by ukulele4u, hasn’t been finished correctly – but it’s only a slight flaw. At the time of writing, bidding is at $58 with 15 hours to go. Solid mahogany, hard case thrown in. Worth keeping an eye on, I’d say.

Curly Koa Martin Taropatch: There’ll be a few people after that one.

If you’re going to ask $6,000 for a ukulele, try focusing your camera: Wayne Henderson ukulele.

Ukulele Tonya reports on the Northern Californian Ukulele Festival including Dominator who has a new tab of James Hill’s take on One Note Samba.

Sweetafton23 joins Jonathan Coulton on stage.

Two Italian ukulele sites: The Italian Ukulele Committee and UKEit.

Listen to a George Formby documentary including his contribution to the anti-apartheid movement. I hope Kelso folk club were listening.

Bob Dylan’s Tangled Up In Blue on Uker Tabs.

Ukulele in the movies: Faye Dunaway helps Stanley achieve his dream of playing the ukulele on a Hawaiian Cruise ship (Part 1, Part 2 – most of the uke action is in part 2). “You’re fully fledged, certified, officialized ukesters now. Members of that glorious musical elite.”

Michael Leviton talks about the romance of the ukulele.

A sopranano?

How to fix a guitar.

There are plenty of chord charts out there. But this one you can sort by beauty.

A visit to the Kamaka factory.

Every so often, I like to do a series of ten Guitar Riffs for Ukulele. The idea with them isn’t to cover the original song, but to throw them in as a little comic relief. Throwing out a quick snatch of a riff people recognise but never expected to hear coming out of a ukulele is a great way to catch people’s attention.

For the first riff, it’s back to Ozzy. He has already cropped up twice in this series of posts with Paranoid and Iron Man, but this time it’s Randy Rhodes knocking out the riff.

This one seems to be quite popular with uke players. Check out the versions by Gio Gaynor and Seeso. My version is in the same key as Seeso’s, but played slightly differently. You can find his version of the tab here.

For the picking on this, I use my thumb for the C string and alternate picking (alternating between index and middle finger picks) for the other notes.

All to often, the ukulele is dismissed as a toy instrument – not capable of real musicianship. So I was delighted to find out the Victoria College of Music (VCM) will be offering exams in the ukulele up to grade 5 from this summer. I tapped the man writing and arranging the ukulele exams, Colin Tribe, for more information.

What is the VCM?

VCM is the Victoria College of Music, the smallest of the music examining boards in the UK. Established in 1890 it did not join the Associated Boards of Music because it was keen to keep an individual identity that it has still got, offering exams in a wider range of instruments than other boards. It does Electronic Keyboard , Ocarina, Mandolin, Bass Guitar, Accordion and many others. You can find full details on their website.

What will the ukulele exam consist of?

The exam will be in presented in this first version as 9 grades A,B,C,D (suitable for younger beginners but not exclusively – I have examined an 80 year olds taking grade A on piano) Then 1,2,3,4,5 which are comparable with grades on any other instrument.

The speed which you can progress through these is not specified and you do not have take one grade before going to the next, for instance someone could take grade 5 as their first exam. Going beyond grade 5 is a distinct possibility including Medals and diplomas, but we wanted to get started with these grades.

Tablature is the simplest way to show where the notes are on the instrument, and by combining it with standard notation, a fairly common practice for modern guitarists, you get the mixed system I have used which I think is as clear and complete a guide to the music as is possible. All the music is arranged for the more common types of Ukulele (Soprano, Concert and Tenor) using high G,C,E,A tuning although other version will be available on request.

What techniques are required at each level of playing?

Any right hand playing techniques will be allowed, so long as the musical ideas are performed. Some pieces will work with just an old fashioned felt pick or a combination of thumb and first finger. Some of the higher grade pieces demand a 4 finger style aproach, but the variety of pieces gives a wide degree of choice.
Grade A and B mainly single string melodies within the first 3 frets
Grade C and D some easy rhythmic strummed sections with an embedded melody line. only occasionally above fret 5
Grade 1 Semi quavers added in more complex rhythms, some melodies above the 5th fret
Grade 2 Triplets and sustained notes
Grade 3 Up to the 12th fret
Grade 4 Opportunities for improvised sections
Grade 5 More complex musical ideas

Which pieces and theoretical knowledge will be required for each grade

Grade A First Steps: Dancing Pawns, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Uke.
Scales Arpeggios and Chords C major

Grade B Preliminary: Aunt Nancy, On top of Old Smoky
Scales Arpeggios and Chords C major, D major

Grade C Preparatory: John Brown’s Body, Little Brown Jug
Scales Arpeggios and Chords D major, D minor

Grade D Advanced Preparatory: Daisy, Daisy, The Seamaster Strum
Scales, Arpeggios and Chords C major, C minor

Grade 1: Three from- Auld Lang Syne, Rockin’ On!, Silent Night, Strum Along with Me,
Waltzing Matilda.
Scales Arpeggios and Chords G major, F major

Grade 2: Three from- 12 to the Bar, Au Claire de Lune, First Love, Greensleeves,
Those were the Days
Scales Arpeggios and Chords A major, E major, A harmonic minor, E harmonic minor

Grade 3: Three from- Pirates Medley, Prelude in G, Regency Quadrille, Saltash Blues, Yellow Bird
Scales Arpeggios and Chords A flat major, E Flat major, G harmonic minor, F harmonic minor

Grade 4: Three from- Ain’t She Sweet, Ajeeb dastan hain yeh, El Condor Pasa, Great Western Waltz, Irish Washerwoman
Scales Arpeggios and Chords F sharp major, F sharp harmonic minor,
Chords and Inversions C,C7, C diminished, A minor

Grade 5: Three from- Alphabeta, Chocolate Lime Juice, Dem Dry Bones, Sonatina in A, Sweet Georgia Brown
Scales Arpeggios and Chords D flat major, C Melodic minor,G major and G harmonic minor on strings 1 and 4.

All these pieces, composed or arranged by Colin R Tribe specifically for the exams, will be published in a VCM series I hope to call “Uniqulele” which also includes notes on the pieces and playing techniques.

At all grades it is also possible to substitute one piece with a song chosen from the VCM Self-Accompanied Singing syllabus for which

Grades A-D are published in a special “Self-Accompanied Singing” Ukulele version.

What do examiners look for in a performance?

They look for a combination of skill, knowledge and understanding. Questions are asked in a manner which assesses the candidate’ depth of understanding, not merely the ability to repeat definitions (this applies to understanding the notation they are using and any technical terms in either tablature or stave). Ingenuity, variety, musicianship and a sense of style are rewarded as well as technical skill and musical accuracy. The examiners will rarely be ukulele players but they are all highly experienced musicians, players and teachers who understand the musicality being displayed.

How do you apply for and enter Ukulele grades?

The Victoria College of Music has a website and Robin Wood the Chief Executive can give details of secretaries and centres where exams are conducted nationwide and indeed as far afield as Ireland, Sri Lanka, Malta and the Isle of Wight! The address for letters is

52 Bedford Row, London, WC1 4 LR
Tel./Fax: (020) 7405 6483
Email: Click here

A big thanks to Colin for answering the questions. He was also kind enough to let me post the tab for his arrangement of Spinning Wheel:

Colin Tribe – Spinning Wheel (Tab)
Midi

Wayne Federman – Electric Ukulele Medley (Tab)

Wayne Federman, for those of you not in the know, is a stand-up comedian and comedy actor. He was in Curb Your Enthusiasm, 40 Year Old Virgin, the uke-featuring 50 First Dates and a whole pot load of other stuff you can find out about on his website. He’s also a multi-instrumentalist and back in the 80’s closed out his sets with a medley of rock songs played on the ukulele. Wayne sent me an email asking me to tab it out and I was very pleased to have a go at it.

The way Wayne uses the riffs is the way I intended the Guitar Riffs for Ukulele to be used – for a bit of fun and to throw in something the audience will recognise but not expect to hear coming from an electric ukulele.

The Federman medley (or Feder-ley, if you will) kicks off with Hendrix’s Purple Haze. The riff jumps up and down the neck quite a bit and includes bends – which you don’t often get on the uke. Mostly, the bends are just slightly sharp rather than heading for an exact note. Next up is Iron Butterfly’s In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida which is much more straight-forward and uke friendly. That’s followed by Led Zeppelin’s Whole Lotta Love. I’ve tabbed Whole Lotta Love myself, but Wayne’s version is quite different. Since he’s playing it for laughs, he makes the riff sound as wimpy as possible by playing it with just single notes on the A string. The medley ends up with a take off of the breakdown solo from Zep’s Heartbreaker. It’s the funniest part and also the hardest to transcribe. The timing towards the end is more comedic than musical. It’s a hilarious parody of the sort of pomposity Jimmy Page was guilty of regular occasions.

On the subject of parodies of pompous guitarists, StSanders has had his channel banned by YouTube after complaints from someone whose name may or may not rhyme with Yngwie Balmsteen. So enjoy the Feder-ley while you can.

All these riffs have got me in the mood to do another set of Guitar Riffs for the Ukulele. So expect that soon.

Visit WayneFederman.com.