I’m breaking my ‘no Beatles’ rule once again for this post. There’s no denying that they came up with some great riffs and these are a pair of humdingers.

Come Together

Seeso did a top version of this song. That’s a great example of how to fill out a riff to make it work as a full song on the ukulele. But for our purposes, I’ve stuck with the simpler single note version.

Day Tripper

For this tab, I’ve taken advantage of the re-entrant string and barred my first finger across the third fret after the first note. I use my thumb to pick the G and C strings, my index finger on the E string and middle finger on the A string.

To go along with the ukulele songs list, I’ve put together a list of the instrumental ukulele tunes that are most associated with the ukulele here:

Ukulele Music

The list was a bit harder to get together than the ukulele song list, but I think it gives a good overview of the instrumental side of the ukulele. I’ve included links to tab where possible: I don’t think anyone has used a sentence more often than I’ve used ‘Dominator has the tab’ on that page. Dom’s tabs are all very high standard, difficult to play tabs. So, there’s a good chance I might put together arrangements aimed at mere mortals.

If you think you think I’ve made a glaring omission (very likely), leave a comment on this post and let everyone know.

The next list I’ll be working on is the Ukul-A-List: a list of the world’s best and biggest ukulelists. But it won’t just be the shredders. I’ll probably be breaking it down into different sections. As ever, let me know if you’ve got any suggestions. Perhaps I should run a poll on who is the greatest ever ukulele player.

Ace of Spades has to be one of the most air-guitared riffs in history.

The riff isn’t too hard to play on the uke. The only problem is the speed. Because it’s fast, it’s much easier to play it by strumming rather than fingerpicking (even when you’re only playing one note). Make sure you have the other strings muted (the G-string with your thumb and the E and A strings with your fingers).

The strumming pattern is down, down, up, up, down for the single notes (and all downs for the double notes).

James Clem has been playing blues guitar since the 1960’s and his career includes backing up Chick Willis in his Stoop Down Baby heyday. More recently, he’s picked up the ukulele and will be appearing at this year’s Portland Uke Fest. I interrogated him to find out more.

How did you first get started as a musician?

I went to a car show when I was 15 years old with my father and heard Dick Dale playing guitar and right then I knew that was what I wanted to do. His playing was amazing to hear, especially live.

When did you start playing the ukulele?

I started playing the uke about four years ago when I found an old Kumalae koa ukulele at the Rose Bowl Flea Market in Pasadena, California for $20. I bought a songbook of 1920’s tunes and right off the bat I loved it. If you play guitar most of the techniques from that instrument (damping, strumming, etc) can be applied to the ukulele.

What made you pick the ukulele up?

I had seen the ukulele in many vintage films and always thought it looked like a lot of fun. Twenties jazz like the Boswell Sisters, Louis Armstrong and others has always been one of my favorite genres of music, but I was too lazy to learn that swing style jazz guitar and all the musicians I knew were into blues, so I couldn’t see much chance of playing it anyway. Actually, the last couple of years I have been studying the Django style swing guitar rhythm and adapting that to the ukulele. To me, the weak point of most uke players is not damping the strings enough (or at all). It can make or break a player.
The first really great ukulele player I heard live was Bob Brozman in the eighties. He really opened my eyes to what you can do on that instrument. He is a phenomenal musician and one of the best uke players.

When I lived in Los Angeles Janet Klein and Ian Whitcomb performed a lot together at a tiny club near my house and they both played ukulele and that got me into thinking “I need a ukulele!”. Janet Klein has a band of killer jazz musicians and she has this kind of wacky Gracie Allen personality that is a throwback to another era. You can’t help but love that group.

It’s quite unusual to play Delta blues on the uke. How do you go about making the songs work on the uke?

I really don’t play that many Delta Blues tunes on the uke as I try to do more twenties jazz on the ukulele with a lot of snappy chord changes that seem to fit the little instrument so well. I play a lot of slide guitar and regular guitar so when I dig out the uke it makes a nice change of mood for the audience. Audiences love the instrument. You just pick it up and they smile.

As far as playing blues on our little four string friend goes I have found that uptempo blues with a ragtime feel can be played on the ukulele and works great. I look for tunes that have a lot of right hand rhythm such Robert Johnson’s They’re Red Hot which he adapted from Blind Boy Fuller’s Keep On Truckin’. Be on the lookout for blues tunes with a lot of chord changes (think 1920’s and ’30’s) and a fast tempo and there are a lot of possibilities that will enable you to get away from the jazz standards that everyone does on the ukulele. Check out Blind Blake, Blind Willie McTell, Big Bill Broonzy and others from that era . You will be surprised how well some can sound on the ukulele.

Another tip I have for players is if there is a song that you really want to learn, you should search out different versions of the song and after learning the chords steal some horn or guitar parts from the recording and tweak it a bit to make it your own. That is how most musicians get good. Steal from the masters!

Can you tell us a little about your ukulele.

My uke is a newer National Reso-Phonic made of koa. It has rope binding, fancy inlays and an ivoroid headstock overlay. The resonator projects well into a microphone, so it doesn’t need any kind of a pickup.

How can people buy your music?

Right now they can’t as I have a very basic CD that I sell at my gigs , but right now I am recording a new CD that will have some really good musicians and should be available be the end of the year on CD Baby. I would like to get on a label with world wide distribution and play over in Europe. Playing live is where it’s at for me but every musician will tell that you are taken for granted in your hometown (oh him, he is always around!) My wife is from England and I consider it my home away from home as I have been over there a lot. It would be great to get established over there.

You can find out more on his website and download some of his guitar tracks on MySpace.

Most guitar riffs are based around single notes. There are only a few that use full chords. AC/DC have come up with plenty. But other than them, this is the only riff that comes to mind based entirely on chords.

Because it’s all chords, the riff works well on the uke. I’ve kept it in the original key of A. This means that the chord inversions are different – giving the riff a slightly different flavour on uke.

The strumming for bar three is down, up, up, down, down, up, up, down.

Loads of great videos this week including John King, Ohta San, Aaron Keim and the most charming version of Stormy Weather you’ll ever hear. The big surprise was Abbe May. Usually, she makes PJ Harvey-style alternative rock. She does a great job with a uke.

I haven’t been posting Bosko and Honey’s Ukulele Safari on here because I assume everyone is watching it anyway. You are watching it, right? Read the rest of this entry »

You can help the Ukulele Safari by bidding on a Mahalo signed by Bosko and Honey.

MGM has a new top-of-the-range Pono: the Pono PKC-500 ukulele. It’s decked out with all the trimmings and that’s reflected in the price tag of $1,119.96.

This Yamaha ukulele is advertised as having, “great and old YAMAHA’s sound.” What?

Another stunning cigar box ukulele from Black Bear.

Cordoba are mainly known for their classical and Spanish guitars, but this Cordoba 25CK looks like a very nice piece of work.

A new chord site on me: Benefield has a wide variety of uke chords from The Clash to Reverend Gary Davis. And a new tab site: Nappr with a number of game themes for ukulele and more.

Two gorgeous videos of Rio en Medio on her baritone ukulele on MP3.com.

New website from Lanikai. Some cool stuff on the site including Jason Mraz with his Lanikai LU-21T and a couple of basic instruction booklets for download.

Cyndi Lauper on her ukulele: “Oh, I love that thing. I found a ukulele in Australia that has a metal top. It’s really loud and kind of fabulous.” (Thanks to Carol for spotting that one).

Ukulele mp3s: Tullycraft have a ukulele cover of one of their own songs, Under The Rotunda has The Acorns’ Brokered Heart, Good Soul Department has the Ice Cream Shout remix of Sound of Arrows’ Danger! and foggy ruins of time puts up Foreign Loren’s Seaside, We Collide.

On Uker Tabs: Anyone Else but You from Juno. And if you like the ukulele and the Juno soundtrack, you might want to give I Think I Love U by The Polaroid a listen.

Will.I.Am from Black Eyed Peas on u.ku.lele.

Ukulele nail care from Dr Trey.

Make a maraca for your ukulele.

Ukulele Brand Consultants. I do hope they’re a company specialising in consultancy for ukulele brands. I think I’d be good at that job. Unfortunately, they’re not hiring.

One day, I’ll manage to get a solo arrangement of the whole of Bohemian Rhapsody together. But for now you’ll have to content yourself with the riff. The BoRhap riff, like Paranoid, has managed to be one of the world’s most recognisable riffs despite hardly even being there – lasting a grand total of eight bars.

One possible variation on this: In bar 4, I very nearly went with tab a hammer-on from the third to fifth fret and back down (so you’d have to slide your first finger up between the bars). If you’re using a pick to play the riff, you’ll have to do it that way.

Quick note: There’s a problem with the daily Uke Hunt emails at the moment and a lot of them aren’t getting through or sent. If the problem doesn’t right itself soon, I’ll try to make alternative arrangements. On to the matter in hand:

Phredd is one of my favourite YouTube ukers. His videos often leave me laughing so hard I need medical attention. Which says something about my maturity as Phredd (or Fred McNaughton) is children’s entertainer. I grilled him for more information.

How long have you been playing the uke? What attracted you to it?

I have been playing the uke about 5 or 6 years now. I love the sound. I bought one on a whim on ebay. It was a martin backpacker and I got it (with shipping) for $60. It was the sound I was looking for. It is just so happy. I have played all kinds of musical instruments my whole life, but none resonate with me more than the uke. When I started playing my ukulele at concerts, the kids loved it. Children really identify with the ukulele. They love how small it is and the happy sound it makes. Plus, everyone is playing the guitar, so it is unique.

How do you get into making music for kids?

I used to sing for adults. Then I started leading worship for kids at church and it just clicked. I didn’t find a lot of songs that I really liked, that had a lot of fun and enthusiasm, so I started writing my own and making up goofy hand motions to get the kids involved. Kids love to sing and love to worship, but they want to do it with their entire beings. So getting them jumping and moving and clapping and yelling is a big part of it. My wife and I have 8 children. Our oldest will be 26 in June. Our youngest, and newest member is 7. We just adopted her and have fallen in love with her. So we do a lot of singing at home. Through the years I would know I hit on a good song when I caught the kids singing it around the house. Then as they grew up they started helping me at the concerts, and that has been fantastic.

Something I find very interesting is that kids understand. They understand that you can be totally goofy and having fun and that some of the songs are just for making you smile and some of the songs have a message. Adults seem to have trouble with that. If you are going to sing me a serious song then stop goofing around. That seems to be just as prevalent in church as not in church. But kids get it. I also am amused that the same songs I sang for adults,that they didn’t understand, they now appreciate and enjoy, because I am singing for their kids. So, it kind of changed everything for me in that sense. So, I guess you could say in some way, that I do kids songs for adults, too.

What’s the secret to keeping kids entertained?

When I find this out I will get back to you. Seriously, I’m not sure there is a secret. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t and I’m not sure it is always dependent on the performer. It might have more to do with what they ate, where they were before hearing you sing, or a hundred other things that affect kids. For me, having fun, acting goofy and just being my weird self seems to be the ticket.

How does your Christianity influence your music?

I love Jesus with all my heart, so it influences everything I do. I love singing for kids and making them smile. I think that is a gift from God. What could be better than singing for kids? At the same time, I think a lot of music for kids disrespects their musical appreciation. So I try to write songs that are fun and out of left field. For instance I have a song that is called Awooga. It replaces saying ‘Amen’ with saying ‘Awooga. So, if you say Amen at your church when the Pastor says something you approve of, imagine saying, “AWOOGA!” really loud at the top of your lungs instead. I tell the kids its like honking the horn of your car in approval. Kids seem to get that.

I also have a song called INVISIBLE FRIEND. I think kids (and big kids too) struggle with not being able to see God like we see each other. It’s that whole faith thing. Almost all of us had an imaginary friend at some point in our lives, so relating that to God being invisible, but not imaginary seemed like a fun way to help them understand a little bit.

I’ve also started to get into some of the older folk gospel spirituals. There was some great songwriting and story telling. I like how they didn’t tell the whole story, but told just enough that it makes you more interested. The song MARY DON’T YOU WEEP is one of my current favorites. That song is so excellently written, but it doesn’t hit you over the head. It makes you really think. It also conveys such a depth of emotion. I think some of our modern music has lost the ability to touch the soul, while at the same fueling our imagination, and tickling our funny bone. I like that about some of the older songs I am finding. They have a depth of feeling while at the same time not taking themselves so seriously. Something about that really appeals to me. I don’t know if you’ve seen Bruce Springsteen and the Sessions Band Live in Dublin or not, but, wow! I love that dvd and I have been watching and listening to it a ton.

Elmer’s Electric Tricycle is my absolute favourite. Is it a true story? (Asked more in hope than expectation).

My very good friend Steven Courtney and I wrote this song together. Steven also performs for children and families and is about the best friend anyone could ever have.

We both have very busy schedules so we don’t get to spend as much time together as we would like. We also really enjoy writing songs and making music together. So one time, we came up with this crazy idea to write songs together via email. I would send him a line, and then maybe later that day, or the next, he would send me the next line. I do a morning radio show, so I wake up very early, and I would come in to work and open my email and there would be the next line to the song and it would make me really laugh. So our goal became to make the other person laugh when they read the next line. We wrote over 40 songs together that way. It was just a really fun time.

Elmer’s was born out of that writing experiment. In a weird sort of way it mirrored what we were doing with the songwriting; going into “the lab” and coming out with this explosion of creativity. The video of Elmer that you currently have up at Uke Hunt is my daughter Keilah and I singing. Keilah has been singing with me since she was about 7. We do about 50 concerts a year at schools, churches, festivals and all sorts of places. She is so talented and adds so much to this song and to the concerts in general. I love that she sings with me. It really is an honor to have my teenage daughter be my singing partner. Teenagerdom is a time when many kids are embarrassed by their parents, so I don’t take it for granted that Keilah, at the age of 16 is willing to make a fool of herself with me in front of an audience. That has been a huge blessing in my life.

Visit Phredd Central to find out more, hear more songs and buy his stuff. You can listen to Fred’s radio show, Get Up and Go, on WJTL FM 90.3.