Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday dear me, Happy Birthday to me.

I turned thirty today which makes me officially over the hill. If we were in a Logan’s Run-style future my palm-light would be blinking and I’d be running for my life – pausing only to make out with Jenny Agutter. But until the planet comes to its senses and instigates such a policy, I’m free to amble around telling youngsters how everything was better in the auld-times.

I know you’re all planning a huge surprise party for me later, so I won’t go on. I just wanted to post my tab of Happy Birthday so you can all play it to me at the party.

It also happens to be the birthday of Martin ukuleles tomorrow.

According to here, the traits of Sagittarius are:

* Fun
* Optimist
* Good-natured
* Sociable
* Spiritual
* Impatient
* Fears responsibility
* Self-indulgence
* Fanaticism
* Peter Pan syndrome
* Tendency to gamble

A terrible description of me, perhaps a better description of Martin ukes.

To Be Over midi

I was intending to post this during the second round of riff tabs, and it completely slipped my mind. Which was a shame as this is a rather lovely little intro and makes a good contrast to the heavy, crunching riffs.

This tab was put together by IanB.

Officially, the Saturday UkeTube is on hiatus at the moment. However, these five videos are just too good. I had to share them.

John King – Bach Prelude

You have to check out his other three videos as well.

Sweetafton23 – Mr Fancy Pants

Brian Hefferan – Elite Syncopations

theDesignmachine – Fat Bottom Girls

Ukulelezaza – Paper Moon

Ukulele Review interviews Jim Beloff.

Ukulele Videos with one click downloads of YouTube videos.

Ukulele Christmas in Helsinki with Ukebox, Ukulelezaza and more.

UkeCast Holiday Special – my favourite is the handsome guy in the pink.

I stumbled across a some interesting torrents (while I was searching for something completely legal) of Ukulele Noir at the Nave with Craig Robertson and, the East Boston Make Out Club Band and Uncle Shoe. Craig says, “‘sokay…”.

Download an mp3 of The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain performing The Automatic’s Is It A Monster on CBBC. There are also some mp3s of them performing Christmas songs on their website.

Amy Crehore has two more pieces of uke starring art.

Paul Merton’s Silent Clowns featured Harold Lloyd this week including this scene from Captain Kidd’s Kids where Lloyd impresses some sexy pirates with his uke abilities (from about 1:40).

Untouched By Work or Duty draws our attention to ukulele covers of Morrissey on the ukulele by Perrecy with an mp3. Old Blue Bus has mp3s of island version of Stagger Lee.

Bloomberg covers the UK uke revival.

howjsay takes a stand on the oo-koo-lay-lay vs. yoo-ka-lay-lee debate.

Jingle Bells (Tab)

Jingle Bells (mp3)

A fairly simple tab, this one. In the verse, the melody is fingerpicked and the strummed chords are fitted around it.

There are a couple of tricky little bits. The first is ‘on a one…’. Here you have to use your index and middle fingers to play the same note three times in quick succession. The second is in bar 15. I think it’s all the John King around at the moment that made me tab it like this. Here are a couple of easier possibilities:

The chorus is just strummed chords. The basic chords are written above the tab. Most of the melody notes are contained within the chords but there are a few occasions where the chords have to be changed slightly to accommodate them.

When I was recording, I improvised the rhythm rather than playing it exactly as it’s tabbed. I suggest you do the same.

Get tab for 12 more of my Christmas arrangements for $9 with How To Play Christmas Ukulele.

This work by Ukulele Hunt is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

Herb Ohta – Sophisticated Ukulele (Book and CD)

Herb Ohta (or Ohta-San if you prefer) has been playing the uke professionally for over 60 years and has released over 60 albums – he probably knows what he’s talking about when it comes to the uke.

Sophisticated Ukulele is another book in the Jumpin’ Jim’s Ukulele Masters series but is presented in a very different way to the John King book. There is no tab in this book; just chord diagrams and the melody in standard notation.

The book features 26 songs mainly from the Great American Songbook but with 5 Ohta originals. The accompanying CD has Ohta playing solo ukulele versions of 15 of these. The full list of songs:

Dinah, Feeling Like It Lately, Fools Rush In, Georgia On My Mind, I’ll Be Seeing You, Imagine, I Won’t Dance, It’s A Sin To Tell A Lie, Ja-Da, Jeanie, The More I See You, My Blue Heaven, The Nearness Of You, Night & Day, Poipu-I Hawaii, September Song, Sophisticated Hula, Stardust, Sukiyaki, Sunny, Take The A Train, The Very Thought Of You, Waikiki Beach, Waikoloa, When I Fall In Love, Yesterday

Good stuff:
– There are some very nice arrangements here.
– I think anyone who works through this book will come away with some new chord ideas.
– Ja-Da.

Not so good stuff:
– No tab. That’s a big disadvantage to me. Just chords and melody line don’t give the entire story of what he’s actually playing. For those who want to strum and sing, this will not be an issue.
– Many songs aren’t on the CD.

Suitable for: Beginner to intermediate. Those who love to strum through and sing the old standards.

Overall: Well worth the price of admission. The fact you have to do some of the work yourself in putting together arrangements isn’t an entirely bad thing.

If you have this book, leave a comment letting us know your opinion.

I’ll be taking a look at some of my favourite ukulele books, DVDs and CDs. If you have a favourite ukulele book DVD etc, let us know about it in the comments.

John King – Classical Ukulele (Book and CD)

There’s little doubt that John King is one of the foremost ukulele technicians (just check out his YouTube channel for proof). He spent many years playing the classical guitar and not only brings the classical repertoire to the ukulele but also brings the classical technique and approach to playing. He’s very big on the ‘campanella’ style – playing one note per string and letting them ring into each other – and uses it throughout the book.

Classical Ukulele is part of Jim Beloff’s Jumpin’ Jim’s Ukulele Masters series and tabs out 19 of King’s arrangements. Although it’s called ‘Classical Ukulele’, around half the pieces in the book couldn’t be classed as classical. And that’s all to the good since my favourite pieces are the traditional tunes (particularly ‘Alekoki and Tarantella Italiana).

Most of the works in the book are arranged for solo ukulele. One, Rigaudon, is arranged for two ukuleles and five are arranged for ukulele and guitar.

The book comes with a CD of all the tabs. King plays a Fluke (which is a blow to those of us who think we’d sound that good if only we were playing a DaSilva special).

You can get a flavour of the style and difficulty with the tabs he has put up on his site.

Full list of tabs:

An Air From County Derry (Danny Boy), Greensleeves, Sakura (Cherry Blossoms), The Celebrated Chop Waltz (Chopsticks), Prélude (Op. 28, No. 20), ‘Alekoki, Pupu A‘o ‘Ewa, Ah! Vous dirai-je, Maman, Prélude (BWV 846), Ahe Lau Makani, Tarantella Italiana, Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring, Prélude (from BWV 1007), Rigaudon, Für Elise, Menuett, La Carolina, Les Barricades Mystérieuses, The Entertainer

Good stuff:
– The arrangements are the most elegant I’ve ever seen on the ukulele.
– They’re a good challenge for an intermediate player.
– The CD is great. I’ve listened to it for pleasure a number of times.
– It’s a masterclass in the ‘campanella’ style and has been a big influence on how I arrange tunes for the uke.

Not so good stuff:
– If you’ve read his articles on Nalu Music , you’ll know that King is one of the most engaging and knowledgeable ukulele writers there is. I’d have liked to have seen some of that in the book.
– The campanella style can sound a bit weak. I would have preferred beefed-up uke arrangements to guitar accompaniment.
– A bit more guidance on what the right hand should be doing would have helped me.
– Chopsticks?

Suitable for: Intermediate to advanced. Those who like to get stuck in to some tricky and challenging pieces.

Overall: best ukulele tab book I’ve ever bought.

If you have this book, leave a comment letting us know your opinion.

More Christmas gifts for ukulele players

Winger – Santa Baby (mp3)

You might know this song in its versions by Eartha Kitt, Kylie, Madonna or Marilyn Monroe (who never sang it), but my favourite is by Winger (no, not the hair metal band Winger). Not only is it played on ukulele, it has uke-adapted lyrics – so this is the version I’ve written up.

Download Santa Baby on Amazon

Deciding which ukulele to buy is tricky even for seasoned uke players. If you play uke for long enough you’ll discover the right answer to the question ‘which ukulele should I buy?’ is ‘all of them’. If you’re buying your first ukulele or you’re buying someone else’s first uke it can be difficult to know where to start. So I’ve put to together a little first time ukulele buyers guide (particularly for people buying online). If you’ve got any advice to add, let everyone know in the comments.

Ukuleles make great gifts for kids to get them into making music – they fit into child sized hands and let them jump around pretending to be rock stars. They’re also great presents for musicians – particularly guitarists – as they are very portable and easy to learn.

Unless you live in Hawaii, dedicated ukulele shops are hard to come by. Local music/guitar shops will probably sell a couple of very basic models. If you want some real choice, the internet is probably your best bet.

There are a number of dedicated ukulele sites in the US, The Ukulele Shop in the UK and RISA/Uke Surfer in Germany. But the biggest choice is to be found on eBay. Buying on eBay can be a bit risky sometimes, but there are some ukulele sellers with good reputations. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anything buy glowing praise for musicguymic from anyone. All the instruments he sells, even the cheapest, are expertly set up. ukulele4u is another popular seller and usually has a wider selection of lower priced ukes.

Which Size Ukulele Should I Buy?

There are four main sizes of ukulele: soprano, concert, tenor and baritone. The smallest of these, soprano, is the classic ukulele and the one that most people start on – particularly children. If someone has asked you to buy them a ukulele, this is probably what they mean.

How Much Should I Spend?

There are a lot of cheap ukuleles for under $20. These are usually playable – many people start out on these – and would make a good present / stocking filler for a guitar player. However, they’re often not set up ideally which isn’t handy for a beginner. Spending a little more will give you a much better instrument and will be more playable straight out of the box.

Ukuleles for Under $50

Makala ukuleles are your best bet if you’re on a tight budget. As I mentioned before, if you musicguymic it will be properly set up (which makes it worth the small premium). It’s also worth getting a decent set of strings to put on it (such as Aquila).

Another popular budget option is Mahalo ukuleles. Their popularity stems mainly from looks, particularly the Mahalo Flying-V ukuleles and – insanely popular with girls of all ages – pink Mahalos.

Ukuleles for under $100

Kala ukuleles mostly inhabit the $200 – $300 price range but also make some lower price models. The Kala Soprano ukulele with set up and strings for $60 looks like a good deal to me. Oscar Schmidt are another popular company that sell ukulele in this price range.

In a similar price range in Europe, is the Ashbury Concert for £50. I have the Koa version and wouldn’t be without it.

More Christmas gifts for ukulele players

Terry Kinakin – My Little Gold Digger (mp3)
Terry Kinakin -Pineapple Sunday (mp3)

That there is the first KoAloha Sceptre of the first batch of KoAloha Sceptres.

Terry Kinakin plays just about every fretted instrument going (banjo, guitar, mandolin) with a wide variety of groups in many different styles. But, obviously, it’s his uke playing that gets me all hot and bothered. As well as playing with the Nashville Ukulele Society, he also writes and performs solo material and he was kind enough to send me some mp3s. One of which was an ode to the KoAloha Sceptre itself.

Terry Kinakin – Sceptre-ific (mp3)

You can read the story of how he came by the first Sceptre off the production line and his meeting with Mr KoAloha himself, Alvin Okami, here. He’s certainly done the instrument justice with the tune Sceptre-ific. It’s a fantastic little fingerpicking piece that takes advantage of the tone, volume and range of the Sceptre. I couldn’t resist grabbing my (lower quality) uke and playing the tune myself. Here’s the tab for the first section.

You can find out more about Terry, download more mp3s and friend him up on his MySpace.