I’ve written up a fair few Halloween songs over the years and have spotted a few common traits that make for a spooky song. Here are some tricks you can use to write your own terrifying tune or spook up an existing one. Dissonance The quickest way to create a creepy, unnerving chord is to […]

My usual advice about strumming patterns is to not worry too much about it and try a few to see what suits you. But some songs have strumming patterns so perfect they become its central feature. The good news is that you can’t copyright a strumming pattern (if you could Metallica would have done it […]

I’ve pretty opinionated with my anti-pick stance. I find the common advice of, “Use a pick if you want to, or don’t,” entirely fair and entirely useless advice. I assume you’re here to find out what are think and are capable of rejecting if it’s bollocks. Despite my anti-pickery I do think there are some […]

Ukulele players love to blow chnks all over the place. It’s a useful technique to have in your arsenal. But it takes some practice to get down. I wrote a full guide to playing them in How to Play Ukulele Strums. But while you’re trying to get them down, here are a few alternatives you […]

I’m a big fan of campanella style picking on the ukulele and of Jonathan Lewis’s playing. So it’s no surprise I love Jonathan’s new ebook Irish Tunes for Campanella Ukulele. It’s a great selection of arrangements. I asked Jonathan if he’d like to do a guest post and he was kind enough to agree. So […]

An intro acts like an ice breaker in a conversation. They get people’s attention, set the mood (usually by establishing the key and the tempo) and set people at ease that you’re not some nutjob Ukip supporter. There’s a bit of a tension there between being interesting and setting your audience at ease. A good […]

Today’s post is a guest tutorial by classical guitarist and ukulelist Samantha Muir. She recently won the UOGB’s Valentines contest with a fancy bit of tremolo picking and was kind enough to let me share her technique with you. You can find out more about Sam and buy her classical ukulele tab ebooks at SamanthaMuir.com. […]

For simple strumming patterns the usual ‘du-‘ strumming notation works just fine. But for more intricate rhythms you need a more comprehensive system. And that’s where slash notation comes in. Slash notation looks a lot like standard musical notation. But it’s a lot simpler. It dispenses with all the notes because you only need it […]

Following on with this week’s fingerpicking accompaniment theme with some popular ukulele picking patterns. I’ve put up a few mini-posts earlier today covering: – One Finger Per String Picking Method – Thumb and Two Fingers Picking Method – Fingerpicking Notation This post follows on from those and the Fingerpicking Ukulele – First steps post with […]

In ukulele tab the finger you use to pluck the note is indicated by a letter in italics above the tab. They look like this: Each letter corresponds to a finger on your picking hand: t or p = Thumb i = Index Finger m = Middle Finger a = Ring Finger So when a […]