With all the intricate and dexterous actions that evolution has equipped our hands for it’s left us woefully unprepared to play an Fmaj7 chord on the ukulele. It’s made plenty of chord changes a pain in the arse too. Laziness to the rescue! You can change the fingering of a chord or use a different […]

A while back I got a comment by Michael asked me for suggestions of songs in a minor key. Which struck me as an excellent idea of a post because I’m always looking for an excuse to stick it to the ‘it’s impossible to play the ukulele without smiling’ brigade. If you’ve got a favourite […]

It’s that time of year again where I burrow dead into the ground an aestivate to avoid sunlight. I’ll be back in a month or so. If you can’t wait that long I’ll still be posting on UkeToob and Tumblr. If you’re looking for a summer project here are some lessons for you: Beginner Lessons […]

For the last few years I’ve been making Spotify playlists of the year’s ukulele releases. You can find previous year’s lists here along with a few other ukulele playlists. 2014’s list is starting to fill up nicely with long standing uke acts (like Tony Penultimate of the UOGB and Aaron Keim’s The Quiet American), big […]

Since I started the site on 12th May 2007 there’ve been 1,858 posts, 20 million visits and over 90 million page views. And I’m still amazed that I get away with writing about ukuleles for a living. It’s such a privilege that I get to do something I love and care about every day. I […]

Wilfried Welti has just released his second ebook of classical ukulele tabs. You can buy the tabs here and the MP3s here. If you’ve used Wilfried’s free ebooks Musikalisches Naschwerk für Solo Ukulele and Solo Ukulele für Einsteiger I’m sure you’re already itching to hand over your money. This collection is just as imaginatively and […]

I’ve just launched three new and improved editions of my ebooks: How to Play Ukulele Strums How to Play National Anthems How to Play Slide Ukulele They’ve been updated with a sleek new look more in line with the site. Plus more info, new arrangements and videos. If You’ve Already Bought Them Firstly, I’m insanely […]

I regularly get people asking what I use in my playing and in putting together the site. To answer those I did a post back in 2010. Things have changed a bit since then (most notably it makes no mention of apps). So here’s what I’m using these days. I’d be interested to know what […]

View Ukulele Festivals 2014 in a larger map Here’s a preliminary list of the ukulele festivals scheduled for 2014. If you have details on any others leave a comment or send me a message and I’ll get it added to the list. USA and Canada Vancouver Ukulele Festival 2014 Location: St James Hall, Vancouver, Canada […]

When I heard about the death of Pete Seeger I knew I’d have to dedicate a week to him. He was a massively important figure in music and important in a way you don’t see very often. As a musical middleman. None of the Seeger pieces I’m featuring are entirely his own work (even Turn, […]