In case you missed it on Wednesday you can get 50% off the How to Play Ukulele ebooks until the end of September by using this code: cowhouse
Videos
– Kimo Hussey’s right hand technique.
– Ralph Steadman – his Hunter S Thompson illustrations – has a bit of a strum in his studio.
– The Plight of the iUke Piccolo Ukulele (thanks to Ron Hale).
– Cliff “Ukulele Ike” Edwards and Charlotte Greenwood sing Frankie and Johnny.
Pictures
– Ukulele fan art.
– More ukulele fan art
– Ukelele Boys
– The ukulele player under the red lamp
– Italian Love Songs (c.1920)
– Mexico City 1941
– Melody Sisters (c.1920)
Records
– The Barnkickers are Barn-Kickstarting their second album.
Playing
– Free Tabs from Aaron Keim
– 10 ways to optimize your music practice.
Ukes
– Kala Ukelimba.
– Baritone harp ukulele (via Humble Baritonics).
Friday Time Waster
– PicTune: a musical listening game (via Nerdcubed).
This post started out as one of my Riffs for Ukulele posts but it ended up evolving into an intros post.
I did think that acoustic guitar would transfer better to the uke than the electric riffs. Nope! They tend to be much more complex. So I’ve taken a few liberties with these arrangements and some of them are still very tricky.
The same riff rules apply:
– These aren’t necessarily in the same key as the original.
– If you want the rest of the song you’re shit out of luck.
Mumford and Sons – Roll Away Your Stone
Nick Drake – Fly
This version is for smaller ukes. If your uke goes as high as the 13th fret you can play the descending notes all on the C-string. That does make it a bit easier and gives it a more consistent tone.
It’s played campanella style and picked with thumb and two fingers.
Jose Gonzalez – Heartbeats
This is the one I had most trouble getting down and is the most changed from the original. Again it’s played thumb and two fingers picking style.
Tracy Chapman – Fast Car
Finally, a straight forward one. Here I’m doing strumming and picking the g-string with my thumb. And picking the A-string with my index finger.
Black Crowes – She Talks to Angels
The picking for this one is all over the place. I just use whichever finger comes to hand at any point.
Links
I’ve felt for a long time that the current copyright law is working against the reasons it was set up. But I’ve been getting more annoyed by all the copyright trolling, Mickey Mouse copyright extensions and massive overreach.
I have no intention of suing anyone and I’ve always let people use stuff from my ebooks in lessons and uke groups when they’ve asked. So I’ve decided it’s high time I make that formal. From now on all my How to Play Ukulele ebooks have a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License (CC-BY-SA).
What it Means
It means you’re free to share the stuff in any way you like. For example, you can:
– Print off sections and use them in a ukulele lesson.
– Print off tab of a tune and share it with your uke group.
– Record audio and video performances of the arrangements.
– Use them to make a video tutorial.
– Translate them.
What you have to do
All you have to do is tell them you got it from Uke Hunt (because I have a ravenous ego and must be adored). It would also be cool if you let me know how you’re using it because I’d be really interested to know.
You also have to use the same (or similar) license on anything you use it to make. For example, if you use it to make a YouTube video select the Creative Commons license option when you upload it. Or if you translate it give the translation the same CC-BY-SA license.
What it Doesn’t Apply to
These DON’T have a CC license because I don’t have the power to give them one:
– The stuff that isn’t mine in the Ukuleles for Peace ebook.
– Ukulele for Dummies.
Keston Cobblers’ Club – Beam (Chords)
I’ve been singing the praises of Keston Cobblers’ Club for quite a while but their new EP A Scene of Plenty is the best thing they’ve done yet.
This ode to Iron & Wine is the single from it and is dead easy to play. They’re all variations on a G chord. Although they do have different roles in the song depending on what the other instruments are doing. For example, in the middle section the first G is playing the role of an Em7. But I’ve kept the same chord names throughout to keep things simple.
Suggested Strumming
For a simple main strum you can use:
d – d u – u d u
Intro: A bit complicated. Two down-strums on the G. Back to the main strum until the last three chords. Do d – d u for the Gsus4 and G. Then back to the main pattern for the last chord.
Verse and Outro: Main strum once for each chord.
Chorus: Main strum once for each chord except the Gsus2s. Main pattern twice for the first Gsus2. And four times for the last one.
Shouty Bit If you’re feeling ambitious on the A-meh-ri-ca bit you can do three triplet strums followed by a down strum on each syllable. Or you can just do four down-strums.
Middle: Main strum once for every chord. Except twice on the final chord.
Links
Buy the MP3
Keston Cobblers’ Club
Pett Level chords
You-Go chords
I’m back from my summer break to find a whole bunch of items to lubricate your wallet-slit and get rid of any leftover ice cream money.
Sophie Madeleine’s Original Ukulele
Sophie is auctioning off her original ukulele for Cancer Research. And it’s not some shitty uke she had laying around either. It’s the one that she plays in her first video, appears all over her two albums and is in her Rhythm You Started video.
Records
Will Grove White – Silver Linings
Heidi Swedberg – My Cup of Tea
Matt Griffo – Live At Geva
Craig Robertson – When Close Is Not Good Enough
Ninebarrow – Kingdon EP
Kickstarting
Portland’s UkeLadies are kickstarting a pin-up calendar.
Tyrone and Lesley’s Third Album.
Time for a blog break. I’m off to aestivate for a few weeks.
If you want to keep up with me I’ll still be posting on UkeToob, Tumblr and Twitter.
Have a good one!
Cloggheads – Graveyard
Thanks to Ron Hale.
Hein Overbeek – Swing Gitane
Thanks to Ron Hale.
Svavar Knútur and Marius Ziska – Tokan
New Releases
– the Spark & the Fire by Leftover Cuties.
– Keston Cobblers’ Club hop on a bus with Bob Harris to launch their new EP: A Scene of Plenty.
– Calamitous Liaisons by Tricity Vogue.
– R&B singer and jazz trumpeter has a new EP for free: Sam Trump Plays The Uke (download is at the bottom of the page).
– Answer Sheet – Chapter I : Istas Promenade.
Uke Talk
– Amanda Palmer talking a lot about ukuleles.
– In case you were wondering about the source The Independent‘s claim that, “a Frank Skinner-inspired ukulele craze has actually led to an unwanted surplus of the instruments being sold for as little £1.12 on eBay.” It’s the parody news site The Daily Mash.
– Former teacher, 104, remembers Johnny Cash’s school days: “He had a sweet smile and he played the ukulele. He brought it to school.”
Videos
– Now that’s commitment to making a ukulele video.
– Glenn Haworth is going to attempt to play the ukulele for 24 hours.
– Ian Whitcomb talks to Google about ukulele heroes.
Blood analysis of a UAS sufferer. Are we closer to a cure?
David Beckingham – Spanish Flea
It’s a great pleasure to have David Beckingham back on the blog. His arrangements are always a treat. And I’m obviously not the only one to think so. His version of In the Mood
the trailer for the documentary As Time Goes by in Shanghai.
David was kind enough to let me post his tab of his arrangement of Spanish Flea.
