This video went up yesterday and I’ve already had a deluge of requests. Including three from one person. So I’ve set aside my holiday shenanigans (and my irrationally intense dislike of JGL) and put it up in time for New Year’s.

It is a really lovely song with some nice jazzy touches. Like the I-II7-iv-V7 turnaround and the G#7 leading into the middle.

If you don’t fancy dashing up to the 6th fret for the F#7 you can play it this way.

Suggested Strumming

For intro you can do this for the first three chords:

d – d u

And a down strum for the E7.

And you can do just down strums for the main bit of the song too.

In the verse: four down strums for the A and G7. Two each until the B chord (four for that) then back to two each.

In the middle: four down strums for the C#m and two each for the others in the first two lines. In the third line, six down strums for the C#m and two for the F#7. Then four each in the last line.

Buy the Ella Fitzgerald version

When I got my first ukulele, I was completely clueless. This was in those dark, long forgotten days before the internet had been discovered. I didn’t even realise that the strings weren’t supposed to go thickest to thinnest and restrung it.

So, to save you from the social disgrace I experienced, I’ve put together a mini-ebook covering the basics that every first time uke owner needs to know. Here’s what it contains:

Five Things to Know
Five Chords to Learn
Five Songs to Play
Five Websites to Visit
Five Things to Get Free
Five Things to Buy
Five Videos to Watch
Five YouTube Channels to Subscribe to

You can download it free by clicking here:

And get playing by following the beginner ukulele lessons.

Download Podcast #12
Subscribe on iTunes
Subscribe via RSS

Uke Hunt Christmas Podcast 2011 in your face.

Packed with Christmassy tracks from acts including former session guests Uke’s Not Dead and Helen Arney. As with any Christmas, it contains swearing and adult themes.

1. Alfred Williams – The Queen’s Rap

2. Uke’s Not Dead & Helen Arney – Just for Christmas

3. Thomas Oliver Jones – Gabriel

4. Sara Dennis & Gavin Wood – (Be Mine) This Christmas Time

5. Ballard C. Boyd – The Firewood Song

6. Lloyd Gabriel – Choking You

7. Shiny and the Spoon – Buried

8. Jane Cameron – Cold Dead Leaves: Get the EP on Bandcamp

9. Ryan Patterson – Stainless Steel Man

10. Phredd – Merry Pirate Christmas

You can get in touch and submit tracks for consideration if you follow the rules (particularly the one about file format) via:

Facebook
Soundcloud
Email at podcast@ukulelehunt.com

Last post of 2011 (except the usual one for the Christmas uke-getters and possibly a podcast). I’ll be back mid-January.

Until then, happy holidays (if you’re into that kind of thing) whatever that may be and however you choose to spend it. I’ll be eating, drinking, gambling and letting my servants wear my clothes in celebration of Saturnalia.

Here’s a selection of my favourite ukulele Christmas videos. See you in 2012!

Read the rest of this entry »

Tis the season to be jazzy. And I’ve thrown some decidedly jazzy bits into this tune from A Charlie Brown Christmas.

I’ve added an intro with a few licks (using the E minor pentatonic scale) and some discordant chords. It’s played very loosely so feel free to change whatever you like or – even better – come up with your own.

Other than some unfamiliar chords, the tune isn’t too challenging. The right hand is all done with the thumb (except for the last chord).

Buy the MP3

Christmas Tab ebooks

Revelation of the week is LP. I wasn’t hopeful when I clicked on the video but I was blown away. Also this week, Kate and Janelle sing to save their schoool and break the shit out of Neko Case’s heart in the process. And the uke-adjacent clip of the week is Tamburica 5 sing the Croation folk song that inspired Lili’uokalani to write Aloha ‘Oe which in turn inspired this Cajun tune (I’m not sure why that lady is so scared of such an adorable dog).

UPDATE: You can download an MP3 of LP’s performance on her website for free. (Thanks to SamD)
Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve only bought one ukulele this year (my aNueNue harp ukulele) and I haven’t entirely formed my opinion on that yet. But there’s other stuff I’ve bought this year (or wangled for free) that has been well worth the money.

Music

The ukulele albums I’ve listened to most this year are:

Givers – In Light
Leftover Cuties – Places to Go
Emily Scott – i write letters i never send
Tune-Yards – W H O K I L L

But there are plenty more great ukulele songs released this year. I’ve made a Spotify playlist of some of them I could find on there.

And I’ve put together a Spotify playlist of my favourite non-ukulele songs of the year.

Both are a random assortment of tracks that happened to pop into my head. I’m sure I’ve left out plenty of stuff (and quite a few great uke albums aren’t on Spotify).

Books

I am, of course, going to be completely biased and suggest you buy a copy of Ukulele for Dummies.

On less self-interested note, I’d highly recommend Lil’ Rev’s 101 Ukulele Licks for anyone looking to do some ukulele soloing.

My copy of Ralph Shaw’s The Ukulele Entertainer has yet to wing its way across the ocean but – since it’s based on his blog posts – I feel confident that’ll be well worth the money.

On a non-ukulele front, and after some initial skepticism, I took the plunge and bought a Kindle. It’s part of my drive to get rid of as much junk from my life as possible. I’ve tackled the biggest problem (CDs) and books are next on the list (ukuleles are third – don’t know what I’m going to do about that). Best thing about it: you can hook it up to Instapaper and make it a whole lot easier to read long articles on the net.

If you’re worried about me being easily bought (a very fair position to hold) the stuff I got free was: Leftover Cuties, Emily Scott and 101 Ukulele Licks. I would have gladly paid full whack for all of them.

That crack when Steve Martin stands up after singing Tonight, You Belong to Me? It’s the sound of a foot going through a Martin ukulele.

I wrote a bit about ukulele songs and cultural appropriation. The short version: the mock-Hawaiian songs from the early years of the ukulele-boom are really horrid.

Amazon US are offering $3 off my book Ukulele for Dummies (click where it says ‘Clip this coupon’).

The book of Ralph Shaw’s blog, The Ukulele Entertainer is out now.

More free Christmas ukulele tunes from Patsy Monteleone and Shiny and the Spoon.

Will from the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain discusses the tracks of his years.

Oh shit, I own a Mahalo.

Good news for Aquila, bad news for cows. They can make real gut strings again (via @danieladuck).

It’s the best day ever to be a bartione player.

Learn pieces quicker backwards.

Ryan Gosling is Time’s Coolest Person of the Year mostly due to his ukulele playing.

Un Ukulélé pour Junior (you can buy it here)

I thought I’d do a tab to give you an idea of what the stuff in the How to Play Christmas Ukulele ebook is like. Which, by the way, you can get $2 off if you use the code ‘armadillo’ by the 18th December.

But I’m not sure why I chose this one. I can’t stand the ‘baby Jesus meek and mild’ lyrics. I’m more into the ‘Jesus is here to fuck shit up‘ songs. But the tunes nice.

Like in the ebook, I’ve done two arrangements for this. The first one is a full arrangement that has the melody and back played on one uke. It’s arranged very simply. The right hand is all done with the thumb. And the left hand is based on familiar chord shapes (F, Bb, Gm and C).

Melody Arrangement

The second arrangement is even simpler. The tab is just the single note melody which stays in the first position (except a quick trip to the fifth fret). And the chords above it.

For the strumming I’m doing this once for each bar:

d – d u d –

Here’s that being played:

Away in a Manger (MP3)

I’ve put the chords and melody on different sides so you can adjust your balance and play along with either.

Buy How to Play Christmas Ukulele

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

Instructions:

– Grab a piece of paper
– Display your uke knowledge
– Check the answers here (no peeking)
– Leave your score in the comments along with your dangs/woohoos.

Name That Chord

What chords are these on a standard C-tuned (gCEA) ukulele?

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Name That Celeb

Which famous person is ukeing in these pictures?

6.

7. Half a point each.

8.

9.

10.

Name That Singer

Who is singing these ukulele songs? (Update: Round ruined by YouTube changes!)

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

Name That Ukulele

What brand are these ukuleles? (You don’t have to name the model but I’ll be suitably impressed if you do)

16.

Photo by: Monsieur Gordon

17.

Photo by: Metal Chris

18.

Photo by: TEDxHonolulu

19.

Photo by: Vicki and Chuck Rodgers

20.

Photo by: cartoixa

Name That Note

In tab for standard C-tuning (gCEA) what notes are these? (e.g. C, D, Eb)

21.

22.

23.

24.

25.

Name That Cover

Which act are these ukulele orchestras covering?

26. Baines Ukulele Orchestra

27. Ukulele Orchestra of the Western Hemisphere

28. Hull Ukulele Group

29. Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra

30. Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain

Go here and check your answers.

Past Quizzes

Ukulele Quiz 2010
Ukulele Quiz 2009