Videos this week include: a duet between Cliff ‘Ukulele Ike’ Edwards and Buster Keaton (which I think I’ve posted before but is well worth another spin), two from Liverpudlian swingers The Flamin’ Mamies, Mr B and plenty more.
If you’ve got the patience for it and tolerance for lofi recording there’s a new, 8 minute Tune-Yards song here.
And, remember, if you can’t wait two weeks between UkeTubes you can follow my video findings on UkeToob.
Germans in Grass Skirts?: A history of Martin ukuleles (Via @UkeTeeCee).
David’s official uke rules. Including:
– Don’t say you play the ukulele if you just own one and don’t touch it.
– Don’t be an overly happy asshole
– Don’t constantly flit around reminding everyone you play the ukulele…
– …Unless you’re James Hill. Then you fucking rock.
I was interviewed by Ukulele and Languages.
Jake interviewed by Fretboard Journal. One revelation:
FJ: Do you prefer slotted headstocks?
JS: You know, it really doesn’t matter to me. However Kamaka prefers to build them, that’s how I take ‘em.
Frank Skinner Plays the banjolele on QI.
Buy the Bigfoot and Tiki collection.
Kickstarting: The Love Leighs.
MP3s: Bosco and Honey on ABC Sydney, Songs Illinois has Lucy Michelle and the Velvet Lapels, Fluxblog has Tune-Yards.
Middle lead of The Beatles’ Something on Uker Tabs.
Pictures: The situation was deteriorating rapidly, The Magic Ukulele, vintage ukers, O.M.G. A U.K.E. : Ukuleles in Pop Culture.
If I give my ukulele a girl’s name will people think I’m a lesbian?
Is this the first time I’ve done a Burt Bacharach song? I think so. And it’s a huge omission. One that Shireen of Mighty Ukulele suggested I fix.
I’m playing this mostly fingerstyle. The only strumming is done where you see the arrows in the tab. Most of these are finger-strums. But there are thumbs in the, “In silence…” section and the final chord.
I got asked why I use my thumb to strum when I’m so against it usually. There is a difference between general strumming and strumming in a tune. In solo playing using your thumb will give you a softer sound. It’s also more practical sometimes. When you need to strum up to a specific string it’s a whole lot easier to do with your thumb.
When I announced I was switching to posting one-week-on, one-week-off the main reaction was, “yeah, but you’re still going to do the UkeTube every week, right?” No, I’m not.
But I am going to do something better.
When Donnie announced that he was going to bring UkeToob.com to an end I immediately begged him to let me take it on. And he was kind enough to let me.
So from now on I’ll be posting videos I like on there. There’s a rating underneath each video so if you see one you like rate it and that’ll improve its chances of making the Uke Hunt round-up.
I’ve also got a few ideas for other types of posts. So far there’s a videography of James Hill and a top 5 ukulele videos uploaded to YouTube this month.
It’s going to be a while before it settles in so let me know what you like, what you dislike, and what you’d like to see.
You can subscribe by RSS or by email using the links at the top of the page on UkeToob.
I’m working my way through this album from the outside in. I did the opening track here and here’s the album’s closer.
This song has many of the features you’d expect of a Beirut ukulele song: it’s in waltz time, there’s a hammer-on from a second to a major third (although it’s on a D chord rather than the usual F) and there’s plenty of incomprehensible mumbling.
For a dead simple strum you could use this:
d – d u – u
Which – slowed down – sounds like this:
Use that twice for Em, once for each of the Cs. Then (if you’re not doing the twiddly Dsus2 passing chord) it’s twice for D.
For the G-Gsus4 bit, do the main strum for the G. Then one down strum each for Gsus4 – G – Gsus4.
For the rest, it’s four times each.
You can fancy it up a bit by using this two bar pattern:
d – d u – u d u d u – u
Which sounds like this:
The little Dsus2 – D hammer-on is played like this:
So you play the Dsus2 chord and hammer-on the E-string at the second fret.
In the chord chart I’ve written it up in the intro only, but it’s played all the way through the song.
Videos this week include lightening picking from sanford ‘automatic inclusion’ andsong, zombie rocking from the Darling Sweets and this week’s non-uke video from Seth Lakeman and his tenor guitar.
Read the rest of this entry »
A bumper crop of Martins this week:
– Martin 5K
– 30’s 2M
– Martin Style 3 (I think this is the one I’d go for)
– 1932 Martin 2K
And this one covered in beads. I’m not sure how it could play, “like a million dollars,” and sound, “fantastic,” with all that stuff on it. But the artist has been on Oprah so it must be good.
Decorated resonator baritone (via Phredd).
Kapono 8-string baritone.
Miniature ukuleles.
100 ukulele players help to open the Rugby World Cup.
Charlie McDonnell has become the first UK vlogger to cross the million subscribers mark and the press coverage has really focussed on his uke playing. Including on ITV’s Daybreak (another video here if you’re outside the UK).
Ukulele for Dummies has picked up its first bad review. Which I was expecting to happen. But it’s annoying that the review seems to be based on solely on the video clip on the page. So if you’ve got a copy, now would be the perfect time to leave a review. Good, bad or indifferent. So long as it’s based on the actual book. I’d really appreciate it. And a huge thanks to everyone who has left review.
Fozzie Bear is confirmed as my favourite Muppet. He’s hot shit on the ukulele and shreds Kermit to pieces (thanks to Carrie).
10 Warren Buffett quotes for guitar players – obviously meant for ukulele players.
Eardumspop is giving away three songs from Laura K.
I’ve been turned into a work of art.
Youngsters are bored by ukulele festivals.
I’m going to have to revise my opinion that Lisa Hannigan and Damien Rice are the Brian Clough and Peter Taylor of Irish music; earth-conquering genius together but a bit disappointing apart. This song and the free track you get when you join her mailing list have got me very excited about her next album.
You need to tune all the strings down three frets so you get e – A – C# – F#. Which sounds like this:
The picking pattern stays the same the whole way though. But she takes advantage of the re-entrant tuning to make it sound more varied than it actually is.
The picking pattern goes like this:
Thumb picks g-string
Index picks E-string
Thumb picks C-string
Middle picks A string
Here’s how the pattern sounds slowed down:
Because the pattern doesn’t vary and is fast you need some hand strength to get all the way through.
Pre-Order via LisaHannigan.ie
UPDATE
Joe Dan emailed me with some interesting info about the tuning Lisa uses:
That tuning, e-A-C#-F#, is the tuning recommended in Wendell Hall’s Ukulele Method (edited by May Singhi Breen and copyright 1950, published by Forster Music, Chicago, Ill) for his “Taraguitar” (played like a uke but tuned three tones lower), an instrument I have never seen pictured or identified anywhere. Some believe the Taraguitar might have been modeled on the taropatch ukulele, but perhaps with a somewhat larger body and longer scale length. Hall, of course, was one of ukulele stars of the 1920s ukulele boom (“It Ain’s Gonna Rain No Mo” was his biggest hit of that era.)
Breen, of course, is in the Ukulele Hall of Fame. Hall also developed a variation of the tenor ukulele that he called the “Teeviola,”which was made by Regal and carried Hall’s signature on the peghead, and I own one of those instruments. Sometime after acquiring my first quality ukulele, a Martin concert model in 1961, I stumbled on that same tuning and used it, entirely by ear without even realizing exactly what I had done, and did not fully understand until many years later when I happened upon a copy of the Wendell Hall Ukulele Method, mentioned above. I liked the lower tuning on my Martin concert ukulele because it seemed better suited to my voice and I still use it today on my concert, my tenor and some of my baritone ukuleles.
It was not until the advent of electronic tuners that I knew exactly what tuning I was using, as I had previously only tuned the instrument by ear without comparison to pitch pipe or piano. Perhaps someday you can do the research and publish some background and photos of the elusive Taraguitar mentioned by Hall?
Yes, this is post number 1,500. And it’s just a mish-mash of stuff that reaching that milestone brought to mind.
If you’ve got any thoughts on any of these, leave a comment or send an email. I’d like to know what you think and which direction you’d like to see things go over the next 1,500 posts.
First off, it’s time to refresh things. The eagle-eyed amongst you will have noticed a few changes to the theme. There’s now a podcast bit on the front page and a Dummies bit in the sidebar. And a few other clean ups. If you spot any issues (like the titles in the How to Play and Review sections are screwy) please do let me know. And if you’re seeing a font like this for the post title (on the website) rather than the Saul Bass type font in the header, could you leave a comment.
I’m also rewriting the ebooks and giving them the same look as the blog. That might mean some of them disappear for a little while before they get a re-release.
And there are a lot of old/outdated news and window shopping posts. What do you think I should do with those? Delete them? Leave them? Rewrite them to make them more timeless?
Realising I’d written 1,500 posts, ten ebooks and a 360 page paper book made me wonder if I’d written more about the ukulele than anyone else ever. Anyone know of any other contenders?
After doing all that, I’ve decided to slow down posts here. So I’ll be doing one-week-on, one-week-off for a while and seeing how that goes.
If you’re desperate for more, I’ll probably be upping the amount of stuff I post on Tumblr, Twitter and Google+. I’ve been posting a few previews and extra bits of tab to my circles on Google+. So if you’re on there add me and I’ll put you in the ‘Ukulele Players’ circle. Unless your only following me to get in my pants in which case I’ll add you to the ‘Pants’ circle (but I think circles are limited to 5,000 so that one is going to fill up quickly).
1,500 posts in and I’ve posted loads of stuff I love, a few things I used to like and now I’m not so sure about, some stuff I don’t like (those are the most popular), and plenty of deeply unpopular stuff.
Here’s a round-up of the stuff I like most.
Magnum P.I. Theme
Irish Washerwoman
Ellie Goulding – Starry Eyed
Duelling Banjos
Five Black Keys Riffs
Jonsi – Go Do
Sigur Ros – Hoppipolla
Penguin Cafe Orchestra – Music for a Found Harmonium
Harry Potter – Hedwig’s Theme
Jay-Z – Death of Auto-Tune
Iron & Wine – Naked As We Came
Elliott Brood – The Valley Town
James Bond Theme
Star Wars – Cantina Band
The Office: An American Workplace Theme
Match of the Day Theme
Bon Iver/Kina Grannis – Michicant
Jonathan Coulton & GLaDOS – Want You Gone
Carly Simon – Nobody Does It Better
Mumford & Sons – The Cave
Mr B the Gentleman Rhymer – Chap-Hop History
Sophie Madeleine – Take Your Love With Me (The Ukulele Song)
Melissa Polinar – Beyond the Blue Horizon
Bon Iver – Skinny Love
Erika Eigen – I Want To Marry A Lighthouse Keeper
The Pogues – Streams of Whiskey
The Ramones – Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want To Fight)
Beirut – Elephant Gun
Gothic Archies – Scream and Run Away
Jim Tranquada
Cory McAbee
Bob Brozman
Kate Micucci
Podcast 8 with Helen Arney
Podcast 4 with Uke Punk
10 Things You Hear About Ukuleles That Might Be Bollocks
10 Things I Wish I’d Known About Ukuleles Before I Bought One
10 Things I Learnt From John King
10 Reasons It’s Easier To Learn Guitar Than Ukulele
Ten Reasons You NEED To Buy A New Ukulele
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