Another medley from Mr B The Gentleman Rhymer in the vein of Chap-Hop History. This time taking on the early 90s rave music.

Two things to bear in mind:

– It’s in D tuning. The chords are all referred to with their D tuning name.

– The strumming, as always, is just suggested. He varies it and I suggest you do too.

Move Any Mountain

The first section sets the main chords – A, C and D – which crop up in other sections. The chord progression will work in the parts that don’t have banjolele in them too.

I Like To Move It

Same chords in this section with an added G chord and the occasional move up to the fifth fret.

Good Life

The next two sections move from the key of A into the equivalent minor: C#.

Chime

Worth paying attention to the strumming in this section. I had trouble getting to grips with it.

On A Ragga Tip

Back to A. The first bit of this is much trickier than it looks. You have to pay close attention to where the chords change. The only way I could find of getting it right was to count:

(A) 1, 2, 3
(D) 1, 2
(A) 1, 2,
(D) 1, 2, 3, 4
(A) 1, 2
(D) 1, 2, 3

But you might well be clever than me so count it any way you can get it right.

He busts out the triplet strums for the final section, but you can have fun here and strum however fits.

Out of Space

Nice, simple section to finish on.

Buy Mr B’s I Say!

A track this week from Watercolor Paintings’s new album These Arms (which you can buy on Bandcamp) along with a cavalcade of stars including Dave Matthews, Zooey Deschanel, Ben Schwartz, (Carolina Chocolate Drop) Dom Flemons and Robert Crumb.

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Social Links

If you’re looking for me online you can find me on Twitter and on Tumblr. And I’ve started a Google+ where you can find an exclusive tab.

I’m also experimenting with Twitter/Facebook/Google +1 buttons at the bottom of posts. I’ll give it a while and see if anyone is clicking on them and, if they are, which ones are getting used. So if you want them to stay click on your preferred method at the bottom of this post (or any other – if it’s working right).

General Links

A couple of gorgeous videos of Huakani ukuleles being made.

Ukegnome tweeted something I’ve noticed of late: the ukulele is getting very popular in Thailand. You can find out what’s happening on UkuleleThai (if you happen to read Thai).

Stereogum have a premature evaluation of the forthcoming Beirut album, The Rip Tide. I’m expecting plenty of uke since it’s named after one.

Article in The Independent about The Duke of Uke closing.

Prince Charles strums a margarine tub ukulele.

Ukulele Window Shopping

After my last Window Shopping post, Ron Hale pointed out that you can buy the sitar-kuleles on Amazon.

Lego ukulele for sale on Elderly (via Ukulelia)

If I had any musical ability or get-up-and-go, you’d be looking at a blank screen right now. I’d be off writing theme tunes, scoring movies or just writing ad jingles. And I’d want to write them like this.

Klaus Badelt’s theme tune to Pirates of the Caribbean (He’s A Pirate) is a perfect example of blockbuster theme. It’s huge, pompous and overblown. Which makes it a bugger to play on the ukulele.

I’m not doing anything fancy with the arrangement here. It’s mostly just the melody line with the chords in the background. But all the twists and turns it takes makes it very tricky to put together.

Lead Sheet

If you want to play something more straight-forward, grab a buddy and use the melody and chord version here. Or you could use it to build your own arrangement.

UPDATE: awfguitar did a version of this arrangement that’s better than mine.

The amount of ukulele stuff on the net is swelling rapidly. I spend most of my day trying to keep up and I still miss loads. So here’s a list of uke goodies you may have missed because they are nowhere near as popular as they should be. If there’s something you think I should be made aware of, please do leave a comment.

Ten Ukulele Sites That Aren’t in the Top 25 But Should Be

Taken from the Top 50 Ukulele Sites

1. Ukulele Languages

Armelle’s world tour of ukulele is only just outside the top 25. She has a great range of non-English and English language videos alike.

2. Humble Uker Ramblings

You haven’t noticed how often ‘Via Humble Uker’ turns up on the Saturday UkeTube?

3. Play Ukulele by Ear

Jim D’Ville travels the world interviewing ukulelists about their approach to music and provides invaluable information about the most widely used chord progressions.

4. Ukulele Dav
5. Descordes et Dubois

Two French sites with some excellent tabs.

6. The Backwards Ukulele Player

Michael has a real knack for finding great old news stories and pictures.

7. Ukulele Secrets

A relatively new blog from UkuleleTim promising to teach you, “how to play ukulele like a badass.”

8. Ken Middleton
9. Ukulele Bartt

Two ukers offering tabs and playing advice on their sites.

10. Ukulele Brasil

A few years back I’d get emails from Brazilians unable to find a ukulele amongst the cavaquinhos. Good to see that’s changing.

10 Posts Fewer Than 500 People Have Seen This Year

1. Rod Thomas – Same Old Lines
2. Ukulelezo – Optional Accessory

How quickly people forget, eh. Rod Thomas was the 2008 Ukulele Video of the Year and Ukulelezo was the 2008 Bushman Contest Winner.

3. The Fall – Theme From Sparta FC

Let me explain the story of the Fall-feit: I posted I’m Yours, against my better judgment, to stop the cavalcade of requests. Less than two hours after it went live, I was being taken, unconscious, to hospital. Realising I had angered the indie gods, I pledged to do a post on the most indie band there ever was whenever I posted something suspiciously popular.

4. The Elected – At Home (Time Unknown)

I only posted this because I had a bunch of requests and now no one reads it. Typical!

5. Kate Micucci Interview

If you’re ever wondering why I don’t do many interview posts anymore it’s because, no matter how famous the interviewee, no one ever reads them.

6. Shorty Long – Viper Mad
7. Mirah – Take Me Out Riding

Two great songs probably suffering from the fact they a) aren’t very well known and b) don’t have a video on YouTube for me to embed.

8. GUGUG – Get Carter

Plenty of GUGUG in the more popular posts. But not this one.

9. Jack Pepper – Girl of My Dreams

His musical talents were enough to attract Ginger Rogers, but not to attract any views.

10. The Blockheads – A Little Knowledge

The Blockheads without Ian Dury really isn’t the Blockheads.

10 YouTubers with Under 300 Subscribers Who Should Have Thousands

1. KestonCobblersClub

Loveable, tuneful folkies. Top band.

2. lololobotomy (Lila Burns)

Kimya Dawson-style songs with touching and insightful lyrics.

3. DianeRubio
4. SanfordAndSong

Two top-notch instrumentalists.

5. BenMealer

Old-school songs made fresh.

6. Phredd

So much fun your pants will explode.

7. UkesNotDead

Jeremy Kyle-loving star of Uke Hunt Podcast #6

8. NicholasAbersold

Writer of adorable songs.

9. Machitz (Roberto Moritz)
10. Machetista (Roberto Moniz)

Two Madeiran masters of the uke-precussor the machete.

5 Books Amazon Keeps Hidden

Search for ukulele books on Amazon (US) and you won’t find these on the first page.

1. 101 Ukulele Licks by Lil Rev

I wrote a full review here .

2. The Classical Ukulele by John King

Full review here.

3. Famous Solos and Duets for Ukulele by John King

My review here.

4. The Ukulele: A Visual History by Jim Beloff

My review here.

5. Ukulele for Dummies by The World’s Handsomest Ukulele Blogger

It’s not even out yet, so I can’t complain. It’s more favourably placed in the UK store. I wrote all about Ukulele for Dummies here.

I’ve hardly listened to anything else since I picked up the new Bon Iver album. It’s incredible. I think I’ve started hallucinating ukuleles in a couple of songs (not beyond the realms of possibility).

I’ve written up the chords for Michicant in a few ways. Combining the original and Kina Grannis’s ukulele cover.

Kina Grannis Version

Tuning

Kina is tuned down (roughly) 3 frets to e-A-C#-F#. But I’ve written the chord names up as if it was standard tuning.

Here are the tuning notes to match her version.

Tuning Notes

If you use these chord shapes in standard tuning, you’ll be in the same key as the live version.

Suggested Strumming

Pluck the g-string with your thumb then do two down strums. Do that twice for Faadd9 and once each for Am and Gsus2. Then use it four times for the last two chords in each verse.

Strum

In the Original Key

Try these if you want to play along with the original. It’s in C# so you can make it easier by moving everything down a fret (C – Em – D).

For strumming this one, try:

d – d u d u

Kina Grannis Version in Standard Tuning

This one is in the same key as Kina Grannis’s version but stays in standard tuning. I’ve substituted an E for the Esus2 within the verses (I think the Esus2 comes across as a Bsus4 and sounds out of place) but kept it at the end of the verse.

Buy Kina Grannis’s new album

Sophie Madeleine is spending the month leading up to the full release of her album doing a cover a day. You can watch them all here.

Or watch my two favourties so far in this post along with Connie Francis, The Winin’ Boys, Tyrone and plenty more.

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UkeToob is shutting up shop.

youkulele.com (the Italian ukulele site headed up by Jontom) has been putting up tabs – a mix of free and paid for.

I was interviewed by Got A Ukulele…

Peter Luongo discuss 30 years of heading up the Langley Ukulele Ensemble.

Trying to convince Ben Lerman to sell DIY ukuleles.

Kickstarters: Manitoba Hal is raising for his album. Amanda Palmer and Kim Boekbinder are raising for their joint single (Thanks to @im_a_mia).

The Duke of Uke are holding a 5th Anniversary Extravaganza in London next weekend. The first two nights are headed up by The Wave Pictures and Darren Hayman. And Saturday is a ukulele packed bill including Uke Hunt favourites like The Bobby McGee’s, Nigel Burch and Salwa Azar.

The Pixies on Uker Tabs.

I’ve been terribly remiss in not featuring The Who in my Riffs for Ukulele series (although I did write up their ukulele song Blue, Red and Grey). So to make up for it here are four Who chord riffs.

Can’t Explain

Riff

Be careful with this riff. There’s a slight variation on it at the end of the first verse (after ‘down in my soul’). They play a B chord instead of an A chord on that one occasion.

The strumming pattern for this one is the old down, down, up, down, down, up, windmill, windmill, windmill.

Substitute

Riff

The chord inversions are really important in this one. I moved the inversions higher up than the original so the relationship between them is similar.

Pinball Wizard

A lot of moving from sus4 to major chords. I changed my mind about the fingering for Asus4 and A. I wrote it up with the standard fingering, but decided that using ring and pinkie for Asus4 and middle and ring for A made for a much easier transition after the B.

Riff

The Seeker

Seeker

Download Podcast #9
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The June 2011 edition of the Uke Hunt podcast features Armelle interviewing Craig Robertson along with tracks from Rose Turtle Ertler, Manitoba Hal, Helen Arney, Krabbers and plenty more besides.

No podcast next month. But Bossa will be back with a bumper summer edition of the podcast in August. If you want to submit a track for consideration, head to this page for submission guidelines and ways to get in touch.

Tracklist:

1. Damon Hill – Maybe I

2. Rose Turtle Ertler featuring Yan Yalego – Fair Weather

3. Manitoba Hal – Learned Pigs and Fireproof Women

4. Tyrone – Bottoms

5. Alfred Williams – Bears

6. Krabbers – Angry Bees

7. Helen Arney – Erwin’s Other Animals

8. Armelle Europe interviews Craig Robertson Part 1

9. Craig Robertson – Conjure Box

10. Armelle Europe interviews Craig Robertson Part 2

11. Craig Robertson – I Can Make Elephants Disappear

12. Nicholas Abersold – All Summer Long

13. Beth Bird – The Living Road

14. Amitron 7 – Everything Is Orange Now

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