Every year I look forward to Aldrine Guerrero and team from Ukulele Underground making the rounds of ukulele booths at NAMM, the big music industry trade show. This year doesn’t disappoint, with a 35 video playlist of ukulele manufacturers and vendors.
The Kamaka 100th Anniversary ukuleles are coming for sale online at ukes.com. And no, I’m not affiliated at all with that company – I just compulsively watch their stock. These instruments have a special 100th anniversary headstock logo. For a taste, here’s a 100th Anniversary HF-3 Tenor. Check them all out, mixed into non-100th Anniversary models,… Read More »
Happy Easter to the Christians out there, and Happy Spring for everyone else! Here is some lovely Spring ukulele music to enjoy today. Vivaldi’s “Spring” from The Four Seasons for Solo Ukulele Spring Here’s a song I wrote and recorded a few years ago. I’ve added to it since then and will re-record it some day, but until then…… Read More »
I have a section in my ukulele music binder just for Christmas tunes. Over the years I’ve amassed a pretty good collection of relatively easy tunes that I can play every year around Christmas time. They make great background entertainment for any Christmas party, or just to play on your own to get into the spirit… Read More »
In the previous post, we covered a strategy for learning every note of the ukulele fretboard using the chromatic scale. Knowing all those notes is useful to someone playing a melody from sheet music, but its also the foundation needed for mastering chords. If you know the notes of the fretboard and the major chord formations, you can play any chord… Read More »
One way to learn the notes on the fretboard is to focus on the 7 natural notes. There are a few simple rules that, once learned, allow you to find any note on the fretboard. At first this will take a bit of time, especially on higher frets. But, if used a lot, you will start to commit… Read More »
I’m getting ready to tackle a pretty big topic that’s been in the back of my mind for a long time: Ukulele Fretboard Intuition. My goal with fretboard intuition is to methodically take my ukulele skills to a whole new level. If you’re like me, you know your chords, you can get through a new tab arrangement with… Read More »
The second installment in my collection of professional ukulele recording artist profiles features James Hill. If you haven’t heard his latest release, The Old Silo, it’s a treat. Whether James is playing classical, jazz, country, folk or Michael Jackson, his performance demonstrates a unique mastery of the instrument and a master songwriter coming into his own.
If you don’t follow me on social media, here is the past week of wicked cool stuff I’ve found and shared, minus all the jibba jabba and self promotion, saved here for posterity and the blog-only Luddites among you. 11 Tips for Improving Hand Coordination & Muscle Memory http://t.co/3g1fvdtjg2 via @MakingMusicMag — Uke Nut (@UkeNut) June 24,… Read More »
The nut is part of the ukulele where the strings start at the top, between the tuners and the fret board. The width of the nut varies slightly by make and model and affects the feel of the instrument. A wider nut gives a bit more space between the strings, while a narrower nut makes the strings a bit closer together. Nut… Read More »