frameacloud: A green dragon reading a book. (Default)

Hello

Hi, I just joined this community. It may not have had any posts for a long time, but that can always change! I got my first ukulele a year ago, and it's a soprano Luna, C-tuned. My first big goal was to be able to strum with Christmas carols by the end of that year, and I reached it! It's amazing how easy it is to play. My next goal is to be able to listen to music that doesn't have tab written, and to come up with my own tab for them. I'm hoping to do that with some songs from Fraggle Rock. My favorite ukulele books are Ukulele Aerobics, and Lute to Uke.

What about you all? What's your favorite tuning, C or D? How long have you been practicing? What goals have you made up for yourself? What are your favorite books or other resources for learning ukulele?
newredshoes: possum, "How embarrassing!" (robin hood | murderface)

Daily Ukulele: Mythbusting for ukuleles

Uke Hunt has you covered, tackling myths from that freaking Fmaj7 chord to whether or not you should start learning on a soprano.

Most helpful myth busted: that there's only one way to play a chord. As someone who'd never played a string instrument before, this was new to me and very helpful!
newredshoes: possum, "How embarrassing!" (amelie | la rêveuse)

Daily Ukulele: It's always the right time for Studio Ghibli

Tsunehisa Ikeda not only figured out the tabs for "As Many Times As Always," the Joe Hisaishi-penned theme from the Spirited Away soundtrack, he recorded a video of his own performance, with the chords superimposed at the bottom. Color me hella impressed -- it sounds awesome.



Click here for tabs )
newredshoes: possum, "How embarrassing!" (thor | this drink I like it)

Daily Ukulele: Data is cool.

Via Uke Hunt, check out this great/interesting chart of the most-used chords in ukulele songs:

Most used ukulele chords from Uke Hunt


Even more helpful, especially for beginners: Songs with Chords You Know, with links to a whole bunch of tabs and tutorials.
newredshoes: possum, "How embarrassing!" (<3 | what's a thorn to me?)

Daily Ukulele: F# + whistling = good song

A song I really like: "I Lost Myself" by Lauren Mann and the Fairly Odd Folk.



If you like this, I highly recommend downloading their album for free (or for whatever donation you see fit) and telling your friends how lovely they are.
newredshoes: possum, "How embarrassing!" (<3 | actual CNN graphic)

Daily Ukulele: In keeping with the sweep and sentiment of the original

Lana del Rey earworms me all the time, and I had to admit, I was curious how "Young and Beautiful" translates to ukulele. This Russian teenager totally imbues her performance and presentation with all the ardor and deep-seated longing that makes the song so compelling in the first place. Keep watching.



(Okay, if you really want a nice and kind of upbeat version, check out 14-year-old [!!?!] Laica Cassidy. Her chords are G - A - Bm - D, according to the comments. Sandy Tran has a video tutorial if you're into that too.)
newredshoes: Domo-kun doing victory arms! (domo-kun | victory arms!)

Daily Ukulele: Uke Go Girl

Nope, your eyes do not deceive you. I say let's give this another whirl, starting with [tumblr.com profile] kendrauke's awesome (and useful!) fretboard doodle.

 photo ukefretboard_zps228bd92d.jpg
newredshoes: possum, "How embarrassing!" (<3 | monsters of the plastic age)
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The Backward Ukulele Player

Drive-by rec for [wordpress.com profile] reyalpeleluku, an active ukulele blog with a strong emphasis on vintage ukulele things! Has some demos and sheet music too, for the interested.
newredshoes: possum, "How embarrassing!" (thor | this drink I like it)

Interesting/helpful site + micro-site: Uke Song of the Month

Someone I follow on Twitter, possibly [twitter.com profile] Ukulele_Ike or [twitter.com profile] UkeHunt, recently linked something intriguing: Danno's Ukulele Three-Day Video Micro-Course (free, with video). The first video is about 20 minutes long, covering a lot of basics by way of teaching "Tonight You Belong to Me."

Video 2 "covers a ton of ideas, including movable chords, how to simplify difficult chords, and dealing with odd, old-fashioned tuning." It's 33 minutes.

Video 3 is another 20 minutes. All seem to cover techniques and tricks that I can't quite seem to get a handle on, so these could be useful for any of us.

There are also more helpful-looking posts on the main site, including hand and wrist health exercises, untrickifying tricky chords and TV theme songs on ukulele.
sporky_rat: Orange 3WfDW dreamsheep (Default)
[personal profile] sporky_rat2014-02-21 07:02 pm
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Daily Ukuleles - A Quilted Case

This is the link for a quilted ukulele case. It says it can be done for other stringed instruments, but we all know what's the boss.



I'm sure with some really awesome classic surfer material, it'd make a fantastic case.
newredshoes: possum, "How embarrassing!" (<3 | extinct media)

Today is gonna be the day &c &c &c

I'm not going to lie, "Wonderwall" is one of my all-time favorite songs, full stop. Who's got two thumbs and is delighted by the plethora of online tutorial options we've got for it? Three guesses and the first two don't count.



Here's a straightforward set of tabs, if video learning isn't your bag.
sporky_rat: One of the Phelps brothers with a ukulele in greyscale. (ukuleles are badass)
[personal profile] sporky_rat2013-05-25 02:18 pm
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(no subject)

[personal profile] james_davis_nicoll has up a neat youtube video of a young lady playing the Ukulele for The Natural Satellites (Moon) Song.

Here's the link - All the Moons You Can Shake a Stick At!

centaurie: art (elephant & colors)
[personal profile] centaurie2013-04-27 06:51 pm

(no subject)

 Okay, I've realised I haven't posted here yet so here goes...

Found this little gem:


Never knew  music played by big bands translates so well to ukelele & double bass...