Ukuleles: Automatic Happiness!

Hello

2017-01-07T15:59:35Z

Posted by: frameacloud

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?

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"Some are made of armadillos."

2014-08-06T12:53:37Z

Posted by: newredshoes

Saw this yesterday on Open Culture -- George Harrison Explains Why Everyone Should Play the Ukulele, With Words and Music.

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Daily Ukulele: Mythbusting for ukuleles

2014-04-14T19:19:31Z

Posted by: newredshoes

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!

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

2014-04-12T01:06:01Z

Posted by: newredshoes

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 )

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Daily Ukulele: Data is cool.

2014-04-10T14:10:56Z

Posted by: newredshoes

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

Even more helpful, especially for beginners: Songs with Chords You Know, with links to a whole bunch of tabs and tutorials.

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[Semi-] Daily Ukulele: Way down south in Birmingham

2014-04-09T19:23:21Z

Posted by: newredshoes

It turns out you can translate a big band sound down into a ukulele pretty well!

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Daily Ukulele: F# + whistling = good song

2014-04-08T02:05:41Z

Posted by: newredshoes

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.

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Daily Ukulele: May we all rise to this level of badassery

2014-04-02T18:14:47Z

Posted by: newredshoes

obviouslycloe, your buddy D.A. rocks.

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

2014-04-01T13:32:17Z

Posted by: newredshoes

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.)

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Daily Ukulele: Uke Go Girl

2014-04-01T00:13:35Z

Posted by: newredshoes

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

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This is how you do a viral video of a singing kid + uke-playing dad

2014-03-16T15:25:20Z

Posted by: newredshoes

It might make your teeth hurt. I hope it makes you chortle. Happy Sunday, all!

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The Backward Ukulele Player

2014-03-10T22:17:35Z

Posted by: newredshoes

Drive-by rec for reyalpeleluku, an active ukulele blog with a strong emphasis on vintage ukulele things! Has some demos and sheet music too, for the interested.

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

2014-03-04T15:00:24Z

Posted by: newredshoes

Someone I follow on Twitter, possibly Ukulele_Ike or 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.

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"Ra Ra Rasputin" by the West Cork Ukulele Orchestra

2014-02-28T21:17:53Z

Posted by: newredshoes

Not only is it beautifully shot, but these guys look like a lot of fun.

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Daily Ukuleles - A Quilted Case

2014-02-22T01:05:47Z

Posted by: sporky_rat

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.

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

2014-02-18T00:44:07Z

Posted by: newredshoes

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.

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Stanford professor makes ukuleles from concert hall floor

2014-01-10T20:19:30Z

Posted by: newredshoes

Via Open Culture, a great short video about a music professor who gave scrapped wood from a concert hall a new life of its own.

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Fantastic! (I don't watch the show; that's the right Nine quote, right?)

2013-09-22T15:32:35Z

Posted by: newredshoes

Dr. Who fans, here's something to lust over.

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ukuleles @ 2013-05-25T14:18:00

2013-05-25T19:21:11Z

Posted by: sporky_rat

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!

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ukuleles @ 2013-04-27T18:51:00

2013-04-27T16:56:36Z

Posted by: centaurie

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...

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ukuleles @ 2013-01-18T21:02:00

2013-01-19T03:03:05Z

Posted by: sporky_rat

I got Ukuleles for Dummies with a gift card I got for Christmas. I kinda wish I'd done it earlier as it is really in depth and has lots of strumming tricks. Not to mention it was rather inexpensive. Once I work my way through it, I'll probably go on to Ukulele Tricks and learn more. I'm excited, even though the Husbandthing probably regrets my ever buying the ukulele.

How's everyone else doing in the Art of the Ukulele? My brother - in - law has figured out how to play My Little Pony songs on his. I'm just waiting to pop over there soon so he can teach me how to play 'Winter Wrap Up' on mine!

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Daily Ukulele: Great books of our age

2012-12-14T22:04:01Z

Posted by: newredshoes

Via allthingsukulele. Have a good weekend, all -- do something to put a smile on someone's face, yours included.

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Flashmob!

2012-12-14T00:17:02Z

Posted by: saphyria

There was a Christmas-y ukulele flashmob at the local Hy-Vee grocery store in the town where my sister lives, on Monday. It's pretty awesome.

( Embedded vid behind the cut! )

Ooh! Apparently the group who did the flashmob, Ukulele Macomb meets every Saturday morning for ukulele-ness and jam sessions on Tuesday nights, and are planning their first Ukulele Festival on June 7-8 this coming year! :D

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Daily Ukulele: Updates in every way

2012-12-13T17:09:40Z

Posted by: newredshoes

I don't watch Elementary, but this bit of fanart is delightful even if all you have is fantinevaljean's explanation: I can’t see [Jonny Lee Miller]'s Holmes playing the violin. But I can see him playing a ukulele for some reason.

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Daily Ukulele: 50 Cent translates surprisingly well

2012-12-12T16:53:12Z

Posted by: newredshoes

tomscott posted this back in August, and frankly, coming back to it, I'm still delighted. A banjolele plus 50 Cent's "In Da Club" is a pretty genius combination. It's very Boardwalk Empire. Foul language and bleeps ahead!

You can see more about Ewan Wardrop and his George Formby impersonations here.

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