Play Ukulele Now: 2017

12/19/17

Ukulele Fingerstyle: What Child is This? Left Hand Position - D Chord Trick

William Chatterton Dix wrote the lyrics for "What Child is This" in 1865. Dix worked as the manager of an insurance company at the time he wrote the carol and had been struck with a serious illness.

While recovering he underwent a spiritual renewal, that led to him writing several hymns including the lyrics to this one.

What accessories do I really need to go with my ukulele and why?

Here's a rundown on exactly what accessories you really need to go with your new ukulele and why.

You may not need all of them, and you may be able to get by with none of them.

Fingerstyle Ukulele: The First Noel - Two Arrangements

English speakers borrowed the word noel from French.

It can be traced further back to the Latin word natalis, which can mean "birthday" as a noun or "of or relating to birth" as an adjective.

Ukulele fingerstyle: Silent Night - Two More Challenging Arrangements

We took a look at a very basic fingerstyle arrangement of Silent night not to long ago.

Here is in case you missed it:

Silent Night - Easy Fingerstyle Arrangement

Ukulele fingerstyle: Silent Night - A More Challenging Arrangement

Here's two more challenging arrangements!

Ukulele Fingerstyle: Play Jingle Bells

Jingle Bells was written by Medford Massachusetts resident James Pierpont in 1850.

It was inspired by annual one-horse open-sleigh races that took place on Salem and Pleasant Streets between Medford Square and Malden Square.

Check out this great fingerstyle arrangement...

Ukulele Songs: Strum Along with 5 Christmas Classics

Here are 5 must know Christmas classics for your strumming pleasure...

Fingerstyle Ukulele: Play O Come, All Ye Faithful

It's time to start learning the old classics so you're ready for Christmas!

Check out the first installment of my new fingerstyle arrangements...

Ukulele tips: Play Little Drummer Boy. Learn "D" or English Tuning

The words and music to the Christmas song Little Drummer Boy were composed by Katherine K. Davis, Henry Onorati and Harry Simeone in 1958.

Little Drummer Boy consists of no less than 21 rum pum pum pum'

Silent Night for Ukulele: Easy Fingerstyle with TAB

Silent Night is a poem that was written in 1816 by an Austrian priest called Joseph Mohr On Christmas Eve in 1818 in the small alpine village called Oberndorf.

It is reputed that the organ at St. Nicholas Church had broken. Joseph Mohr gave the poem of Silent Night to his friend Franz Xavier Gruber and the melody for Silent Night was composed with this in mind.

Ultimate Ukulele Beginners Guide

If you're thinking about playing or learning more about the ukulele then this post is for you!

Anatomy of the uke: Parts of the ukulele

It is important for all ukulele students to memorize these terms...

Ukulele Tricks: Easy Capo Trick - Play Ghost Riders in the Sky

The song tells a folk tale of a cowboy who has a vision of red-eyed, steel-hooved cattle thundering across the sky, being chased by the spirits of damned cowboys.

One warns him that if he does not change his ways, he will be doomed to join them, forever "trying to catch the Devil's herd across these endless skies".

Ukulele Tricks: The secret to great sounding Hammer-ons and Pull-offs

There are some tricks to great sounding hammer-ons and pull-offs.

As a young player in the 80's I had trouble getting hammer-ons and pull-offs to sound loud and clear, like the record.

What was I missing?

All about Ukulele Sizes: What size do I get? What's the difference?

These are the most popular sizes:

Soprano, Concert, Tenor and Baritone.

Kala Beginner Ukulele Review and Recommendations: Makala MK-S; Kala KA-15S; Kala KA-S

Mike Upton launched Kala in 2005. Prior to starting Kala he worked at Hohner and was responsible for the development of the Lanikai ukulele line.

After starting Kala, Mike quickly established the new ukulele manufacturer as the leader in the market by providing the best and most consistent instruments in the price range.

Ukulele Strums: Backbeat Chop, Bluegrass Chop

This is another way to play accents on 2 and 4. It's very similar to the reggae strums but it's executed in a completely different way, and special chords must be used to play it properly.

In bluegrass music there is typically no drummer, so to keep the group together and in time, the bass player plays on beats 1 and 3, and the mandolin player plays a chop on the back-beat or the off beat, 2 and 4.

Basically, the bass player takes the place of the kick drum and the mandolin chop takes the place of the snare drum. The Banjo then plays the melody using 8th notes.

Easily play chords all the way up the neck on the ukulele

I've discovered after some study that there are 4 reasonable forms for each chord. These are forms that are movable and allow you to play anywhere on the neck.

The idea when playing a fretted instrument and arranging a song for it, is to move the left hand as little as possible. Since there are 4 different forms for each chord, it is possible to find chords that are very close together requiring very little left hand movement to play the entire song!

With these new chord forms you will you be able to play any song, in any key, anywhere on the neck.

More Reggae Strums: Reggae Scratch and Skank Strum

More fun with Reggae Strums!

The great thing about these strums is - they can be used to spice up any song. You'll learn later that these reggae strums or variations of them are used in other types of music as well.

Various accents on beats 2 and 4 are actually fairly common, the Reggae strum is just one of the many ways to do it.

New Strums: Reggae Strum, Ska Strum, Rock Steady Strum

The reggae strum is a fun strum that can be used for almost any song!

It will give the song that fun island sound.

3 Tricks to tune your ukulele and keep it in tune

Since ukuleles have nylon strings they are a little harder to keep in tune than an instrument that has steel strings.

This is because nylon strings stretch allot more than steel strings do, especially when they are new. You may get a new ukulele and think there is a problem with it and it won't hold a tuning.

Don't worry, after you learn these tips and tricks you will be able to properly tune your ukulele and keep it in tune longer.

3 Secrets to learn and play ukulele faster

How do you learn faster?

Take it slow and easy!

These 3 things are something teachers always find themselves reminding their students.

George Harrison explains why everyone should play the ukulele!

Of course, everyone should play the ukulele

Check this out...

Transposing Music, Changing the key a song is in for ukulele

This is an advanced lesson and for those that have completed the Play Ukulele NOW Method and Songbook or have a good understand of the basics.

Feel free to post any questions you might have about it.

Great Ukulele News for Guitarists: Guitar Players, Play Uke instantly!

Did you know that ukuleles are like micro-guitars!

They make the perfect travel instrument for a guitar player or a perfect beginner instrument for someone that might like to play guitar someday. Ukulele is the ultimate beginner instrument because it is the easiest instrument in the world to play.