ukulele Archives

Jun192020 by Paul LinusNo Comments

Help kids choose band instruments based on level of challenge

Lifestyle

Before making a trip to the music store to choose band instruments, it is important for musicians to be very realistic about their amount of free time and their personal response to a challenge. An honest assessment can make the difference between buying musical instruments that bring a lifetime of enjoyment or musical instruments that collect dust in the closet, believes many musicians. Musical Instruments Offering Quick Results There are several instruments that promise immediate gratification. Drums, for example are fun to play from day one. On the other hand, a truly accomplished percussionist can deliver complicated rhythms most drummers only dream about. The uncommon bass ukulele, is another instrument that can take a week to learn and a lifetime to perfect. Woodwinds such a...

Jun132020 by Paul LinusNo Comments

e Ukulele amplifier and bass tabs

Music

e Ukulele amplifier - If you are just starting to learn to play ukulele or e ukulele, you've probably heard of and even tried to figure out how to read ukulele tabs. It looks very much like a musical staff, except that it has one more line (or one less in the case of a bass tab). Additionally, tablature uses numbers to denote what notes to play as opposed to note heads and rests. Unlike a musical staff, tabs are specific to the stringed instruments I've listed (the reason being that in tabs, each line refers to a particular string whereas on a musical staff, each line and each space is assigned to a particular note). Ukulele Setup Tabs So. The question arises, which one should you learn to read? You're best bet would be to understand both how to read tabs and how to read music, b...

Apr192020 by Paul LinusNo Comments

Chord voicing and fingering for tenor ukulele

Music

The chord voicing which textures Jake Shimabukuro’s fascinating arrangements—including covers of While My Guitar Gently Weeps and The Star Spangled Banner—has dubbed this Hawaiian native the Jimi Hendrix of ukulele. Here, he takes time to share left-hand techniques that lend his tenor ukulele its signature voice. Taking Advantage of Tenor Ukulele Tuning Shimabukuro plays a four-string, tenor ukulele. His is a handcrafted instrument by the Kamaka Company in Hawaii. The ukulele may look like a tiny guitar with four strings, but its tuning requires a completely different approach to chording. The strings of a tenor ukulele are tuned G, C, E, A starting from the string closest to the player’s head. Unlike a guitar where strings go in order of pitch, the lowest pitched string on a teno...

Apr42020 by Paul LinusNo Comments

Tips to play Ukulele in double drop D tuning

Music

A ukulele player may quickly find that some tunings can make it quite a bit easier to play the instrument than Standard Tuning (EADGBE). For instance, in Double Drop D Tuning (DADGAD), many chords can be played with a single finger. Note: Dropped D tuning comes in two forms: DADGBE and its variation DADGAE. Double Drop D tuning has two forms because of the two forms above, i.e., DADGBD and DADGAD. What is DADGAD Tuning DADGAD tuning is also called D suspended 4th tuning since the ukulele is tuned to the D suspended 4th chord. A player who strums all the six open strings of the guitar when tuned to DADGAD is strumming a D suspended 4th chord (notes: D, G, A). DADGAD (pronounced: “DAD”…”GAD”) tuning opens up a new avenue for ukulele playing and song composition. A player can ...

Mar312020 by Paul LinusNo Comments

Techniques for better pearly shells Ukulele playing

Entertainment

Pearly shells Ukulele - There are many things about playing the pearly shells Ukulele that seem obvious, but are neglected by many players: learning the notes of the chromatic scale at first position, knowing what notes make up standard chords and variants, and using warm-up routines are all examples. Warming-Up This is absolutely vital to good pearly shells Ukulele playing, yet so many ignore it. Take a few minutes to play up and down the neck at different positions in different scales, or do some simple practice drills starting off slowly and getting quicker as you warm up. Some good warm-up drills can be found on related pearly shells Ukulele websites. Pick a note at random, or one you find difficult to play. Move between that chord and another that sounds good with it. Pi...

Jan212020 by Paul LinusNo Comments

Kids learn 5 ukulele songs in the key of C

Music

These five new ukulele tunes are all in the key of C and stick to the chords C and G7. Just like the songs parents learned with their kids in the articles Parents and Kids Play Their First Ukulele Song and Play Ukulele Tunes With Two Chords: C and G7, these are great traditional campfire tunes everyone’s likely to know. They’re a little trickier though, because the chords change more than one time per song. If parents continue to strum on the downbeats with their child, it’ll make the increased amount of chord changes easier to handle. As in parts 3 and 4, the downbeats are noted by the syllables in all caps. In the next part of this article, provided parents and kids feel ready, they’ll get to throw in some strumming embellishments. Hush Little Baby (To find the first note, paren...