Ukulele Wedding

Summer is definitely getting into high gear - I can tell from all the fun party and wedding events I've been playing for! This past weekend I was hired for another summer wedding event - this time, ukulele-only music was requested for the ceremony. The bride was actually someone I met through the new ukulele class I started on Mondays at the South Bay Adult School and she had some special requests like my What A Wonderful World for the bridesmaids, Pua Lililehua for the Processional, and since the groom's parents are from England, my arrangement of Here Comes The Sun for the Recessional. You know, given his love for the instrument, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that George Harrison wrote the song on an ukulele. Here's a fun video of George with his uke, hanging with Ringo and Sir Paul.

Got a few more ukulele weddings happening this summer so I'll have a chance to whip out some new arrangements of I'm Yours, Summertime, Sway, Top Of The World and some other fun stuff I've been working on.

Intro To Playing Ukulele Scales

You don't want to always be only strumming chords do you? It's fun playing the melody to your favorite songs and here's an easy way to get started.

Up/Down
Lots of people who've been playing 10+ years still don't know the proper "up" and "down" so we need to clarify this right now:

Put your finger on the fifth fret of any string. There should be a fret marker dot there. Now move that finger to the sixth fret of the same string. The sound went "up" therefore this is what we call "up". Always think of the sound, not which way your fingers/ hands are physically moving. Moving from fret to fret is also known as a half step. From the fifth fret to the tenth, your finger
moved UP five frets/half steps or two whole steps and one half step. Simple enough, no?

The Major Scale
I assume you're already familiar with this: Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do. Eight notes and a song/sound we are all very familiar with. This is the sound of a major scale and there is a formula behind the series of notes that gives it its familiar sound.

Basically, any scale is simply a given series of whole step and half step movements (whole = 2 frets, half = 1 fret). For a major scale it is: Root - W - W - H - W - W - W - H.

Here's how it works: Choose the 3rd string open as a starting point. This is the C string therefore our first note is C, otherwise known as the "root".

From this open string, play the note on the 2nd fret which is a whole step (2 frets) UP.
Then move up another whole step (2 frets), then a HALF step (1 fret), a whole step (2 frets), a whole step (2 frets), a whole step (2 frets), then finally a half step (1 fret) for a total of eight notes.

You just played the C major scale!
Frets played = 0, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12.
Notes played = C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C

It doesn't matter what your starting point is. As long as you apply the same formula and there are enough frets on your uke to play all eight notes, you can play any scale (any key) you want.

Is it a little cumbersome to try to play a whole scale on one string? Yes. That's why there's more than just one string on the ukulele. Watch this video to learn how to play the C scale across three strings instead of just one.

It's a damn good lesson! I also talk about articulation and how to figure out melodies so check it out!

Mighty Uke Movie: Hollywood Premiere and Radio Interview

You've probably been hearing a lot of buzz about this movie about "The amazing comeback of a musical underdog".

"A must-see...it will leave you with a burning desire to get your own ukulele." - PDX Pipeline, Portland

"Offers key musical discoveries every 3 minutes." - Chronogram .com

"The Way a documentary should be put together."
- Westender Magazine

And if you don't believe these reviews, at least you can trust my mom who called me from Hawaii to tell me how much she enjoyed it. Be sure to catch a special interview with the movie's Producer and the Hollywood premiere:

Thursday July 29th 11:15 am (PST)
Tune in to "The Global Village" on KPFK 90.7 FM (98.7 FM Santa Barbara) and online at http://www.kpfk.org
Tony Coleman, producer of the new motion picture "Mighty Uke" stops by to talk about the experience of making this wonderful documentary about the Ukulele, its newfound popularity, and the Hollywood Premiere of the film (see below).

Saturday, August 7
Event begins at 5pm, film starts around 7:30pm
"MIGHTY UKE" screens at Grauman's Egyptian Theater, 6712 Hollywood Blvd in Hollywood, CA.
There will be Tiki vendors and booths in the Egyptian courtyard and at 5pm a Hawaiian Luau, a performance by King Kukulele, the Polynesian Paradise Dancers, a special Tiki slide show by King Kukulele - all followed by the film "MIGHTY UKE". Film maker Tony Coleman will also be there for a Q & A after the film! Don't forget to bring your uke for a strum-along after the movie! There will also be a raffle for a Kala ukulele from the film sponsors Kala Brand Music. Get your tickets here

Don't Kill Your Hand With Barre Chords! Here's How to Play Them the Right Way

Some ukulele chords require you to "barre" an entire fret - that is, to use your (index) finger to cover all the strings of a certain fret. Learning to properly play these chords is probably one of the hardest things for beginning ukulele players who feel they have to press down very hard and just end up with tired, cramped hands.

If you've been having trouble with chords like Bm, D7, or C#m, and you feel like the bare minimum amount of pressure needed to sound the chord is still a lot, here are a few tips that will help, even if you've been playing for many years:

1. Make sure your wrist is straight and the heel of your palm is not touching the neck.

2. Be sure your thumb is near the middle of the back of the neck of the ukulele and under the fret you're barring. Use your thumb as the fulcrum of pressure opposite the barring finger.

3. Most importantly: You DON'T have to press excessively hard. Simply relax your arm and shoulder and just "hang" from the ukulele (while holding whatever chord). Let gravity help you apply enough pressure to the strings to get them to ring out properly.

If you do this third step, the first two will happen practically automatically. You'll find the hanging concept will release all the tension from your shoulders and is something you should continually keep in mind. You should never have to apply so much pressure that you feel like you have to squeeze your fingers together like a vise in order to make the chord sound.

Now there's no need to avoid all those chords!

Improve Your Ukulele Strumming Part 1

If you can't count "them", how can you keep "it"? Whether you're playing solo, or in a group, a strong sense of timing and rhythm is of the utmost importance.

COUNTING BEATS Start with the C chord. Stick out the index finger on your strumming hand like a record player stylus. Strum across the strings down toward the ground and count "ONE". Do this three more times counting "TWO", "THREE" AND "FOUR". Strumming down toward the ground is called a downstroke and always falls on a number. A number is a beat. Strumming down four times = strumming four beats = one full measure (phrase) of 4/4 time. We call the numbers "Beat One", "Beat Two", "Beat Three" and "Beat Four". Can you think of any songs that consist of nothing but downstrokes on beats 1, 2, 3, and 4? Play the Am chord, strum down on each beat, then listen to "Sandman" by America. Now play the G chord in the same manner and listen to the intro to "Bennie and the Jets" by Elton John.

ACCENTING BEATS The first step toward emulating certain songs or the feel of different music genres like country, reggae, etc, is understanding accents. Starting with those same 4 downstrokes, strum softly on beats 1 and 3, and strum beats 2 and 4 with a heavier hand. You should aim for hitting only the bottom one or two strings (G and C strings) on beats 1 and 3 by strumming slightly away from the ukulele, thereby avoiding the other strings.

Accenting beats 2 and 4 (one TWO three FOUR) emulates a drummer hitting a snare drum and at a medium to fast tempo sounds a lot like a Country or Bluegrass song. Use this pattern for songs like "This Land Is Your Land", "You Are My Sunshine", and "Keep On The Sunny Side". It also works great for "When The Saints Go Marching In".

Obviously, to strum on beats 1, 2, 3, and 4, your finger has to come up in between each number. We call these in-between beats "AND". Strum the C chord down toward the ground and count "ONE". Now move your finger across the strings toward the ceiling and say "AND". On the next downward strum count "TWO", followed by an "AND" on the way back up. Repeat with "THREE AND FOUR AND" for one full measure (phrase) of 4/4 time, this time with both upstrokes and downstrokes. Be sure to give equal volume to both up and downstrokes.

Accenting different beats produces familiar grooves to songs. Examples:

one and TWO and three and FOUR and ("Banana Pancakes" by Jack Johnson)

ONE and two AND three and FOUR and one and TWO and THREE and four and ("Faith" by George Michael)

Be sure to visit my website for instantly downloadable ukulele lessons

2009 Aloha Falsetto Festival part 1

Wow what a weekend it was! It was like history in the making - a beautiful afternoon and evening with some of the biggest names in Hawaiian entertainment from the islands and Southern California: Kekaimoku Yoshikawa and Leokane Pryor knocked it out of the park, Pomaika'i Keawe Lyman's first ever solo concert performance, Weldon Kekauoha, Bryan Tolentino and Alika Boy delivered a solidly entertaining set which ended in Weldon's beautiful arrangement of "Queen's Jubilee"...and a very rare concert appearance by the legendary Uncle Richard Ho'opi'i - to name just a few highlights!

If you didn't make it to the show, I'll fill you in on what you missed but first I'd like to share one of my personal favorite moments: when the three kumu hula got up to dance at the end of the show! Pomaika'i sang a 3-song medley of Pauoa Liko Kalehua, Mauna Loa and Haleiwa Hula that was danced by Keali'i Ceballos, Rolanda Reese and Kekaimoku, respectively. The idea first came about when we were doing the live podcast with Piko on the Hawaiian Concert Guide and we were talking with Pomaika'i and her father Eric. They sang that medley to us over the Skype lines and someone had the idea to have the three kumu each do one of the songs. It could have been my idea because of my involvement with flamenco where that kind of thing happens very often at the end of a show - they like to get the singer or the percussionist or the guitarist to dance a little at the end to show what they know and it never fails to make the audience go nuts! Rolanda, also known as "Aunty Mohala" is a well-known kumu but is actually very shy and talk about historic moments - for her to get in front of the mic on the podcast and to get out on stage like that was a very rare thing indeed. Even I had never seen her dance before so it was such a treat to see! By the way, don't forget about the big show she's putting on August at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre Saturday August, 29, 2009.

More to come....

Beginning Ukulele Players

So last week Wednesday was the first day of a new class I'm teaching at the Torrance Adult School. Everyone seemed to really enjoy it and seeing how they learned so much on just the first day, they said they were really looking forward to the next week's class (tomorrow).
First thing I wanted to show them was how easy it was to get started so I showed them the one-finger C chord followed by the one-finger C7 chord then F then back to C again. Everyone seemed to already be familiar with basic strumming but as expected, mostly with that typical "swing" feel. So I showed them how to count out beats while strumming and when to expect typical chord changes. Eventually I will show them the strumming pattern made popular by Bruddah Iz with his version of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" which, if you haven't heard by now, must mean you've been living in a cave.

Check out this video for an explanation on how to emulate that strum and be able to figure out others as well. Let me know what you think!