Author: Uke Guy

Beatles Ukulele Songs (Fun and Easy)

So, I think I tweeted this link before but I wanted it on the site as well so folks could find it.  The site is called Ukulele Beatles Fun! and it's basically a bunch of (64!) flash pages for different Beatles songs.  What's great is that it plays a version of the song and then shows you chord shapes while the song is playing.  You can stop it, rewind, etc.  Heck, you can even tune your ukulele and check out all the lyrics.  Basically, it rules.

I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for The Beatles and also this site because it was the first page I found after I got my first ukulele (a Lanikai CK-TEQ).  In fact, I used this site to learn my first song on Ukulele, "She came in through the bathroom window".  But, in case you too are just starting out, I wouldn't recommend that song, it has some pretty tricky chord shapes and moves.  But, I guess it's a testament to learning songs in this way that I was eventually able to stumble through it.

Anyway, best of luck to ya!  Now, get out there and learn some Beatles!

Ukulele Beatles Fun! - http://beatlesite.info/

Sophie Madeleine “The Stars”.. I dig it!

So, yeah.. it's been over a week since I've done an update. The holidays makes me lazy, I'll be the first to admit it. It's all the food and bourbon making my brain slow. But, today I saw a great video that I wanted to tell y'all about. I know almost nothing about Sophie Madeleine and I'm not sure exactly how I found this video, but I am glad I did.

This is a live performance from The Crypt Sessions (something I knew nothing about until today).  The song is called "The Stars" and I believe it's from an album titled "Love.Life.Ukulele".  Can't argue with that title either.  I really dig the classic Casio-style drum beat underneath and the really simple and open arrangement.   I'm also pretty envious of her gorgeous Pono Ukulele!  I think I'll go back for my 4th listen today.  Happy Holidays everyone!

Six Free Ukulele Songbooks! (Thanks Taunton Ukulele Strummers Club!)

Well, once again Steve Berryman (steveberryman on twitter) hooks a brother up with some free Ukulele Songbooks.  As you might remember, last time Steve pointed us in the direction of London Uke Festival's Songbook.  This time it's SIX (count em, six!) ukulele songbooks from the Taunton Ukulele Strummers Club.  This fun-loving bunch hails from Somerset (in the UK) and if you want to hear some recordings of them performing some of these choice numbers, then check out the music section of their site.

EDIT: Unfortunately their site is no longer working.  Doh!

I've give you the links and brief summary of each of the books.

  1. Book One is 14 pages and it has a wide variety of songs.  There are old standards like "Sweet Georgia Brown" and classic favorites like "In the Summertime" by Mungo Jerry.  There are also some modern tunes by Coldplay and George Michael, so it's a pretty diverse mix.
  2. Book Two is 28 pages of goodness as well.  There are some songs from "Oh Brother Where Art Thou?", some Duran Duran, some Donovan, "King of the Road" and even "I wanna be like you" from the Jungle Book.
  3. Book Three is 13 pages and the emphasis is the 60s.  So, you've got The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Dusty Springfield and more.
  4. Book Four is a whopping 36 pages of variety.  There's some Jack Johnson in here, some Elvis, "Dizzy" by Tommy Roe, Abba, Bananarama and even the Spin Doctors.  (Although I could have done without that last one.. heh).
  5. Book Five is 44 freaking pages!  That's enough pages to have at least three Bon Jovi songs!  There's also some INXS, Madonna and even "500 Miles" by The Proclaimers.
  6. Book Six is just in time for the season.  Ukulele Christmas Songs!  Classics like "Frosty the Snowman" and "Let it snow" sit right alongside of "Blue Christmas" and "Do they know it's Christmas".

I know what you're thinking.  How much will I have to pay for these six songbook collection?  $29.99?  $39.99?  What if I told you that you could have it all for 3 easy payments of nothing?  Yup.  It's all free.  Enjoy!

NOTE:  Since their website isn't active anymore, I've decided to post the songbooks on my site until they are up and running again.  If you are affiliated with the Taunton Ukulele Strummers Club, please contact me if you don't approve.

TUSC - Ukulele Songbook 1

TUSC - Ukulele Songbook 2

TUSC - Ukulele Songbook 3 (60s Songs)

TUSC - Ukulele Songbook 4

TUSC - Ukulele Songbook 5

TUSC - Christmas Ukulele Songbook

5-year-old Ukulele Wunderkind

So, unless you've been avoiding twitter for the last few weeks, then you've definitely seen at least one video of this little guy. Perez Hilton tweeted about him and suddenly the whole world went apeshit. I think the video that Perez mentioned (I'll be honest here, I don't even know who Perez Hilton is) was the following cover of Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours".

This kid is literally made of charm and cute. Heck, he's like a supernova of cute. Also, considering that he was about 4-5 years old at the time these videos were made, his ukulele skills are incredible! Heck. Even if he was 45 years old, he's still got some mad skills. He hardly ever looks at his hands, it seems like the ukulele is a natural extension of him. So far, I think my favorite video is Ma-i-na-ku-ma-na. Check it out!

As the father of two precocious boys, I thought I'd seen every kind of hamminess that little boys could do. Was I ever wrong! This kid is always on! My favorite is when he "accidentally" slaps his head as the result of a wild strum. Then he repeats the move a few times to squeeze all the laughs possible out of it. Brilliant!

I searched around and I couldn't find much information about this little fella. The youtube videos were posted as uke3453 and there is a little information at the profile for that account:

He is 5 years old now.
He speaks Japanese.

He and I started playing ukulele only one year ago.
We first learned the uke by watching a TV program(NHK).
The program lasted three months.

Camera : Panasonic GF1

※Our English isn't very good so I'm sorry if the grammar is wrong.

Thank you for all the kind messages and comments!

Hmm.. so, he's 5 years old and he's only been playing uke for a year?  And.. he learned by watching TV?!  Child Prodigy anyone?  If you still don't believe it, check out his version of While My Guitar Gently Weeps:

Video: Delirious by Doctor Sparkles

You know... there is a real gray area between excitement, embarrassment, fear, sadness and ecstasy. This video lives in that gray zone for me. As an avid fan of all kinds of novelty music (don't get me started about Nervous Norvus) I really love this video.  But, something about Doctor Sparkles makes me a little bit sad inside.  Like, just maybe, you can see inside of his soul for a second and something slightly creepy might be going on in there?  Maybe I'm overreacting because I'm a tiny bit hungover today?

This video also reminds me of walking down the boardwalk at Venice Beach and seeing all the crazy street musicians.  I freaking love Harry Perry, the Kama Cosmic Crusader, whenever my band is on tour we try and seek him out to talk to him, video tape him and buy a new CD.  (You need to hear, "If it ain't hard rock, don't do it!", that song rules!)  Also, I once saw a one man band on the boardwalk at Venice Beach do a "Sir Duke" by Stevie Wonder.  The guy had a drum on his back, he was playing saxophone for the lyrics and he was playing the bass line with his freaking feet!?!  Awesome.  Hmm... I forgot what I was talking about.  Oh yeah!  Doctor Sparkles, doing Delirious by Prince!