It’s fair to say I’ve helped a few newcomers to ukulele in my time, whether that’s been my own kids or people that emailed me for some extra tips.
One thing I notice when it comes to rhythm though is that a lot of ukulele beginners are far too eager to stop strumming.
Continue readingThroughout 2022 I didn’t play much ukulele, this has happened a few times since I started playing. I lose interest from time to time and I just kind of stop.
There’s one skill that I’ve never fully got to grips with though and this year I’m determined to make some real progress. That skill is playing by ear.
Continue readingSix years back I reviewed the Outdoor Tenor and I was a fan, it was durable, well balanced and sounded pretty good. Since that review Outdoor have updated their ukuleles and I’ve taken a look at the latest version.
Many years ago my dad expressed an interest in playing ukulele but was suffering from rheumatoid arthritis and wasn’t sure whether he’d be able to play.
Recently I’ve been teaching my 10 year old son to play ukulele, as I’ve been teaching him I’ve spotted some of the mistakes that he’s been making that are very common among beginners and others that I’ve taught to play.
Today we’re going to look at some of those mistakes and work out why they happen and how to correct them.
Continue readingMoving from strumming to fingerpicking is when you know that you’re starting to get a little bit more serious with ukulele.
In this lesson I look at 5 fingerpicking patterns that you can use as a starting point to move your fingerpicking skills forwards.
Continue readingIn this lesson I’ll walk you through a simple solo ukulele arrangement of the nursery rhyme Itsy Bitsy spider (or as I knew it growing up, Incy Wincy Spider).
This simple arrangement was taken from David Lawson’s excellent Ebook Fingerstyle Classics.
Continue readingOften I’ll be noodling around on the ukulele, strumming chords I know and I find it very easy to stay in the comfort zone and play something that really doesn’t require much effort on my part.
SO I set myself a little challenge to come up with something using C, F and G that sounded rather nice but was also relatively simple for beginners to get to grips with.
Continue readingPlaying songs is one way to practice but it’s also important to focus purely on technique sometimes. So today we’re going to take a look at some exercises that will develop your fretting hand abilities.
Continue readingBack in 2016, twelve year old Grace VanderWaal turned up on America’s Got Talent with her ukulele in hand and stunned the audience with her original song I Don’t Know My Name.
Grace went on to win America’s Got Talent and subsequently signed a record deal with Columbia Records.
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