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Recent Posts
- Whirlwind Waltz for high G ukulele May 10, 2025
- From lead sheet to chord melody arrangement May 9, 2025
- Suss the Suss for high G ukulele May 9, 2025
- Pick Strum Scale for high G ukulele May 9, 2025
- Pick Strum Chromatic Scale for high G ukulele May 9, 2025
- Pick Strum C Major Scale May 9, 2025
- I Hear Ya, Andaluza for high G ukulele May 9, 2025
- Fingerstyle for Fun May 8, 2025
- May Day is Lei Day in Hawaii for ukulele May 1, 2025
- Cadencia Andaluza Por Favor for high G ukulele April 30, 2025
- Tulips in Triple Time for high G ukulele April 30, 2025
- Lament on Love and Loss for high G ukulele April 29, 2025
- C Minor Scale Waltz for high G ukulele April 25, 2025
- C Major Scale Waltz for high G ukulele April 25, 2025
- A Minor Motif for high G ukulele April 22, 2025
- Glistening Glass for high G ukulele April 21, 2025
- Up the Neck and Back April 21, 2025
- Call and Response April 19, 2025
- Z Before A April 18, 2025
- Relative Lives in Parallel Universe April 18, 2025
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Recent Posts: Concert Blog
REVIEW: Discovering Fingerstyle Ukulele Songbook by Colin Tribe
Colin Tribe’s new book offers new possibilities for ukulele players who aspire to fingerpick their way through thirty of the most popular songs of all time. These chord melody arrangements show a variety of ways the high G ukulele can be used for instrumental solo or duet (such as chord accompaniment and melodic fingerpicking) . […]
REVIEW: Piano Animals (duet) by Heleen Verleur
This 31-page book of four hand piano music is sheer FUN with a capital F. The composer Heleen Verleur knows just what pianists love playing: music that is easy to read, sounds hard to play, but is so much fun that you don’t want to stop until it ends.
REVIEW: Ukulele Picking Tunes Classical Gems by Paul Mansell
This 40-page book is the latest contribution to the ukulele repertoire by the UK-based ukulele and guitar composer Paul Mansell. Guitarists who play the ukulele are few and far between, for many adult learners pick up the ukulele without knowing the guitar. Yet it takes a guitarist who understands the possibilities of the re-entrant tuned […]
REVIEW: Modern Pieces for Ukulele by Paul Mansell
Review of first three pieces from the new book Modern Pieces for Ukulele by Paul Mansell
Group piano class in Zoom
Introducing my group piano class online: Group Piano Class in Zoom. The first series of seven weekly one-hour class started in June 2021. The second (continuation of the first) started in October 2021 at alternating weeks, until end of December (seven sessions). The third series of 16 consecutive weeks started at the beginning of 2022. […]
Category Archives: ukulele
Uke with Ku: Ukulele Bootcamp
Why take a music course me if you can grab what you need from YouTube video tutorials and jam sessions? My students tell me that they benefit from interacting with others in a small focussed group and practice my exercises … Continue reading
Write your own song
Have you ever dreamed of writing your own song? Not a re-make of someone else’s, but your original lyrics set to music, your idea. Or a tune that’s been going around your head that you want to put into words… … Continue reading
Songwriting Course
Whether you are already writing songs or you’re curious about the process, join us on an 8-week journey in Zoom. Engage with other music lovers and learn the craft of composition. It’s the first and newest course of its kind! … Continue reading
Spooky & scary tune for Halloween
Halloween is a big deal in the United States. As soon as the leaves start changing color, houses get decorated with witches, cobwebs, skeletons, and ghosts. Do you know a spooky and scary tune for this occasion? What makes a … Continue reading
Fall 2023 Classes in Zoom
Hot off the press! In response to student feedback, I’m offering two Music Theory courses: One for anyone who has not taken any music theory previously. And another 2.0 for those who have. I’m co-teaching a new course SONGWRITING with … Continue reading
Brown Eyed Girl double stops in Margaritaville
Catchy instrumental introductions hook you in, especially if they return as an instrumental interlude later in the song. Without these intros and interludes, the song seems incomplete. Such is the case of Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl” and Jimmy Buffett’s … Continue reading
Puff, the Magic Dragon
An instrumental introduction sets the tempo, establishes the rhythm, and anticipates the starting note of the melody for a song. Here’s my attempt to capture Peter, Paul and Mary’s version of “Puff, the Magic Dragon” in a key I can … Continue reading
Canon for a Wedding
Why did Pachelbel write the Canon in D? He was an organist not a violinist. Yet he wrote the Canon and the Gigue for three violins, later accompanied by basso continuo (e.g. harpsichord, lute, or cello). One speculation is that … Continue reading
Pachelbel Medley (workshops in Zoom)
For Pachelbel’s Birthday Party, I made a medley of songs that follow the eight-bar chord progression in Pachelbel’s Canon. In selecting the songs, I noticed that most of the 24 songs I had listed did NOT follow the progression in … Continue reading
Over the Rainbow from Oz to Iz
The most requested song that people ask me to play on my ukulele is not Judy Garland’s signature song “Over the Rainbow.” In the 1939 movie, “The Wizard of Oz,” she sings of a place that’s far away, free of … Continue reading