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Recent Posts
- 100 Days of Ukulele 2025 June 9, 2025
- Orfeo Arpeggio June 8, 2025
- Euridice’s Descent June 8, 2025
- Hemiole Guacamole June 7, 2025
- Mango Tango Ostinato ukulele duet May 29, 2025
- Arpeggio Carpaccio Prego May 28, 2025
- Travel with Travis in the Wind May 28, 2025
- Travel with Travis: Hammer & Pull May 28, 2025
- Alberti Zucchini May 28, 2025
- Arpeggio Curioso for high G ukulele May 27, 2025
- Long, Long Ago ukulele duet May 22, 2025
- What’s It Waltz for high G ukulele May 15, 2025
- 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
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Writing music every day
What happens when you start writing music every single day?
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
Tag Archives: Boston
It’s so easy to fall in love but breaking up
During the four hour mash-up medley marathon, I conferred with six other ukulele players that mash-ups shouldn’t just be about songs that have similar chords or rhythms. There has to be a rhyme and reason to choosing songs for a … Continue reading
Ukulele repertoire: song sheets for amateur music making
Ever since getting introduced to the ukulele on Maui, I have been curiously witnessing and participating the rituals of ukulele groups and clubs in Maui, Boston, London, and Amsterdam. The ukulele allows self-accompaniment for singing without a conductor or leader. … Continue reading
For the absolute, complete, total beginner in ukulele
The ukulele is the quickest and easiest way to make music and connect with others. The first step is getting a ukulele and learning how to play it. Then you can strum, sing, and socialise! Don’t miss the opportunity to … Continue reading
Selecting songs for a select audience: eighties extravaganza
In music, the formal or official term for song selection is “repertoire development.” It sounds sophisticated and significant, and it should be, for it is not trivial at all. Repertoire development refers to creating a balanced portfolio for performers. In … Continue reading
Ukulele Crash Course for Complete Beginners
After giving different kinds of ukulele workshops in Massachusetts, I’ve decided to offer a crash course for those beginners eager to participate in the ukulele scene that’s spreading across the world like wild fire. For time-challenged adults, it’s about making … Continue reading
ABBA GOLD JAM
Our first ABBA GOLD ukulele jam will take place on Tuesday 1st May 2018 at 7 pm EDT in the common room of the Walter Baker building in Historic Lower Mills. We will celebrate ABBA’s announcement of new songs, first … Continue reading
Easy Beatles Jam Session
As I explore music for ukulele jam sessions, I keep discovering Beatles songs I’ve never heard of before. In London, I chuckled at the politically incorrect “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” and the funny “Octopus’s Garden.” George Harrison’s “I’ll Follow the Sun” … Continue reading
The freedom and friction of fiction writing
“Pick up a postcard on your table and write your address on it. Take what you’ve learned in this conference and write to your future self. Which words of encouragement would you impart?” Among the postcards of city scenes and … Continue reading
Anita Shreve, I never got to meet her
A pop-up window flashed “Anita Shreve dies at 71″ while I was on FaceTime. Suddenly, I felt a pang of regret. I’m attending a major writing conference in Boston next week. I’ve moved to New England, where Shreve had set … Continue reading