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Recent Posts
- 3 Chord Thursday Farewell April 27, 2024
- 3 Chord Thursday Freedom April 27, 2024
- 3 Chord Thursday Multi-Lingual Songs April 26, 2024
- 3 Chord Thursday 70s 80s Favorites April 26, 2024
- 3 Chord Thursday ART April 5, 2024
- Birthday Bash April 5, 2024
- Leap Year Special 2024 March 1, 2024
- 3 Chord Thursday 4th Anniversary February 13, 2024
- Workshop: Happy Birthday February 13, 2024
- Arrangements for easy piano February 8, 2024
- Guitar orchestra concert in Boston – free February 5, 2024
- Chinese tea dyed eggs or marbled tea eggs January 23, 2024
- Ukulele Accompaniment Course in Zoom January 18, 2024
- Workshop: Ode to Joy January 13, 2024
- Workshop: the Hawaiian vamp January 13, 2024
- 3 Chord Thursday Poems & Parodies January 12, 2024
- 3 Chord Thursday Irish January 12, 2024
- 3 Chord Thursday Island Tunes January 12, 2024
- 3 Chord Thursday: World Ukulele Day January 12, 2024
- 3 Chord Thursday Thesaurus January 11, 2024
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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. […]
Tag Archives: fingerstyle
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
Correct fingering for error-free execution with ease
“Pencil in your fingering for both hands. Use a pencil in case you want to erase later. Decide on the fingering. Practice with the fingering you wrote in the score.” Why? The students in piano and ukulele classes ask. Why … Continue reading
Pluck & Play
Pluck & Play refers to a new fingerstyle ukulele course with a focus on fingerpicking technique for dexterity and better tone, to be offered in November 2022. Pre-requisite: have taken Tab & Pluck or equivalent introduction to fingerstyle course, instrumental … Continue reading
Ode to Joy of Uke
In my quest to find an arrangement for the ukulele to join the orchestra and the choir of 10,000 and participate as any other instrumentalist, I came across many versions in various keys: C, D, F, and G. Some have … Continue reading
3 Chord Thursday: instrumental ukulele (Ode to Joy)
On Thursday 24th March 2022, we introduce instrumental ukulele, what is fingerpicked, plucked, or known as fingerstyle ukulele. We welcome other instrumentalists to join us because you can always play along muted. We have the chord diagrams so you can … Continue reading
TAB & PLUCK
Do you already play the ukulele but don’t know how to fingerpick or read from tablature? Alternatively, you want to be able to read the tabs a little faster and know which fingers to properly create the sound you want?
Three Chord Thursday Chord Melody Arrangements
A chord melody arrangement refers to music that includes both melody and harmony. For ukulele players, it means instrumental ukulele played fingerstyle. We devote our Three Chord Thursday session on March 18th, 2021 at 3 pm ET to performances of this kind.
Pluck and Strum: authentic replication
Ever wanted to play the intro riff that makes a song so recognizable? To replicate a song authentically, in the way we know it from the artists that made it famous, often we need to use both plucking and strumming … Continue reading
Low G Ukes Unite! a.k.a. Fingerstyle Ukulele
Most beginners learn to play ukulele that’s tuned such that the G string is pitched higher than the next string – C. This so-called re-entrant tuning is what makes the sound of the ukulele so special.
Two roads diverged in ukulele: strum vs pluck
Ukulele players today mainly exist in one of two worlds. If you go to a ukulele club, you’re most likely a hum and strum or strum and sing person. If you belong to a ukulele ensemble or ukulele orchestra, you’re … Continue reading