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Recent Posts
- Instrumental Halloween tunes for ukulele October 29, 2024
- Ukulele Fall 2024 Course October 11, 2024
- Ukulele Exercises Series (books) September 26, 2024
- Nutmeg Ukulele Festival 2024 August 27, 2024
- 3 Chord Thursday Rest of the Year Pass August 27, 2024
- 3 Chord Thursday Hunter’s Full Moon August 21, 2024
- 3 Chord Thursday Holiday Songs August 21, 2024
- 3 Chord Thursday Sad but beautiful songs August 21, 2024
- 3 Chord Thursday Disney August 12, 2024
- 3 Chord Thursday television August 12, 2024
- Borrow ukulele from a library August 7, 2024
- 3 Chord Thursday NAMES July 29, 2024
- Fun with Uke 2024 July 23, 2024
- 3 Chord Thursday Dance! June 25, 2024
- 3 Chord Thursday Hooked on Classics June 25, 2024
- 3 Chord Thursday Relaxation June 25, 2024
- 3 Chord Thursday Colorado Songs of John Denver June 25, 2024
- 3 Chord Thursday Parody Parade June 25, 2024
- 3 Chord Thursday Across America June 25, 2024
- C chords for ukulele June 6, 2024
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December 2024 M T W T F S S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 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: self
Kubasaki High School Reunion Cruise: part four
In the final part of this four-part blog post about my high school reunion, I reflect upon why my high school classmates should and would want to attend the next reunion. I write this because I struggled against my own … Continue reading
Kubasaki High School Reunion Cruise: part two
Funny, every time I type “Kubasaki” WordPress autocorrects it to “Kabuki.” What does Kubasaki mean? I told a stranger that the word came from my last name. He believed me.
Dad’s favorite songs
The third Sunday in June is declared for Father’s Day, first celebrated in 1910 in the USA but not proclaimed as such until years later. Coincidentally, June 21st is also Summer Solstice, the longest day in the year, and thus a very important milestone for those who … Continue reading
A song for dad: diamonds and rust
My dad never hesitated to share titles of the songs he loved. In his last years, he took a liking to Youtube. One of his favorite singers was Joan Baez.
Classical guitar: intimate, personal, and vulnerable
There is something intimate, personal, and vulnerable about sharing a space with a musician — unplugged. Such is the case of experiencing the classical guitar, which is a rare thing on Maui. Once a year Ben Verdery draws students and … Continue reading
The two Cs
My dad warned me about the two Cs when I was leaving home for college. “Beware of chemistry,” he said.
Shock via social media
News travels fast on social media, particularly shocking news about death. Initially it goes like this: “Have you heard?” “Did you know?”
Biggest Fan
When she suddenly realizes that she has lost her biggest fan, she feels lost.
Dad said Confucius says
When I read past e-mails from my father, I often envision a Confucian scholar. He wrote like one. His words were not spontaneous but deliberate. The writing itself is from another era.