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Recent Posts
- 12 Chinese Zodiac Tunes February 15, 2025
- Guinea Pig for high G ukulele February 14, 2025
- Gift Horse for high G ukulele February 14, 2025
- 100 Days of Ukulele 2024 February 14, 2025
- Monkey Around for high G ukulele February 13, 2025
- Ukulele Chord Chart or Chord Table February 7, 2025
- Doggy Bag for high G ukulele February 7, 2025
- Chopin Waltz in A minor for low G ukulele February 7, 2025
- Chicken Feed for high G ukulele February 6, 2025
- Rat Race for high G ukulele February 6, 2025
- Counting Sheep to Sleep, a lullaby for high G ukulele February 5, 2025
- 3 Chord Thursday Anniversary February 5, 2025
- 3 Chord Thursday IRISH February 5, 2025
- 3 Chord Thursday LOVE February 4, 2025
- Counting Sheep for high G ukulele February 4, 2025
- Can’t Help Falling in Love in F for ukulele February 4, 2025
- As Tears Go By (1964) February 3, 2025
- Holy Cow for high G ukulele January 30, 2025
- Two Tigers for high G ukulele January 29, 2025
- Rabbit Hole for high G ukulele January 29, 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. […]
Tag Archives: harmony
I Left My Heart in San Francisco for Ukulele Play Along
Tony Bennett’s 1962 recording of “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” was a double whammy. It made him famous. It made the song famous. He sang it in the key of C major. But it’s not a three chord … Continue reading
America the Beautiful
A parishioner requested “America the Beautiful” to include in the programme on the weekend before Independence Day. For Catholic mass, I played it as a recessional hymn on the organ while the young cantor lead the congregation who sang more … Continue reading
Taster Workshop on song writing and composition
The ukulele culture of sharing songs and sightreading song sheets sometimes leads to writing your own songs. It may start with a famous poem with words that seem to suit a tune whose origins you’re not sure of. Convinced it’s … Continue reading
Piano Harmonisation (Harmonization)
By special request, I am offering a new 8-week piano course in Zoom to take beginners to the next level of playing. Read from lead sheets and play songs you’d like to play. It’s open to all levels though not … Continue reading
Music Theory: HARMONY
What’s the difference between melody and harmony? Both require notes to define and describe them. One is ordered sequentially through time. The other can also be stacked vertically. We associate melody with words and harmony with emotions. Is there more?
0-1-2 finger chords in A
Do you remember when you first learned to play the ukulele? What was the first chord you ever learned? Second chord? Before long you are playing the 3-finger chord of G7. Why is that? To get you to quickly accompany … Continue reading
Transposing by hand
Thanks to automatic transposition algorithms offered on websites like Ozbcoz.com, we don’t think twice about what’s involved in transposing a song manually. Without such options, how do we transpose all the chords for a given song by hand? To transpose … Continue reading
Beatles love songs for Valentine’s Day
Every year I try to select songs to fit the annual occasions, such as love songs for Valentine’s, Irish songs for St Patrick’s, nature songs for Earth Day, etc. In my deep dive Beatles songs for my ukulele classes in … Continue reading
Music theory for ukulele
Music Theory for Ukulele is a new course in Zoom that answers questions about music. Continue reading
Spice it up with suspended chords: free taster ukulele workshop
Suspended chords can spice up a song. Attend this free taster workshop of forthcoming ukulele strum series. Continue reading