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Recent Posts
- 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
- The Z Chord or “Zed Chord” April 17, 2025
- Roman Hands & Russian Fingers April 16, 2025
- One Finger at a Time April 16, 2025
- More Major Minor Menagerie April 15, 2025
- Major Minor Menagerie for ukulele April 15, 2025
- A Minor Moment to C for high G ukulele April 15, 2025
- 3 Chord Thursday Festive Full Moon April 14, 2025
- 3 Chord Thursday Halloween April 14, 2025
- Thumb Through All That for high G ukulele April 11, 2025
- Untitled Waltz for high G ukulele April 10, 2025
- 3 Chord Thursday 2025 No Theme April 10, 2025
- 3 Chord Thursday Classical Music April 10, 2025
- 3 Chord Thursday Swimming & Water April 10, 2025
- 3 Chord Thursday Seventies April 10, 2025
- Thrice Blinded by Mice for high G ukulele April 9, 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: music
Do Wah Diddy for ukulele – video tutorial
At the request of my ukulele students, I recorded my first video tutorial. The song “Do Wah Diddy Diddy” is ideal for beginners as it gets them to practise frequent switching between the easy chords of C and F. It … Continue reading
Ukulele: ticket to ride
Little did I know that buying my first ukulele and learning to play it would change the direction of my life.
Nontraditional students and their struggles: the pursuit of degrees
In the UK, older students are called “mature students.” In the US, anyone over 25 studying for their first degree falls into the category of “nontraditional students”. In the Netherlands, it is uncommon to see a mature, nontraditional student at … 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
Remembering dad on Father’s Day
Today may be the first time I’m joining everyone else in cyberspace, to remember my dad on Father’s Day. In Mandarin Chinese, the word for father is “ba ba” which sounds like “eight eight” — thus the eighth day of … 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
Teaching from the gut
Long ago I posted a blog on Bon Journal called “Teaching from the Gut.” By the title, I meant teaching a subject you know so intimately that it feels as though it’s coming out of your gut. You’re so confident … Continue reading