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Recent Posts
- Daily Music Writing Project January 20, 2025
- Body Surfing for easy ukulele January 19, 2025
- 3 Chord Thursday 2025 Ukulele + January 15, 2025
- World Ukulele Day Workshops January 15, 2025
- Happy Birthday for high G ukulele January 13, 2025
- Happy Birthday for ukulele January 13, 2025
- Friday I’m in Love for ukulele January 10, 2025
- Can’t Help Falling in Love with ukulele January 8, 2025
- We Shall Overcome on ukulele January 8, 2025
- Puff the Magic Dragon Travis Picking Variations January 8, 2025
- Travis Picking exercises for ukulele January 8, 2025
- Oh Susanna for ukulele January 8, 2025
- Exercise for waltz accompaniment January 7, 2025
- Strum & Fingerpick Exercise in 3/4 Time January 7, 2025
- Accompaniment exercises in 3/4 time for low G ukulele January 7, 2025
- Accompaniment in 3/4 time for high G ukulele January 7, 2025
- Feed the Birds with ukulele January 6, 2025
- Auld Lang Syne in F for low G ukulele January 4, 2025
- On Top of Spaghetti in C for high G ukulele January 3, 2025
- Left Hand Techniques for ukulele January 3, 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: orchestra
Read Rotate Repeat
Playing in an ensemble is a sonic jigsaw puzzle. Until you play with other members of the ensemble, you’re never quite sure what it sounds like. Even better, rotate and play other parts. Repeat. It’s that simple and fun!
Wanted: ukulele players for guitar orchestra
The New England Guitar Orchestra invites ukulele players to join us this season. The unique characteristic of the ukulele makes a huge difference to the overall sound. Three hour rehearsals (with break) are scheduled for Saturday mornings 6/1, 6/15, and … Continue reading
Guitar orchestra concert in Boston – free
Once upon a time, I played the piano daily and performed regularly with a guitarist in a piano guitar duo. When the guitarist moved to Boston to pursue his doctorate in music, I got replaced by a string quartet and an … Continue reading
Ukuleles in the hall of the mountain king
It’s that time of the year when ukulele players play songs from the Halloween set list. Although Edvard Grieg’s “In the Hall of the Mountain King” is purely instrumental, it works well for the ukulele. It can be played as … Continue reading
Of guitar quartets and ensemble playing
In January 2018, I started a new ukulele group and joined the Boston Guitar Orchestra. For the latter, I begged the conductor to translate the notated sheet music for guitar part four into tablature so that I could read it. … Continue reading
Happy Fourth of July! Invitations to concerts
Happy Fourth of July! So many FREE concerts in the Boston area next week. My latest ukulele mail-out below includes a NOT FREE concert of a non-traditional string quartet from the Bay Area and my Boston Guitar Orchestra rehearsals and concerts.
The cost of performing and producing your own concert
Every conservatory student is faced with the daunting task of putting together a concert in which he or she performs or composes. When I had to prepare for my “final exam concert” in 2008, I had no idea what was … Continue reading
Piano ensemble approach
I am developing an approach to teaching adult group piano by conducting the group as an ensemble. It occurred to me that most pianists never get a chance to play with other musicians. At most they may play duet or … Continue reading