If youʻre one of those who have crazy chops yet somehow it always sounds messy, this ones for you. This is not so much a trick, itʻs more of a necessity. Consider the metronome to help you get your playing cleaned up. Before you begin, pick a goal tempo i.e. the tempo you want to eventually reach. The way I work the metronome is to set it to a very slow speed. This tempo would need to be so slow that you would be allowed to hear all your mistakes. Speed is an interesting thing, it does impress the hell out of people, yet it also covers up your mistakes and might even make you think youʻre playing it well. So start out very slow on the metronome, play it through 10 times perfectly, then move the tempo up by 1 (or whatever the smallest increment on your metronome.) Keep doing this till you reach your desired tempo and youʻre good to go! Your playing should be much cleaner. Why does this work so well? By practicing this way you practice every part of the movement, therefore when you reach your goal tempo, every part of the movement is perfect. Incidentally, if can’t stand working with a metronome, a drum machine would work just as well.

Donʻt have a metronome, or cant afford one? go here
Here is the metronome that I use

Technorati Tags: metronome, practice, ukulele, music, hawaii, dr. beat, tempo

This question gets asked quite often by my students and I thought I would address it here. Shaping the nail to play the ʻukulele can amount to a bit of trial and error. Hereʻs a few suggestions to set you on your way. First off, let me say that I particularly have odd shaped fingers. On my fingering hand, I have to deal with my middle and ring fingers on which the nails grow upward. For those who are considering acrylic, please be forewarned that the reason for my nails wanting to grow in a different direction is because I used to use acrylic and it has since forced the odd growing pattern. The reason? I wanted my nails thicker so I used a lot of acrylic to give them a thicker sound. So, on to the good stuff…

Why shape your nails? Your nails can drastically change the tone of the instrument. If you think of your nails like a built in pick, you will understand why I say to shape them the way I do.

All you would need to purchase for this is a 4 to 6 way buffer. Emory boards will heat up when used and you normally canʻt get that smooth finish as you would with a buffer. The one i use is made by Revlon called the Shape ‘N’ Buff. You can find these at most drug stores. Obviously you would use these buffers from coarsest grain to the least coarse to get the smoothest possible finish. Always hold the buffer underneath the nail and not head on. Try to create an angle of about 45 degrees when filing and remember you can overdo it, so use your best discretion.

The shape of the nail itself should allow for the nail to run down the string so that you can utilize as much energy of the nail as possible. This would mean that you would need to create a ramp on the left side of the nail (if youʻre right handed, and all ʻukulele players should be.) The left edge of the nail should be pretty much flush with the skin and the ramp should not be too steep. In other words, although itʻs a matter of preference, the longer the nail, the less control you will have over your picking, also the length will affect the tone also. Remember that you will probably want to feel the string as youʻre picking it.

I hope this helps you in your quest for the perfect tone on the ʻukulele, and by all means, if you feel I’ve left anything out, feel free to comment.

Technorati Tags: ukulele, fingernail, shape, shaping, nail file, revlon, Dr. Trey, music, hawaii

Check out this press release i found on The Open Press

Fortuna, CA (OPENPRESS) April 23, 2008 — When you think top-selling stringed instruments, chances are you aren’t envisioning the ukulele among them. But that’s where you’d be wrong… at least at Fortuna Music Mart.

The humble and oft-maligned ukulele ranks third among the most sought-after instruments in their inventory (right behind the Walden D351 acoustic guitar and the Walden G1070 acoustic guitar).

And why not? The miniature instrument popularized by Don Ho and (dare we say it?) Tiny Tim is making a comeback. Musical giants Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton and Brian May of Queen are ukulele players and fans. Departed rockers Joe Strummer, John Lennon and George Harrison were also big into this little instrument. George Harrison was an active member of the George Formby Society, a group of British ukulele aficionados.

George Harrison even gave Paul McCartney a ukulele – the very one which Paul used to play the Harrison-penned tune “Something” at a memorial concert in San Francisco for the former Beatle.

So how did the little instrument with the peculiar-sounding moniker get that name? According to legend, 400 Portuguese immigrants arrived at the island of Honolulu on the afternoon of August 23, 1879. One of those arriving immigrants, Joao Fernandes (gleeful over the Ravenscrag’s safe landing after its four-month, 15,000-mile journey), borrowed a friend’s braguinha (a stringed instrument in the guitar family, also known as a cavaquinho). Fernandes then leapt from the ship and began playing folk songs from his homeland. The native Hawaiians who had come down to the wharf to greet the immigrants on their arrival were impressed by the speed with which his fingers navigated the instrument’s fingerboard. They dubbed the unusual instrument “ukulele” – referring to the visual image those flying fingers conjured up.

Oh, and the English translation of “ukulele”? “Jumping flea.”

Fortuna Music Mart carries a delightful selection of Mahalo painted acoustic ukuleles, as well as some lovely Oscar Schmidt Acoustic and Acoustic Electric ukuleles. See their entire selection of ukuleles at www.FortunaMusicMart.com.

Ukuleles are among the most reasonably priced musical instruments available today. The Mahalo Painted U30 Ukulele, available in five eye-catching colors (sky blue, ocean blue, hibiscus red, pineapple gold and midnight black), features 100% maple construction and an ebonized bridge and fingerboard. The frets are polished brass; the guitar-style tuners are nickel plated, with plastic knobs. There’s even a color-coordinated carrying bag.

If you’re looking to express your funky musical style in an even more daring way, try out the Mahalo U1 Painted Ukulele Kit. Inside the unassuming grey carrying bag is the wildest looking musical instrument you’ll ever lay eyes on. This maple-body ukulele comes in either light blue or pineapple gold, and it’s decorated with all manner of tropical fruits – pineapples, mangoes, star fruit, coconuts and bananas – to lend a tropical punch to your performance. The kit comes with pitch pipes, a felt plectrum (similar to a guitar pick, but made of compressed felt) – and even an instructional DVD to start you on the way to becoming the hit of any party with your dazzling ukulele-strumming abilities.

The ukulele is small, light and portable – and easy to learn. Plus, an astounding number of people have never actually seen or heard one… so when you pull yours out and begin to play, just watch the smiles bloom across their faces.

As a matter of fact, Paul McCartney (whose first solo album featured the ukulele) is credited with having said, “To this day, if I ever meet grownups who play ukulele, I love ’em.”

So, if you’ve been seeking Paul McCartney’s love and admiration, get yourself an acoustic or electric ukulele from Fortuna Music Mart by visiting www.FortunaMusicMart.com.

About Fortuna Music Mart: Fortuna Music Mart carries a range of stringed instruments (bass, banjos, guitars, mandolins and ukuleles), along with an eclectic selection of crystal flutes and hand drums. Fortuna Music Mart also stocks the Kustom line of acoustic, bass and electric guitar amplifiers. For further information about Fortuna Music Mart, please call 707-725-9230 or visit www.FortunaMusicMart.com.

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Professional Free Press Release News Wire

One would assume that the goal of an ukulele contest participant would be to win. Well for Shane Konno, it was to learn. Through the procedure of learning, however, Shane did learn about many things one of which was winning. Shane Konno aka Ukulele Boy please accept our congratulations in winning the Duke’s Ukes Contest! For the readers of this website, you should know that Shane Konno won the first place prize for this contest, and beyond that, Shane is a student of the Doctor’s Office Ukulele lessons. This is great news and it shows that passion still controls the arts.

links:

Shane Konno (Ukulele Boy)
Duke’s Ukes Contest

Technorati Tags: ukulele, ukulele boy, Shane Konno, Kamaka Ukulele, contest, Duke’s Ukes Contest

This is probably the question that is most often asked: “How should I warm up before playing the ���ukulele?” I don’t think I can even count the amount of emails that I have received with this very question. So I figured that rather than explaining to each person what I do, and let me emphasize that this is only my method. It is not a standard method although many of the exercises are adapted from standard guitar exercises. You don’t have to do these exercises to warm up. I would also suggest stretching before getting into the exercises themselves. Hopefully you find these helpful. Get the warmups here: ���Ukulele Warm-up Exercises

Technorati Tags: ukulele, warm ups, warm-ups, exercises, hawaii, music, lesson, lessons, instruction