Friday, August 29, 2014

Jon Thysell || System: How To Practice

I have been reading Jon's blog over the last several days. He is a man with a wide variety of experiences and talents. He is also a deep thinker and writer who shares what he has learned on his blog, JonThysell.com. Therein, you may learn about programming, life planning, ukulele playing, and Taoism.

Turns out that although Jon lives in the Northwest now and I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, we have both been members of the Royal Hawaiian Ukulele Band with Uncle Kem. This band was in Berkeley, California and practiced after hours in a bar called, the Temple Bar. This was a large group of ukulele players that created a repetoire of Hawaiian and Hapa Haole songs and performed at various small venues including the Northern California Ukulele Festival and the Solano Stroll in Albany, California. There were many longtime members and numerous ukulele players grew from their experiences there.

The key thing from Jon's blog, for the baritone ukulele player, is his methodology for creating an effective practice. I find that there is great merit in his plan. And the plan works no matter what your specific interest are or where you are in your bari-ukulele playing trajectory. You chose what you work on and Jon's method gives you a way to feel and track your process.

I think the process is simple and smart and will put a meaningful plan into your ukulele playing. Jon talks about quitting the ukulele and his collection of acquired ukes becoming art on the wall. As adults we may not understand the process of learning. Now here's one plan worth reading.

http://jonthysell.com/2014/08/26/revisiting-how-to-practice-the-ukulele/

http://jonthysell.com/2013/07/22/how-i-make-the-most-out-of-my-ukulele-practice-sessions/

Thank you Jon for sharing your plan!

Jeff West / Humble Baritonics

Treetop Flyer

Krabbers || Please Forgive Me (David Gray cover)

Phillip Vongsavang || Only Want To Be with You & Pretty Good Year (original)

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Brabants Ukulele Genootschap || Aloha-Oe

A genootschap (German - genossenschaft) is a specifically Dutch form of company, association, society or cooperative, named after the pursuit for which its members gather.

Fretboard Tool Box || G-Scales

http://www.scribd.com/doc/210853520/Baritone-Ukulele-G-Major-Scales

I found another scale link here that may be useful...
http://www.varroa.biz/harp/UkeLesson-05.pdf

Thursday, August 21, 2014

Fred Eaglesmith || Freight Train

I was in a garage band for a short while, called the Uklectics, and one of my bandmates, Sheila performed at the Ukulele Club of Santa Cruz open mic night tonight with her cousin and Gary Cunningham. It was the first time I heard this song and decided to post it here for future reference and a give it a go with my baritone. Sheila wowed on her banjo uke.

This video starts of with a little humor... Elephants, Canadians, etc...



Lyrics and chords, link.

Pabrizzer || Miss You Love (Silverchair cover)

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Bob Guz || Overkill (Why am I posting a tenor uke video?)



I am posting this video because it is a little off the beaten path and there's a link to a Low G arrangement that I think might have possibilities on the low D bari. Here's the tab link.

DELETE Baritone Ukulele Oldies || Everybody Loves Somebody

Here's a new take on the clarity of presenting songs in a YouTube video. Often we just can't see the fingerings clearly, as they hover over the fretboard, and now BUO has taken care of it! These oldies have many juicy chords...

This is his first BUO video and I hope that his video collection grows steadily! Here's a link to his YT channel. Nice cover banner, eh? You betcha.

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Lew Dite || Likes Likker Better than Me (DGBD tuning)

I thought I'd search out some DGBD tuning and see what I could find. Here's an Old Time music player named Lew Dite that has posted many traditional tunes. Here Lew is playing a steel string tenor guitar. But we can easily adjust to this tuning on our bari's too...

Reuben Palmer || Soulmate

Reuben Palmer || Can You Hear Me Now (Baltic session)

Uke Val || 4 Lute Pieces for Bari

Uke Val has added a selection of translated pieces shared on YouTube. He also has a link if you'd like to give the tunes a try. Here's Val's link... https://app.box.com/s/fqlx3d6v5iq9m9t0pga3

Sunday, August 17, 2014

DELETE VIDEO PORTION / UPDATE LINK Glen Rose || Jazzy Baritone Ukulele

Glen Rose, Glen Rose, Glen Rose is the name of the man who is a jazz lovin' man that is putting together terrific musical instruction for the baritone ukulele player. He is a music teacher and music book writer. He travels each year to Viet Nam and comes back with a new creation or two. 

Glen has a love for music and music history and is quite a showman. And we bari players are very lucky to have the benefit of his efforts. He is also creating great videos which he has for sale on his site a very reasonable prices. Take a listen to his video below to hear the quality of his instructions.



http://www.jazzyukulele.com/

Jazz lovers need to know about his books and videos!

Friday, August 15, 2014

DELETE Jake Harris || Make You Feel My Love

I found Jake when doing my Bob Dylan song bari-player hunt. Good stuff.

Alistair Wood's Ukulele Hunt (Stardust -- David Beckingham arrangement)

Ukulele Hunt and Ukulele Underground are superior sites for finding the best info. Al has been doing great work with Uke Hunt for several years. He's a reliable source for so many great ideas and music. He's respected across the ukulele community. Below is a link to Ukulele Hunt and to Mr. Beckingham's arrangement of Stardust (wriiten for high G standard uke. Play around a little and I bet you'll enjoy it on your high or low D bari too.)


http://ukulelehunt.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/stardust.pdf

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Perkin's Ukulele || Improvisation

DELETE Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits || Baritone Ukulele Search

Every once in a while I do a selection of searches based on random items. This time I though I would use this video as a means to peruse the internet and find players, hopefully old and new friends. Some of these videos have hundreds of covers -- and perhaps we'll discover something new...



Published on Aug 1, 2014
Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits
00:00 Knockin' On Heaven's Door
02:31 Like A Rolling Stone ==> (Jeremiah Walker) (Keni Lee Burgess DGBD)
08:40 Blowing In The Wind ==> (Ken Middleton)
13:50 The Times They Are A-Changin'
17:06 Make You Feel My Love (John Sharpe) (Jamie Landers) (Jake Harris) (Doogulele) (Howie's Tutorial) (MugambisUke)
20:39 Girl From The North Country
23:48 Hurricane
32:23 You Belong To Me
35:23 Forever Young
40:20 Tangled Up In Blue
46:01 Things Have Changed
51:09 It Ain't Me Babe
54:44 All Along the Watchtower
57:17 Mr. Tambourine Man
1:02:47 Subterranean Homesick Blues
1:05:07 I Want You
1:08:17 Farewell
1:10:27 Chimes of Freedom
1:17:39 My Back Pages
1:23:48 Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
1:27:28 Highway 51
1:30:21 Tomorrow Is A Long Time
1:33:23 I Shall Be Released
1:38:08 House Of The Rising Sun
1:43:27 Just Like A Woman

Munson Music || Knocking on Heaven's Door

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Ken Middleton || Some Thoughts on Beginning a Song...

Ken has been sharing videos, playing ukuleles, and touring the world. He plays the bari ocassionally and sells all nylon Living Water high D bari-uke strings. He has much to share (although on a GCEA uke here). I think I like the added hammer on the most. Ken offers many suggestions and can improvise at a moments' notice.

Monday, August 11, 2014

Friday, August 8, 2014

Sarah Marie Young || Simple Love

My nearby ukulele blogging friend, Gary Peare of Ukulelia, heard this young lady perform on FaceBook and alerted me. Sarah has a lovely jazzy voice and a Harmony bari in this video. Live at Montreux Jazz Festival 2012...


Sarah Marie Young performs Old Dad, New Dad at Webster's Wine Bar...







Monday, August 4, 2014

Thumbpick Info From JamPlayDotCom

I have been experimenting a bit with flat picks to get more volume when play with smaller / higher GCEA tuned ukes. This video caught my interest so I thought I would share it with you...

Jim recommends: Fred Kelly Picks a) (light gauge) Slick Pick made out of Delrin and doesn't loosen up and has a wide paddle. Doesn't slip off. Should fit snuggly. Jim also recommends a green Fred Kelly pick called the Speed Pick. The pick portion is narrowed into a tinier tip and is recommended for a nylon string classical guitar and I may try on the Bari-Uke.

NOTE: The less the pick is into the string the lighter the approach, or softer the sound. The more "into" the string the more intense it gets. Thumb is more parallel to the strings. Jim recommendeds finding the picks from Elderly dotcom. (I also have had good experiences with Elderly -- they are very professional -- in all of my 5 or 6 purchases which have included two instruments.)

Fred Kelly Slick Pick (be careful in ordering for medium size)

Fred Kelly Speed Pick (be careful in ordering for medium size)

Friday, August 1, 2014

James Farrell || Dream Your Troubles Away

My high school buddy, Dave C., lives in Napa and he read an article about a 97 year old man thrown out of his retirement home for excessive ukulele playing. This article was in the Napa Valley Register.com and may be found by clicking this link.