Aaron & Nicole Keim || A Ukulele Handbook

(NOTE: This book is set up for GCEA tuning)

I have been following and learning music from Aaron for several years. I first met him at Mike DaSilva's Ukulele workshop in Berkeley, California when he had a concert and class with his bandmates from the Boulder Acoustic Society. Aaron has a way of teaching music like a problem solver. If one way doesn't work, then he'll communicate it in another. I have one of his books from that early class in my ukulele library.

In recent year's I have made sure to see Aaron and Nicole as they play and teach either in Santa Cruz or Berkeley. I follow Aaron on his site called The Quiet American and enjoy the songs that Aaron and Nicole create in a beautiful handy-arsty fashion. There is something about a hand-drawn book that draws me in and feels like an old friend.

Now Aaron has let me know the they're about to release their next book "A Ukulele Handbook." The book aims to be indispensable to all ukulele players, with lessons on melodies, songs, strumming, tab, picking, chords, music theory, general ukulele info and more. All of it is hand copied and illustrated by Nicole, printed on recycled paper with covers by Stumptown Printers in Portland.

I have taken a look through the first 30 or so pages, and it comes at a good time, since I think it will be a great tool for teaching many aspects of the ukulele to my son Kyle and his girlfriend Elizabeth. There are also videos that go along with the book. Here is a playlist for the 24 videos that accompany the book: http://tinyurl.com/HandbookPlaylist

Aaron and Nicole play Americana or Old-Time Music which is simple, rich, beautiful, and really fun. Here's one of his video lessons as a sampler...



...And here's a link, to beautiful merchandise site, where you may obtain a copy of "A Ukulele Handbook" or another musical treat.

http://quietamericanmusic.com/storestore/

Something I truly enjoy and value,

Jeff / Humble Uker / Humble Baritonics