Posts by UkoOno
Feliz Navidad
It’s time to pull out the Christmas Carols – and everyone knows this is my favourite. It’s such a joyous and buoyant song – and it’s a ‘circle song’ so once you learn the order of the chords – you are away. Excuse my terrible pronunciation in this one and enJOY the vibe!
Read MoreVideo Killed the Radio Star
This tutorial is for Video Killed the Radio Star. It’s a classic song and heaps of fun to play – and suitable for all levels. Intermediate to Advanced members will enJOY the riffing. I remember this song from my early teens and the film clip seemed so amazing at the time. Watching the Buggles’ ‘Video…
Read MoreChucking (or chunking)!
This tutorial is on ‘chucking’ (also known as chunking) which is a percussive strum pattern which sounds great and is super cool to use. I’ve included the music for Stuck in the Middle With You for practice but as I mention in the video – it also works well for Island ‘chucking’ and for songs…
Read MoreOnly You
This is a gorgeous song by Yazoo (sung by the fabulous Alison Moyet in a different key to our version) which was also covered by the Flying Picketts – you might like to check out each version. It’s a beautiful song, made more interesting by the ‘inside outside pinch’ strum pattern. Start slowly and build…
Read MoreGolden Brown
You may remember the hauntingly beautiful song, “Golden Brown”, written by The Stranglers back in 1981. Well we are going to do a different version: mariachi style! Be sure to watch the YouTube video below as we folow the version by Mariachi Mexteca feat. Hugh Cornwell from The Stranglers. It’s going to be a lot…
Read MoreHeroes
This video tutorial is for the classic David Bowie song, ‘Heroes’. The first video runs through the song, including harmonies; the second video focuses on the three riff patterns; and the third video looks at the harmonies. Once you’ve mastered the riffs (and harmonies) you can play/sing along to Video 1 to practice. I’ve also…
Read MoreIt Must Be Love
Welcome to the “It Must Be Love’ video tutorial. I absolutely love this song – it’s fun and sweet – and I’ve introduced lots of riffs to keep it quirky and interesting to play. Michelle and I have put together five videos for this song: three for the strums/chords; and two for the riffing. We’ll…
Read MoreMy Girl
We all recognize that riff! The Pentatonic Scale made famous by The Temptations back in 1965 in ‘My GIrl’! This is a fun song to play, mostly Island strum, with some down strums on the chorus that really suit the melody. With practice we can nail those riffs that lead into the interlude and skilfully…
Read Morea-one a-two strum – Lion Sleeps Tonight
To make the Lion Sleeps Tonight sound more interesting, we do the a-one a-two (a-three a-four) strum – still doing 4 strums per chord (C x 4, F x 4, C x 4, G7 x 4). So the strum is up-down, up-down, up-down, up-down – and it’s short on the ‘up’ and long on the…
Read MoreTry A Little Kindness
In this tutorial we are going to learn the delightful song, ‘Try a Little Kindness’ – inspired by the version by the DoaneUschool featuring Jann Arden. It’s a simple song but does use the ‘E’ chord which we often avoid on the ukulele as it can be a little tricky. But I know we can…
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