Ukulee videos

If you are into watching videos that include some (or all) ukulele playing, you might want to bookmark this page:
http://ukulelehunt.com/about-the-ukulele/ukulele-videos/

The organizer of this web page has a lot of material -- songs and tabs, reviews, lessons -- and one link is to the ukulele related videos.  There is a selection of "best of the year", "most popular" and the ones he has seen in the last week or so.

So if you want to spend some time this way, here is your link.  And check out the rest of his web page too.

For Kala Fans

I know that some of you have Kala ukuleles and they have developed a large following, not only with normal folks like us, but with the higher ranks of the music world.  There is a promotional video that you may not have seen.  Here is the link to their web page -- then click on the Kala Compilation video on the right hand of the page.
http://www.youtube.com/user/kalabrandmusic#p/u/1/ANZ8D-D70VE
Catch the last clip with the Jive Aces using the very economical Dolphin uke -- shows what can be done.

Ralph

Humidifier

Well, my home furnace is now operating and the house remains a pleasant temperature, but accordingly, the humidity in the house goes down,  I do not have a whole house humidifier and while I do put out a good room humidifier, still the house humidity can be as low as 25% on occasion.

I have a couple ukes that are not sensitive to this, like my Flea with it's plastic body and laminated top, I do have some that are solid wood.   Back a couple years ago, I had two Pono tenors crack, and I believe that one was not my fault and the other might be a result of low humidity in the house (but Pono, to their credit toward good will, did replace both).  So I do know that some ukes can develop cracks in the face and/or back.

So today, in the winter, I keep my solid wood ukes in cases, and I put humidifier gadgets in them.  There are several commercial items available, but you can make one that is great.  The photo shows my version, in this case with some expanded crystals poking out the top.

It is a small pill bottle, with a lot of 1/16" holes drilled in the barrel, and then a 1/4 teaspoon of Schultz Moisture Plus Watering Crystals inside.   (Dorothy uses this product in some plant soils for selected indoor plants.)  When immersed in water, the crystals rapidly expand with water, and then they very slowly release the water to the atmosphere.  In my uke cases, one of these tubes keeps my humidity at good level for several weeks.

So if you have an upscale uke -- one made with solid wood -- best be careful and use a humidifier. (Laminated body ukes are not likely to crack but humidification is always a Plus.)

I'll make one of these for you if you need one.

Ralph

December 13

 Let's all come to the meeting and meet Betty and Sue

Songs for the holiday season

Greetings ukulele fans.

We are rapidly approaching the holiday season of Thanksgiving, Hanukah and Christmas. We won't be having our usual 4^th Tuesday meeting since it is so close to Thanksgiving and the next planned meeting is December 13.

So for that meeting, in this holiday season, I have selected a number of songs, a mix of secular and religious, that we might want to work on at the December meeting. (I did not include any Jewish numbers, but if you wish too, let me know.) These songs have been sent to everyone on my email list and if you did not get it, let me know. And if you like some others, send them along so we can incorporate them into the program too.

I have also included a beginner grade tab sheet for Twinkle Twinkle so you can start on some right hand arpeggios appropriate for the season.

Print out the song sheets and bring them to the December meeting. Hope to see you there.

A Thanksgiving medley

Here is a nice medley of songs for the Thanksgiving period.  We all have plenty to give thanks for, and for me, the friendship of our small ukulele group is one of them.

Ralph

Want to build your own uke?

Have you ever thought about making your own uke, with the special features you want?  Don't have much experience or equipment?  The Grizzly kit is a great starter project.

Well there are several uke kits on the market that does not require a lot of experience or special wood working tools.  The Grizzly kit is the cheapest, and could be the easiest to complete.

On a lark I got a kit and I just finished building one.  The kit comes with all the woodworking compete (except for sanding) so the job is essentially to sand the pieces, do some simple assembly following the excellent instructions, do any pore filling you want (I did not pore fill) and apply a finish.  I used TruOil for a finish, probably the easiest to use (and to repair later) and has no environmental concerns, nor are breathing masks needed.  It provides a great finish.

The body is a laminate with a mahogany venier surface that is very pretty.

Now is this the greatest uke you have every played -- no -- it is pretty quiet, but the intonation is right on, all the parts are provided and well pre-assembled (the body), it does look nice, and it is yours..  Is it a better entry level value than the popular Dolphin model?  Your call, but if you like to play around in the garage, go for the Grizzly.

Amazon has a good price and fast service.

Ralph

Here is a different version of Frankie and Johnny

A friend in the Dallas area has a very nice version of Frankie and Johnny, based on a Brothers Four rendition of the song.

I have a song sheet for this if you want to perform this song.

Ralph

A timely song

This is a nice timely song give than our granddaughter is now free of cancer.*

Ralph

*  this particular cancer is traced to the hormones and additives added to animal  feedstock.  Limit your fast foods!

Here is a lovely number

Here is a video of Ken Middleton at the recent Nova Scotia uke festival doing the lovely 1932 song, Try A Little Tenderness.  Ken is a rep. for Ohana and travels to a lot of festivals around the world, including Dallas a couple years ago.  With him is another festival regular, Gerald Ross, this time with a guitar.

A nice job with a great tune.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=iyn5Lbn6jQw