What the Folk!

And it was a very nice case too. This uke is different than the one he played last season. Mr. Schue has UAS.

Last season...



Tuesday...



and I think he played that ukulele at the Emery Awards too...

Wow, that's beautiful!!! ...and the uke is fine too

For real! Sheesh, I barely survived googling for those uke pics...nice abs, Mr. Morrison.

...and on the show, all the shirt/tie combos...and the vests! Oh the vests! Yum.

What is it about vests?

I tell you I'm a real sucker for a guy in a vest. Is that why I love Johnny Depp so much? Oh yeah, nice uke.

I hadn't noticed, but ukulelehunt has the chords up for Short People!

http://ukulelehunt.com/wp-content/uploa ... People.pdf

And just to make it extra easy to strum and sing along with Bret, here's the video.



I can't really play it like Bret does yet, but I'm having fun trying. That Asus2 is killing me.

The website adds chord shapes for the baritone uke (which is what Bret is playing) so don't try to match his chord hand. Details here. (about halfway down the page)

Does anyone have a baritone?

Fun song to play for sure, but you're right...the Asus2 is ridiculous!


Sign that I've watched this video on repeat too many times...I seriously started humming this song out loud in the laundry room and then realized that there were other people in there....luckily they were not shorter than me

So you know what I do, sneak that I am? I only strum the top 3 strings, so I don't have to bar the chord. Yeah, it's not as full a sound, but until my wrists build up strength from December surgery, it's the way to roll!

I'm actually getting the hang of it. Building muscles in my pinky I guess!

Ha! SC. Too funny.

We are playing this now. Rhythm of Love by Plain White T's. I transposed it up 5 steps. (C-G) Delaney is going to perform it in the school talent show and the original was too low for her. The higher chords are nice and easy anyway. No capo needed and the site is for guitar, but play the corresponding uke chord and it sounds just fine.

Transposed it up 5 steps means what, exactly? (Cuz imadork)
I've tried it with these chords and it doesn't sound right in spots to me...

I've been playing an Elvis song of late....

If you click on the transpose button it lets you pick how many steps to move up or down the musical scale to get the song into a comfortable vocal range (or to get to easier chords ). Is that what you were asking about? I just learned how to do that myself, thanks to biscuit.

Which Elvis song? My daughter really wanted to chose a top 40 song. She is in middle school now, you know. To my shock and dismay, it wasn't easy to find a current hit song without expletives in the lyrics.

Thank you thank you- to you and biscuit. It sounds much better- and is definitely easier! There were just a few spots where the chords were in the wrong spots. (To my ear.) What strum pattern do you use? I usually wing it til it sounds right...I know that's not always good.

The Elvis song is Can't Help Falling in Love:

http://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/e/elvis ... r2_crd.htm

I'm not a big Elvis fan, but that is my favorite of his songs. Did you ever hear the arrangement they used in the Broaway show All Shook Up? I really liked the last part with the whole ensemble. Don't ask me what chordage they're using there:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7P5pcfO3U7w&NR=1

Nothing wrong with winging it. I'm playing it with the standard uke strum DDUUD with two short down strokes for the G's at the end of the verse phrases. Oh, and I'm chunking it.

I'm having fun playing 'Can't Help Falling in Love with You.' Thanks! The chord patterns in that one are quite enjoyable.

Hello fellow Uke lovers! Yes, 'tis I, DaMango. Sorry that I haven't posted in months, real life has been a bit complicated as of late. Thankfully, my spirits have been lifted by a lovely little Ibanez ukulele named Lenny. I bought him exactly 3 weeks ago, and I have been playing him for hours everyday since. Here's a picture.




Ok, so the main reason for this post is that I need some advice. I had the honor of seeing Mr. Jake Shimabukuro perform in Seattle on March 29th, and I got to meet him after the show. He autographed the back of Lenny with a Sharpie marker. (I chose the back because I plan on playing and performing with Lenny for a long time, and I thought an autograph on the front would be distracting.)



Anyway, within a week of getting the precious autograph, the "o" at the end of his name started to rub off! (Noooo!!!!!) My question is, how have those of you with autographed ukes preserved the autograph? I've read a few suggestions online, but I am worried about Krylon spray dissolving the autograph, which would really suck. Some people said that they managed to avoid that by applying extremely light coats of spray, but I don't know if I trust myself. Most of the suggestions I've read have said to put away the signed uke, and buy a new one to play. That's really not an option for me, both financially and because I want to look at Jake's signature for inspiration every time I practice. Any tips or suggestions would be most helpful. Thanks in advance.

DaMango! Oh, that is a beautiful instrument. Is it a concert uke? Perhaps you will record a little song for us so we can hear how Lenny sounds? You saw Jake perform AND met him?!?!? That's too cool. What all did he perform? Does he do any original songs?

As far as the signature, did you check with a guitar shop that does repairs? I would imagine that they would know what sort of lacquer is best, and that wouldn't harm the ukulele...then maybe test a tiny permanent marker spot either on your uke ( ) or a similar piece of wood/old guitar to make sure it doesn't cause the ink to run.