Ukulele & Languages

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one common language... the ukulele.

Posts Tagged ‘beginner’

03 2012

Truss rods on Pono ukuleles

I never knew my Pono baritone ukulele had a truss rod until a couple of weeks ago. I suddendly noticed, much to my horror, that my Pono had started to buzz badly when I played certain strings.  I knew the strings were not to blame as I had changed them shortly before the buzz first occurred.

I couldn’t understand what caused the sudden change in the sound. I hadn’t dropped my ukulele and it had received no shock, nor did I leave it in the sun or in the cold.

I showed it to my friend Guillaume and he spotted that the truss rod was slightly coming out. We could take it out even more when we pulled it gently. I quickly searched on the internet and found this explanation from Ko’olau Guitar and Ukulele  Company on how to set the truss rod. This guitar page (in French) was helpful to understand the principles of a truss rod too.

Here is my Pono with its truss rod sticking out. Thanks to Guillaume for the picture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not wanting to risk doing any damage to my uke, I emailed Ko’olau Guitar and Ukulele Company for advice. I got a very fast answer from John and applying all he said restored my ukulele’s natural buzz-free warm and mellow tone. Thanks John !

Here is the explanation I got, in case you ever have the same problem :

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23 2010

Improve your ukulele technique : a tip by Herman Vandecauter

Today multi-string-instrumentalist Herman Vandecauter from Belgium discusses the importance of using the little finger when playing the ukulele and illustrates his point with an exercise for ukuleles in GCEA tuning which you can hear and download further in this post.

Here is what Herman says :

I am always impressed when I see good left hand technique on the ukulele. I attach the greatest possible importance on the use of the fourth finger (the little finger or pinky) of the left hand, so often neglected.
Your little finger can become extremely flexible and fast if trained in the right manner.

The 4th finger should be your first choice when you reach the third fret of the first string.

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01 2010

5 thoughts on learning fingerstyle or classical ukulele

A lot of my fingerpicking ukulele learning process has been about setting myself some challenges which were reasonably difficult for me to make some progress but not completely out of my league.

After 8 months of ukulele fingerpicking, both learning via Skype with Herman Vandecauter and working things out myself, here is a reflection on the things that worked for me.

1. Liking a piece

First and foremost, and mostly because the amount of time I can dedicate to my ukulele learning process is rather restricted, it is absolutely essential for me to work on pieces that I choose myself.
This is a crucial motivational factor : if I like a piece, I’ll be very intent on learning it.

2. Finding a piece that reflects your emotions

In addition to liking a piece, it has to be in accordance with my emotions.

Music is an important vector of emotions so if I feel melancholy, chances are I’ll be much better at playing John Dowland arrangements rather than say, a lively Spanish tune. On the contrary, if I feel joyful, I’ll be glad to work on Irish reels or other upbeat pieces.

3. How should the piece sound ?

Once I’ve chosen a piece I like that reflects my state of mind, I move on to the next step which is to figure out how the piece should sound when played properly.

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19 2010

Gawasiman, a ukulele arranger from Japan

I have featured quite a few videos of Gawasiman, a ukulelist from Japan who has the knack for arranging Japanese pop music as well as classical pieces for the ukulele.

I have therefore decided to find out a bit more about him and his ukulele arranging. Gawasiman has been most helpful and has even offered to write a lesson for ukulele beginners which you will read about further in this post.

Let’s first get acquainted with his ukulele style with his arrangement of a famous Japanese song called Oyome Samba (お嫁サンバ ):

U&L : I read on your blog that you were playing the guitar, ukulele and bass. How did you discover the ukulele ?

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10 2010

Ukulele Rasgueado demonstrated by Herman Vandecauter

Herman Vandecauter has been very kind to create two videos explaining how to play rasgueado on the ukulele. Rasgueado means ‘strummed’ in Spanish but it is also used to describe a flamenco strumming technique designed originally for the guitar.

Although this technique might look dead simple when you watch Herman play it, it does take a while to get it right. I’ve only just started to learn the technique  and the first time I tried to play a rasgueado, I think I got the worst sound ever out of my Fluke. I even feared I’d break my strings.

Don’t worry too much if you feel like your brain doesn’t manage to control your fingers. It does get better with practice. Herman recommends practising rasgueado against a piece of cardboard first as demonstrated in his first video :

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