Ukulele & Languages

Different countries,
Different cultures
one common language... the ukulele.

Posts Tagged ‘Norway’

You’re in for a really international feel today as our ukulele trip will take us all around the globe: this World Tour post will take you to Norway for some singing in Russian, to Canada for some West African Guitar Style strumming applied to the ukulele, to Italy for a classic and finally to Brazil and Australia with local singers and ukulele players Rick Melo and Tyrone.

Country: Norway / Language: Russian

Mr Arvemann and Line Mehlum from Norway sing Миленький ты мой, a Russian folk song by Nadezhda Kadysheva.

Russian lyrics are available here.

Country: Canada / Language: Instrumental

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Norwegian singer and ukulele player Siri Nilsen has just released a new album, Alle Snakker Sant (Everybody is telling the truth). Those of you looking to learn or pratise Norwegian will definitely appreciate her lovely voice and very clear lyrics together with her ukulele fingerpicking.

[Update of the 16.11.2011 : Lillebjørn Nilsen, who is a renowned Norwegian singer and songwriter and also Siri's father sent me the link to a performance of  'Alle Snakker Sant' Siri and himself gave a few days ago during a TV show. It is the first time I see Lillebjørn perform on the uke, the guitar being his instrument of choice. The complicity between father and daughter is obvious in the video which you can view here (after a short ad).]

Here is a live version of the title song of the album, Alle Snakker Sant (Hvor skal du gå?)

And here is the studio version of the same song:

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Today we’ll explore quite a few traditional songs played on the uke, before moving on to other types of songs from around the world and ending up with a couple of pop/rock ukulele covers and a funny bluesy original song to give you energy for the rest of the weekend.

Country: United-States / Language: English

ErinBev performs a traditional Scottish Folksong from the 18th century, The Bonnie Banks o’ Loch Lomond, on a baritone ukulele.

Lyrics and the history of the song. which was first published in 1841, can be found on Wikipedia.

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I am not sure whether it is the fact that temperatures have been unusually low this week or rather my reading a fascinating book about Norse Mythology but this week’s Ukulele World Tour will be exclusively Scandinavian.

On the menu, a favourite of mine, Svavar Knútur from Iceland, Siri Nilsen singing in Norwegian, some punk uke with Swedish Elvira Bira, a ukulele composition from Denmark by Carsten Knudsen , and a fishy Danish children song by the Kapitalen Klash.

1. Country: Iceland / Language: Icelandic

Most of Svavar Knútur‘s latest videos are guitar videos so I was well pleased to find one featuring the ukulele and even more pleased by the fact that he was singing in Icelandic, a language that really ravishes my ears.

Svavar Knútur is a talented Icelandic folk singer songwriter with a wonderful melancholy voice often singing about Icelandic myths and legends. Read an interview of Svavar Knútur here.

Svavar Knútur singing Mamma at the Melodica Acoustic Festival in Iceland.

2. Country: Norway / Language: Norwegian

Another pleasant find this week is this video of Siri Nilsen and her ukulele

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I am writing this post on the 17th of May which means that my Norwegian readers might find it rather strange _ if not slightly offending _ that I post about Sweden today.

Syttende mai (17. mai) is Norway‘s national day, a day when streets  fill up with children brandishing Norwegian flags all around Norway in memory of the 17th of May 1814, date at which the Constitution of Norway was signed and Norway declared an independent nation.

However, my…

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