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I've noticed that I learn a song I am really familliar with and, whilst I'm learning it, I pretty much avoid listening to it. By the time I listen to it again, my strumming pattern is NOTHING LIKE the original. It is mine that I've made up that suits me, my guitar and the fact that I'm unaccompanied. Sometimes it amazes me how much subtlety I lack!

I don't know if that hepls because I never felt like I had a problem with srum patterns, being a drummer, I just did what came naturally, but too fast <img src="images/smiley_icons/icon_wink.gif" border=0 alt="Wink"> I suppose it's a different perspective for you to look at the problem from if you are suffering though.

Cheers.

Ah! Sorry! Yes, you're right, it shows you what fret to start at.   <img src="images/smiley_icons/icon_smile.gif" border=0 alt="Smile">

<a href="http://www.alligatorboogaloo.com/uke/ukeworld/index.html" target="_blank">http://www.alligatorboogaloo.com/uke/ukeworld/index.html</a>

ho ho!

I'll quote a message I posted in another thread so you don't have to root through the mega-topic it's under. Hope this helps: (PS my next uke will be a resonator. They're great.)

I wrote.

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You guys who are looking for a uke could do worse than have a look at what (userid) inlaidartist is selling on ebay. I have a Soprano uke in solid koa by him which is absolutely lovely in every respect and came in the best case I've ever seen. My wife paid $70 usd for it plus $65usd shipping. that's about ukp70 for a solid koa uke that would sell for at least ukp 250 in a misuc shop over here. <a href="http://search.ebay.co.uk/ws/search/MemberSearchResult?userid" target="_blank"> http://search.ebay.co.uk/ws/search/MemberSearchResult?userid</a> =inlaidartist

Two warnings:

1. You can pay a lot more than that. they are $199 on buy it now.
2. You are buying straight off the manufacturer who has factories in China and Vietnam. It's good but looking at his feedback, not everyone's a happy as I am. Also the strings that come fitted to them are crap. Get yourself a pukka set of D'addrios or Aquilias before it arrives to take advantage of the pukka construction.

Alternatively try an Ashbury resonator uke. They are absolutely fantastically loud and clear and look like a national guitar. £195 in hobgoblin music but from Pete Woodman they are £175 including a tuning peg upgrade but not includiong £10 postage to the uk.

<a href="http://www.petewoodmanguitars.com/page25.htm" target="_blank">http://www.petewoodmanguitars.com/page25.htm</a>

be aware that a concert uke has the same scale length as a soprano meaning it's no easier for the fat fingered. Strangely enough they do feel easier though but I suspect it's psychological.
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I've had both types and you do feel like there's more room, but when measuring it I noticed that, at least on my ukes, there was no difference whatsoever. Wierd eh?

I fitted a peg at the bottom of the neck, where you see them pre installed. It was easy, I just marked the location with a bradawl and then screwed the self tapper in.

It sure beats the shoe lace method. The guitar stays still where I found I was chasing it around when playing bar chords up and down the neck when the strap was anchored at the tuning peg end of the neck.

When I bought my Yamaha it was because it was the best sounding guitar I had tried despite being about 80% cheaper than some of the others.

<table border="0" align="center" width="90%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td class="SmallText"><b>upyerkilt wrote on Mon, 15 January 2007 17&#58;17</b></td></tr><tr><td class="quote">
After you try about 4 or 5 or 6 different very expensive guitars, tell him thanks and walk out.

Ken
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That's what I do. Every time i go in a music shop, I play at least four or five guitars and I'm rubbish. I do this without pretending I want to buy one. My attitude is, I go there to buy picks, or whatever accessory it is I want rather than getting them online because they have nice guitars for me to play with. That's what they're there for. Also, even though I'm perfectly upfront about the fact that I ain't buying, it makes you want to buy one, which over a period of time probably means you buy more guitars than you otherwise would, which is good for the shop in the end, innit?

I reckon I should charge them for tuning their guitars up ;o)

<table border="0" align="center" width="90%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td class="SmallText"><b>upyerkilt wrote on Sat, 13 January 2007 13&#58;17</b></td></tr><tr><td class="quote">

Like the guitar I cheat on the uke with chords, I think E is hard to do too so I just leave out the bottom string, like I do wit hthe chord B on the guitar,lol

<img src="images/smiley_icons/icon_lol.gif" border=0 alt="Laughing">
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E is really tough. I think harder than B on a guitar even though you only have one string to bar. Try this though:

Get your left wrist up at the level of the headstock and out in front in a Larry Grayson (Ostentatiously homosexual TV presenter of the 1970s and 80s for those too young, cool or American to remember him) sort of stance. Now "Bar" ONLY the A string with your index finger but do it backwards so that you are pointing with your index finger towards the floor rather than the ceiling as you would with a guitar. The side of your fingertip is touching the strings so your cuticle gets sore and your wicklows go crazy but the bone structure of your hand means you have a solid lock on the strings.

Your knuckles at the hand end of your fingers are now quite a long way off the fret board and it is pretty easy to form the rest of the E chord with fingers 2,3 and 4 because they are coming in from a nice high angle. This leaves your index finger tucked underneath the other three which forms a structural lock on the Bar.

It hurts the knuckles on your index finger like a complete b*stard for the first few hundred times but you get a nice clean chord and eventually you get used to it.

I also play the A based Bar chords (Bb, B, etc.) differently. I have the index finger the guitar way up but I bar the E and A strings only with the tip of it. Again this is very painful until your joints get accustoned to it but it works really well.

If anyone can't understand what I'm on about, say so and I'll post photographs.

Word of warning: I have long bendy fingers. Your experience may differ.  <img src="images/smiley_icons/icon_smile.gif" border=0 alt="Smile">

Well Ken,

There's a good uke version of Pinball Wizard on Alligatorboogaloo.com. I've never tried that one on the gee tar so I don't know if the key is the same or what. E.G On the uke you really need to play brown Eyed Girl in F because of the intro I think it's normally in G.

As for D/G mix - ups, I'm glad to say I don't suffer from it. As I say, I think it's down to learning both at the same time.

Have you twigged that a D is the same as an A, and with the 2 bass strings of the guitar missing, uke C is a guitar G and an E, the toughest chord on a Uke, is the same as a B on a guitar? Basically it's all the same but 5 semitones higher and missing the bass.

<table border="0" align="center" width="90%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td class="SmallText"><b>fredmertz wrote on Mon, 18 December 2006 16&#58;51</b></td></tr><tr><td class="quote">
i haven't found a song yet, that didn't sound good on uke.

tho, some sound better than others.

a few good ones to try:

Something-The Beatles

City of New Orleans-Arlo Guthrie

Paranoid-Black Sabbath

Riders On The Storm-The Doors

anything by...Dylan, Neil Young, The Band
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Right then, here's my 2pennorth.

I started playing Uke about 1 year ago. I'm a truck driver who works permanent nights. Like many of you guys I take my uke everywhere, including to work. For the 1st 6 months i was practicing all the time at home and also getting in over 20 hours practice at work.

After a few weeks of this I bought a guitar. Unlike many of you guys I now play more guitar than uke, mainly because I don't get as much time to play uke at work, but I love my uke. In fact I just treated mine to a set of D'Addrio strings. Highly reccommended, folks.

Here are a selections of my favourite ukelele songs - and let me start by saying, I am Geeorge formby's biggest ever fan, so kindly don't profane his name again Ken <img src="images/smiley_icons/icon_wink.gif" border=0 alt="Wink">

Wonderwall

Stairway to Heaven in Am - I have to do it instrument only as it's too hard to sing for me, but they love it in the pub. They say i should video it and put it on Youtube but I don't know how and don't have a camera.

Brown Eyed Girl in F works really well. Tab for intro is on aligatorboogaloo.com.

Streets of London is OK but better on Guitar - But I don't have my guitar with me in the pub do I? I guess that's the point.

Velvet Underground by Jonathan Richman.

I'm a Little Airplane by the same - including rock'n'Roll double stop solo.

Ice Cream Man.

Pinball Wizard.

Cleaning Windows.

leaning on a Lamp Post.

Panic by The Smiths

There Is A Light That Never Goes Out by the Smiths.

Seriously I think that playing both uke and Guitar has helped me learn faster as I've had to learn to play the same chords using different shapes depending what instrument I'm playing. I think this has forced me to learn more properly than i otherwise would have done having been totally un-musical beforehand. I was a drummer. <img src="images/smiley_icons/icon_smile.gif" border=0 alt="Smile">