Hey all you creative, Ukulele Underground-lings! Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the entire month of September, I’m sure you’ve heard about our UKULELE GIVE-AWAY CONTEST(!) and have worked at a fever pitch just to get your entries to us.

But if you still haven’t done so yet, it’s not too late!! We will be accepting entries – for people who would like to win the FREE Kamoa Pineapple Soprano that we’re giving away – until the end of the month (only 1 more day!). Once October 1st officially rolls around (according to Hawaii Standard Time), we’ll stop accepting entries and begin the grueling deliberation process to determine a winner.

Just in case you forgot, here are the Contest Details:

- Send in your original design (or saying or slogan) to be on the next Ukulele Underground T-shirt. Be as thorough and descriptive as possible, so we know your vision of how final product will look.

- Send your entries to UKULELEUNDERGROUND(at)GMAIL.COM with the words “T-Shirt Contest” in the subject line.

- Last day to enter: September 30th, 2008.

If you have more questions, check out the Forum post.
If you want to see more pictures of the Kamoa Pineapple Soprano (or if you want to just buy one, and skip the intense pressure of the contest altogether) Check out the UU Store!

A big MAHALO to all the cool people who sent in their designs (you’re making it tough on us!!). Stay tuned for the results of the contest and more of the best, free uke lessons and videos!

Aloha,
-UU Staff

Join the discussion about this technique HERE.

Hey there UUers! Ready to master something that will rock your friends’ socks off?? In this week’s episode of UKE MINUTES, Aldrine teaches a relatively simple technique that packs a lot of punch – Two-String Pulloffs!

Check out the video, master it, and show us what you got in the Forum. It may take a little while to get yourself familiarized with this one, but put in some time and it will definitely be worth it. When you do finally get this down , feel free to incorporate it into your solos, but remember to do so sparingly. With the two-string pulloff, a little goes a long way.

Have fun with this, and let us know what you think!

Aloha,
-UU Staff

*TODAY* Wednesday, Sept. 24th (and every Wednesday) – Aldrine will be teaching a Live Ukulele Lesson right here:

>> FREE – LIVE UKULELE LESSONS WITH ALDRINE GUERRERO <<

With live chat and feedback for all your questions – Be sure to tune in at 2pm HST (5pm PST, 8pm EST) for a full hour of LIVE ukulele instruction and to hang out with some super-awesome people from the heart of the Underground. See you there!

Aloha,
-UU Staff

Join the discussion about this video HERE.

On Day 6 of our first ever California Tour in July of 2008, we stepped into the charming little ukulele shop in Huntington Beach called Island Bazaar for our last performance of the tour. The shop had a pretty sizable space there to hold workshops and ukulele club meetings, so we were really counting on the ukulele players in the HB area to come out in full force, just to fill that place up.

The Huntington Beach area UUers and ukers did not let us down. Amazing turnout of all ages, backgrounds, and skill levels. That’s what UU is all about!! Positivity all around and a lot of awesome connections and friendships were made that night.

Check out this vid from the LIVE Uke Got Mail that we filmed there, as the audience quizzes Aldrine for his innermost secrets. Thanks to EVERYONE who made our California Tour a blast and for welcoming us with open arms to your wonderful state.

Much Mahalo,
-UU Staff

*REMEMBER* It’s not too late to enter yourself in our FREE UKULELE GIVEAWAY! This month we’re giving away a new Kamoa pineapple soprano. Click for more details on how to win!

Aldrine will be conducting free weekly ukulele lessons streamed live here every Wednesday starting today! Tune in at 2pm for some of the best ukulele instruction in the world.

Here’s where you need to be: http://ukuleleunderground.com/live-lessons-with-aldrine/

Hope to see you there!

-UU Staff

Aloha everyone. The tons of e-mails we’ve been receiving for t-shirt orders have been extremely humbling. The support for the Ukulele Underground has been tremendous and we are grateful to all of you who take the time to come to check out our little part of the world every day.

Official UU Store

Today is the official grand opening of our online store. We have all our T-shirts, Hoodies, and Baby Tees for sale. In addition to that, we have partnered with Kamoa Ukulele to provide what we feel are some of the best entry level ukuleles in the world. We have some other miscellaneous items as well with much more to be added in the coming months. We are super stoked, thank you everyone again for all your support.

Aloha!

-UU Staff

*edit* We see some orders coming in that aren’t being completed. If you are having problems with the store please drop me a line and let me know. ukuleleunderground(at)gmail.com thanks!

After an awesome first seminar at Pacific Arts Dance Studio (www.pacificartsds.com) in San Diego, California, Aldrine took a quick break before heading up the next seminar for a little LIVE Uke Got Mail-sesh.

The energy in San Diego was amazing and the people at the Pacfic Arts seminars filled up the room with their sometimes serious and sometimes hilarious questions, while Aldrine and the UU crew tried their best to keep up. Check out some clips of their inquiries and if you’ve got a puzzling Q of your own, shoot us an email at ASKALDRINE(at)GMAIL.COM, and we’ll try our best to A it for you.

Thanks to everyone who made it out to the seminars and shows in San Diego – you definitely made us feel warm and fuzzy inside and we can’t wait for the next time we can get back out there. Thank you nui loa, and mahalo very much!

-UU Staff

*AND* if you wouldn’t mind winning yourself a FREE UKULELE(!), remember to check out our Give-Away Contest for the month of September!!

On the first day of our California Tour (waaay back in July 2008) the die-hard UU fam that stuck around after the performance at DaSilva Ukulele Co. in Berkeley, CA became the instant audience for the very first LIVE Uke Got Mail!

We asked anyone who wanted to come up on stage and ask a question to do so, and the night ended with a lot of laughs, some intimate questioning, and deep pondering about life and the ukulele. To those of you who came out to see us in Berkeley – we thank you from the bottom-most depths of our uke-loving hearts for showing up and being part of it all. And for all the people who missed the show, or at least the last part of it, here are a string of snippits from the very first Live UGM, so you can be part of it, too.

Thanks again, everyone. Keep an eye out for more new videos form the tour, comin’ up!

Aloha,
-UU Staff

*AND* Don’t miss your chance to win a FREE Kamoa Pineapple Ukulele that we’re giving away this month! Check out how to enter yourself HERE. Good Luck!

Alright all you happy, smilling ukulele players of the Underground! Here we go again with another spectacular UKULELE GIVE-AWAY!

This time what’s up for grabs is a NEW Kamoa Pineapple Soprano Ukulele! Yay!

As you know, we’ve been working fast and furiously to try and get our Official UU Store up and running so that UU merch may be more efficiently distributed to the masses. You can help us AND enter yourself to win the Kamoa Pineapple Soprano by sending in your ideas for the next UU T-SHIRT!

So send your most creative, funny, beautiful, outrageous, simple, or clever T-shirt designs to: ukuleleunderground(at)gmail.com
with the words “T-Shirt Contest” in the subject line.

Designs can be hand drawn, digitally drawn, or they can even just be slogans or favorite UU phrases. Just be as specific as possible about what you want your shirt design to look like – your design just might end up being the next official Ukulele Underground T-shirt!

Be sure to send in your designs by September 30th 2008!

More questions about the contest? Check out the Forum post, and ask away!

Good luck to all the contestants!!
Aloha,

-UU Staff

Since the dawn of the Underground, UUers the world over have been working ’round-the-clock, in a concerted effort to completely transform the universal opinion of what an “ukulele song” should sound like.

We’re blasting “Tiny Bubbles” right out of the water.

So when it was suggested that there should be a new Uke Lesson for the unbelievably epic hit, “Billie Jean” (by the one and only King of Pop, Mr. Michael Jackson), we were all like, “Why the heck not?”

So here it is – simple, straightforward, and a hoot to boot – we hope not to offend anyone who loves this song, and hope beyond hope that you enjoy playing it! Take a little time, check out the lesson, master it, and share with all of your amigos here in the Underground. And, as always, if you’ve got questions, check out the Forum for help and advice (about pretty much anything).

Alohas,
-UU Staff

Ooh, One more thing! Don’t forget to check back reeely soon for details on this month’s UKULELE GIVE-AWAY CONTEST!!