Hey UUers!

Do you want a new ukulele?? We’re giving away a brand new Concert Mainland Ukulele during our April 2009 “All Things Reggae” Contest!

Here’s what you need to do to enter:
1. Make a video of yourself playing a reggae song on your ukulele.
2. Post your video to YouTube (or similar video site).
3. Post the link to your video in THIS THREAD.

That’s it! You can post up to 3 entries (including collaborations), so be yourself and do your best! Ukulele and contest judging provided by the cool people over at Mainland Ukes. The deadline to submit video entries is April 30, 2009. Good luck!

Hope you’re having an amazing start to another ukulele-filled week!

Aloha,
-UU Staff

Hey UUers! Be sure to check in TODAY (March 28th) at 3pm Hawaii Standard Time (6pm PST, 9pm EST) for the Live Stream! It’s been awhile since the last time we did a UU Online Open Mic, so remember to be here at the front page to watch and cheer on those brave fellow UUers (from all over the world!) who will be playing their hearts out for you today.

If you are playing, check-in starts an hour before the show. For more info on who’s signed up and who’s planning to tune in and hang out in the chat, check out this thread. See you there (here)!

Aloha,
-UU Staff

Aldrine answers the frequently-asked question, “Why the Hat” – then proceeds to give away one of his. Click on the vid to find out how you can win it!

Hey everybody! It’s another Wednesday and you know what that means! Tune in at 2:00pm, 14:00 Hawaii Time or 5Pm Left Coast time for some free ukulele lessons.

>>————- Live Ukulele Lessons with Aldrine Guerrero ——————<<

This week’s MVOW comes from UKISOCIETY and his comparison video of two sets of strings. He puts D’Addario and Bushman strings to the test on his plastic ukuleles while he plays his very own “Chimpanzee Song”

This video is a great way to show people how you should be experimenting with different things. Different materials react differently with each other. So try out different strings on different ukes and see if they produce the sound that you’re looking for. On UKISOCIETY’s plastic ukulele’s, the Bushmans sounded warmer and the D’Addarios we’re a little bright. On a different instrument, these strings might sound completely different . Explore the possibilities!

Want to talk strings? Check out the FORUM for great tips, tricks, and techniques being used by your fellow ukers. We also sell strings in the STORE if you want to browse around. 

Everyone enjoy your spring break and stay safe. Grab your uke and rock out like it’s an arcade and you’ve got pockets full of tokens. Peace out homies.

-UU staff

Got questions about this technique? Post them HERE!

Hey all you UUers! Who’s up for another round of Uke Minutes?? Here we go …

In this week’s episode, Aldrine explains the simple – yet oh, so powerful – Muted Octave Strum. It is a variation of another simple technique, introduced in Uke Minutes 26, called “Strum Picking”. Deceptively simple, a properly timed and executed Muted Octave Strum can tear the house down and melt faces in its awesome wake. Please use it wisely.

Speaking of tearing down the house … Next week Saturday (March 28th, at 3pm HST) we will be holding an official UU ONLINE OPEN MIC! If you have a webcam and mic, sign up HERE to show off your mad uke skills! Or just come by to watch, cheer, and applaud loudly for your fellow UUers. We’ll be having a live stream of the entire event here in the Underground, so mark your calendars!

Hope you’re chillin’ like a villain and kickin’ off your Spring Break in style!

Aloha,
-UU Staff

We’re back with a vengeance! Live Lesson Wednesday starts at 2pm Hawaii Time (5pm PST, 8pm EST). Who knows what you’ll learn today?

>>—————– Live Ukulele Lessons with Aldrine Guerrero ——————-<<

Are you ready kids?! AYE AYE UU! This week’s MVOW comes from AcousticMonster and his Spongebob soprano ukulele. An original song called “I love those krabby patties” So awesome that he even included the lyrics and chords on the video description so we can get our hands on this goodness. SWEET!

So gather your friends, pick up your ukes, and jam along with this video. Or learn it yourself and impress your friends, family, kids, and angry neighbors (oh Squidward you silly goose)

Also remember to check out the FORUMS and mingle with other hip ukulele cats like you. It’s almost spring break so it’s time to pick out a song to learn as a spring break project. Head on over to the Ukulele Tabs and chords section to start you off on your journey. 

Keep rockin out all you loveable sea creatures!

-UU staff

Got a question? Discuss this technique HERE.

Hey-lo UUers! Several weeks back we introduced the “C String Bass Technique” (see Uke Minutes 35 for more) as applied to finger picking. In this week’s episode we take that technique one step further and apply it to strumming patterns.

Here’s what you do:
1. Take any strumming pattern.
2. Replace the strum or rest on beat one of that strumming pattern with a downward pluck of the C string, using your thumb.
3. Rinse and repeat.

This works with virtually any strumming pattern you can think of, so try it out and show us what you’ve got! Hope your weekend is shaping up to be a super sweet deal – now go out and rock that ukulele like somebody just stole your inhibitions!

Aloha(z),
-UU Staff

How do I get rid of the “plunking” sound that i get while finger picking?
An inquiry by Sukie that’ll be answered on this weeks Uke Got Mail!