Aaaand we’re back! Episode 25 of Uke Got Mail!

THREE questions this time. To make up for last week haha. 
Who is Rayan?
Uke and Guitar in the same key?
Koa or Mahogany?

All this and more on this episode of UKE GOT MAIL!

Live Lesson Replay – Learn Green Day’s ‘When I Come Around’ on the ukulele.

If video is black, press the reload button on the player.

Down in the Underground, life is a chain reaction. This week’s Member Video of the Week by UU Member AnnaUK came about because of a long ago deach. Here’s how the story goes …

Once upon a time, Deach deached an ukulele to russbuss. Russ heard that GrumpyCoyote wanted that very same ukulele and deached the uke over to him. Feeling the love, GrumpyCoyote created a beyond epic “Bring the Song CD Challenge”. One of the people who entered the challenge was UU Member, fourteentwelve with her “Vegemite Song.” Inspired by this amazing ode to a sandwich condiment (which seems to be a running theme in the Underground), AnnaUK created her “Marmite Song” and became this week’s MVOW.

So this chain goes:
Deach->Russ->Grumpy->1412->AnnaUK = WIN.

Yay!
-UU Staff

Got a question about this technique? Post it HERE!

Well hello there UUers!

You may have heard it before: at the start of a song or just before a player changes chords while strumming – that infamous, undeniable, BA-Dooom. It’s a very simple technique that is often overlooked (and sometimes created by accident) but if used correctly, the “hammer-on chord” can make quite an impact. Check out this week’s episode of Uke Minutes to see how it’s done!

*AND* it’s not too late to enter to win yourself a new Mainland Uke! April’s UU ukulele give-away, the “All Things Reggae” Contest sponsored by Mainland Ukes, runs until April 30th! That’s less than a week to get your video together – what are you waiting for? You know you want to …

Hope your weekend is starts off with a Ba-Dooom!

Alohas,
-UU Staff

Live Lesson Wednesday is back again! Tune in at 2pm HST (5pm PST) to get some ukulele learnin on.

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

Got questions about -sus chords? Ask them HERE!

Hey all you UUers & UUerettes, it’s time for Uke Minutes!

In this week’s episode, Aldrine goes over some basic music theory with an explanation of suspended chords and the difference between -sus2 and -sus4. Way back in Uke Minutes 8, we learned how to create a major scale. In order to form a suspended chord, here’s what you do:

1. Write out your major scale in order and number each note.
2. For a regular -sus chord (most often -sus4), take the 1,4, and 5 notes of your major scale.
For a -sus2 chord, take the 1,2, and 5 notes of your major scale.
3. Find and hold these notes, each on a different string of the ukulele (you can use this awesome fretboard diagram for reference).

That’s it! Play your -sus chord with pride! Feel free to pause the video at any time to better understand the on-screen diagrams, and if you have any questions, check out the discussion about this episode in the Forum.

*AND* For those of you who want to win a brand new Mainland Ukulele, our April Ukulele Give-Away Contest – “All Things Reggae” (sponsored by Mainland Ukes) is still going on! For more details or a place to post your entries, check out this thread. Hope your weekend is fantastic!

Don’t stop believin’!
-UU Staff

Questions from Keegan Sablan and dserpass

It’s that time again! Live lesson Wednesdays are back. Tune in at 2:00pm HST (5pm PST) for some ukulele learnin!

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

Hey there UUers! This week’s Member Video of the Week comes from a young gun who shows us what it truly means to be fearless on the uke – please give a warm round of internet applause to UU member UkeNoob999 (aka VivaLaSound). A totally unexpected song choice but a great rendition nonetheless, this video really shows us that playing the ukulele is all about liking whatever you do and doing whatever you like.

Although MVOW is typically a winner-take-all type of deal, we couldn’t get by the past week without mentioning DominicFoundTheMoon and chipswow’s classy collaboration of that one song from Juno: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzZSORpjqH8

*Also* – For those of you who missed the first couple online screenings of The KoAloha Ukulele Story, we’re going to be streaming it on Wednesday, April 15th at 8am HST (7:00pm in the UK) in the UU Theater.

Hope the start of your week is looking stupendous (and wonderfully Springtime-y)! Bust out that uke … it’s time to frolic.

Aloha,
-UU Staff

Hey UUers!

Do you ever get that left hand ache after playing chords for a long period of time? Have you ever mixed up which fingers to use on a picking? Check out this week’s episode of Uke Minutes to cure what ails ya!

This exercise not only strengthens the left hand, but by inverting the order of which fingers you typically put down first, it makes each of your fingers a little more independent. Practice it until your hand gets sore, then take a break and count how many times Aldrine says the word “exercise” in this video!

Hope you guys are having an amazing Saturday – it’s about to get even amazing-er because at 3pm HST we’ll be showing the world wide *Internet Premiere* of The KoAloha Ukulele Story. Remember to be here on the UU front page to watch it (and stay after to win some free KoAloha stuff)!!

*Edit* The first screening of The KoAloha Ukulele Story went great! Thanks to everyone who came out to see it and congrats to the people who won free KoAloha gear and DVDs of the movie! We’ll be replaying the movie a couple more times for our international viewers so stay tuned for updates.

Aloha,
-UU Staff