Hey UUers!

Here in the Underground, a fairly common question we get is “What is the Strumming Pattern for this song?” Most strumming patterns can be pretty easy to figure out as long as you know the basics. In this week’s episode of Uke Minutes, Aldrine introduces Part 1 of “How to Figure out Strumming Patterns” for any song. Try it out and let us know what you think!

And if you haven’t entered your rock video into the Eleuke “Uke Rock!” Ukulele Give-Away Contest yet, what are you waiting for? We’re giving away FOUR (count ‘em – four!) Eleuke ukes this month and the last day to enter the contest is July 31st, so get to rockin’! For more details and to submit your entry, see the Official Contest Thread.

Have a spectacular Saturday, UUers! Make those ukuleles weep.

Aloha,
-UU Staff

Ask questions about this lesson HERE.
Play-Along with Aldrine HERE.

Alright UUers, we decided to roll out March’s episode of Uke Minutes a day early, just to help kick off your weekend! So here it is, Uke Lesson 15 – “Island In The Sun”.

This song is one of our favorites by the band Weezer and, judging from the repeat questions about it in the Forum and our email boxes, it looks like the song is one of your favorites as well! So sit back, soak it in, and if you’ve got any other questions about the lesson, you know where to find us.

Stay tuned to UU and hang onto your headstocks, kids – we’re about to unveil another Free Ukulele Give-Away Contest in March, as well as announce the date for the UU Online Open Mic (that we weren’t quite able to fit into February’s madness). Thanks for hanging out with us in the Underground! Hope everyone is feeling awesome, practicing like crazy, and jammin’ on … ’til the break of dawn.

Aloha,
-UU Staff

Discuss this episode with other uke players HERE!

Hey there UUers! It’s time for another Uke Minutes!

After the many episodes of Uke Minutes created and featured here, we finally realized … we haven’t bothered to explain one of the most basic (and essential) elements of good ukulele playing – having a properly tuned ukulele! Until now.

By far, the easiest and most precise methods of tuning your ukulele is to have a digital chromatic tuner. This way, you will be able to tune your ukulele to the notes G, C, E, and A (from top to bottom strings), with excellent precision. Just remember the order of notes:

C | C#(Db) | D | D#(Eb) | E | F | F#(Gb) | G | G#(Ab) | A | A#(Bb) | B | C

By tightening a string, the pitch will slowly move up the scale. By loosening the string, the pitch will move down the scale. If you are using a digital tuner, tighten or loosen each string until it reaches its respective note.

In the video, Aldrine explains how to tune your ukulele, using only one reference note. By tuning the G string (top string on your ukulele) to a reference G note (correctly played on another instrument), you can tune the rest of your strings based on your correctly tuned G string.

You can also match your ukulele strings to the correctly tuned notes at the end of the video as a way to tune your ukulele!

As always, if you have any questions on this or any of the lessons here in the Underground, send a message to askaldrine(at)gmail.com or stop by the UU Forum and ask around!

A big MAHALO to everyone who helped spread the joy of music this holiday season (and all year long!)

Aloha,
-UU Staff

Connect with ukulele players and discuss this episode HERE.

Hey Undergroundlings! Have you ever wondered, how the heck do people read tabs? In this episode, the one and only Dominator (of Dominator’s Uke Tabs) stops by and explains the basics of reading ukulele tabs! How convenient!

As Dom explains:
1. To orient yourself, it may help to draw the headstock on the left side of the tab, and the body (facing you) on the right side of the tab. This way you can see that the top line is the A string (bottom string on your uke), the second to the top line is the E string, the second from the bottom line is the C string, and the bottom line in a tab is the G string (top string of your uke).
2. A number on a specific line corresponds to a fret on a specific string. So if a number 4 appears on the top line, you would play the fourth fret on the A (bottom string) of you ukulele.
3. Numbers that are stacked on top of each other (or in the same vertical line) are to be played or strummed at the same time. Numbers that are staggered are to be played one at a time from left to right.

There are many more notations that go along with tabs (ex. hammer-ons, pull-offs, slides, etc.) but we’ll save these for another episode. If you’re excited and want to learn the ins and outs of reading ukulele tabs right now, just log into the UU Forum and click on the “Tabs” section. And for more awesome tabs of great ukulele songs, check out Dominator’s site: Dominator Ukulele Tabs.

AND if you haven’t ordered your ukulele-related paraphernalia from the Ukulele Underground Store yet, go on and click! Lock them in and get them shipped in time for the gift giving!

Have fun, keep strumming, and stay safe this holiday season! Spread the joy of music wherever you go and the world will definitely be a better place.

Aloha,
-UU Staff

Got questions? Discuss this lesson HERE.
Play along with the full song (w/lyrics & chords) HERE.

Hey hey, UUers! The Holidays are upon us! December is only a couple of days away, and instead of waiting for the 1st of the month to release the newest episode of Uke Lessons, we were so excited about this wintertime song that we decided to release December’s lesson – today!

So without further ado … Uke Lesson 12 – “Let It Snow”!

Lately the forum has been buzzing with questions, chords & tabs, videos, and original compositions about the holiday season, so we’re more than happy to add to the flurry. We’ve put together a special play-along version of “Let It Snow” where you can jam the entire song right along with Aldrine! Check out the video here.

*Also* Just in time for the season, our shipment of Hooded sweaters has arrived along with the brand NEW Ukulele Underground UUth T-Shirt! Get some of your uke-related holiday shopping done today, so you can have more time to work on all your favorite winter tunes.

(designed by our very own UU member, ukeninam! Props.)

And as always, if you’ve got any questions, suggestions, tips, ideas, etc., you know where to find us: http://www.ukuleleunderground.com/forum/

Happy Holidays!
-UU Staff

Well hellooo there Undergroundlings! Here we go again, with another quick ukulele tip – this time on UKE MINUTES, Aldrine addresses a question that we’ve been getting a lot lately … “So how, exactly, do you do that ‘CHUNK’ thing??”

Check it out. The chunking technique is used to add a percussive sound to your strum; basically the equivalent of clapping, using your strings. To chunk, strum down using three or four fingers of your right hand, then immediately dampen the strings with the side of your thumb (while your thumb is pointed towards the ground). If done quickly and correctly, you should get a nice, juicy “CHUNK” sound.

Remember, chunking doesn’t take a lot of force. You should be able to create a fairly clean chunk sound with minimal effort, so don’t try to hit your ukulele hard (and definitely DON’T dig into the strings on the down strum). Take the time to experiment with this and you’ll be chunking like a pro in no time!

If you have any other questions, do yourself a solid and hit up the ridiculously awesome people in the UU Forum (seriously, some of them are famed for their awesomeness). Thanks bunches to all you ukers a-commin’ up in the world. We love ya lots!

-UU Staff

Hey UUndergrounders! In our super special Uke Lesson today, Aldrine brings to you the ukulele take on Eric Clapton’s “Wonderful Tonight.” Check it out, get it down, connect with some people, and bring it around town! Then show us what you did over at the Forum.

Special thanks to ALL the awesome people who entered last month’s “Oh, the Places Uke Will Go!” Tenor Kala Ukulele Give-Away Contest! (Catch all the awesomeness HERE in the forum, and HERE). We’ll be announcing the Winners next week Fri (05/09/08) and hopefully the winner is YOU! Check back for the results!

This is UU – wishing you a wonderful tonight, tomorrow, and day after that.
Aloha.

This week’s episode of Uke Minutes features Aldrine Guerrero outlining the techniques of free strokes and rest strokes, and why they’re relevant to your particular ukulele shreddage. Have fun with these!

Thanks to everyone who tuned into our Mogulus LIVE Open Mic tonight. We’re really happy with the turnout – over 100 of our best and favorite-est people showed up to watch! Keep checking back in the Forum for the next Open Mic!

*AND if you have not done so already, get those entries in for our
**APRIL FREE Tenor KALA UKULELE Give-Away CONTEST!** Entries are time-sensitive, so get them in as soon as possible! For more deets, click HERE.

Get yourself ready to add another picking pattern to your arsenal of picking patterns – In-to-Out!! Go ahead and add your flair / umph to your playing immediately!!

*And don’t forget, our APRIL OPEN MIC – scheduled for Saturday, April 19th (Next Week!). If you haven’t already signed up, Sign up HERE.

*And Be sure to submit your entries to our UKULELE GIVE-AWAY CONTEST! (We’re giving away a FREE Tenor Kala Ukulele – with Pickup, Cutaway, and Case!) Check out the details HERE.

-UU

In this week’s Uke Minutes, Aldrine teaches you the basics of the hammer on technique. Building on what you learned in the Major Scales tutorial, you will now be able to incorporate hammer ons into your ukulele skillset.