Got questions about Bending or Pre-Bending? Post them HERE.

Hey Everybody!

Do you smell that!? The warm Saturday breeze is blowing down the lane and around the bend to bring you the fresh scent of UKE MINUTES through the holes in your internet machine! This week’s episode: “How to Bend a Note” (AKA Bends & Pre-bends)! So grab your mini axe and get strapped – we’re about to get bendy.

Check out the video to learn some bends and pre-bends, as well as a nifty little trick that will help you to do bends a whole lot easier. Try it out and as always, let us know what you think!

*NEWS*
1. We finally found out the winner for the “All Things Reggae” Contest. We’ll announce it first thing tomorrow.
2. Sadly, the UU Shirt price will increase on June 1st, to cover the new postage rates and rising garment prices. Check out the UU Store now and lock in the current low prices while they’re still around!
3. Sign up for the Ukulele Underground Internet Open Mic going down right here on Saturday, May 30th! Be sure post your name in the Official thread. To watch and cheer on the brave UUers, be here on Saturday for a good new fashioned Open Mic!

Hope you guys have an awesome weekend! Keep on keepin’ on.

Aloha,
-UU Staff

Live Lesson Replay – House at Pooh Corner on the Ukulele. Chords, Picking, and strumming.

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

Got questions/comments about this lesson? Post them HERE!

Hey UUers from across the land!

This new Saturday brings yet another exciting episode of Uke Minutes! We’ve been quite a few emails lately asking about barre chords (or “bar chords“, depending on your pronunciation of the word “tomato”) and how to hold them. The term barre chord refers to a chord fingering where the ukulele player presses one or more fingers across multiple strings – most often the index finger, across all four strings.

If you think that bar chords totally suck, you’re not alone. Many people have difficulty with barre chords – but this can be easily remedied once you learn to change the placement of your thumb. Effectively moving the position of your thumb is critical to your barre-chord-holding success.

For straight chords, the neck of the ukulele is typically placed in the crook of your palm, between the index finger and thumb, leaving your thumb hanging over the top edge of the neck, waving like the queen of the parade. But for barre chords, the thumb must be moved to a supporting character role, holding down the fort on the backside of the neck (See video above for clarification and animal analogy). Try it out and you’ll be barring up a storm in no time!

Check out the video, practice changing quickly from straight chords to barre chords, and tell us all about it in the Forum. Hope your Saturday is amazingly awesome! Happy barring!

Aloha,
-UU Staff

Stephen Golden and offthebsides sends us some questions to answer. Watch the episode and find out!