Category Archives: Music

World Ukulele Day 2019

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More tales of my journey with the ukulele are coming, but today we take a break (sort of) for World Ukulele Day, an annual tradition started in 2011 by “Ukulele Mike” Lynch. Ukulele Mike was a music teacher and composer in the Seattle area who also became a popular ukulele YouTube personality. He was actually one of the first people I found on the internet when I picked up the uke. Mike died suddenly in January 2018, but his YouTube channel and official website live on.

Also living on is World Ukulele Day, when everyone is encouraged to celebrate this instrument closely associated with Hawaii — either by playing or enjoying the music. Mike hoped to spread peace and love with this day of observation. My contribution is a cover of John Lennon’s Imagine:

A lot can be done with four strings, so pick up this remarkable instrument and play a few chords today. As Ukulele Mike said at the end of all his videos, “Happy strumming!”

2018 “Uketide” Tunes – Part VIII

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It was a holly jolly time in the last outing. Now…the grand finale. In 1949 Honolulu-born Robert Alex Anderson wrote a hapa haole song made famous by Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters in 1950. Our family loves Hawaii, and it’s only appropriate to close down the ukulele concert with Mele Kalikimaka:

The idea for doing the song with a kazoo comes from Cynthia Lin. Thanks so much for watching the 2018 “Uketide” Tunes videos. I look forward to doing this again next December after having a full year of lessons behind me. Happy holidays!

2018 “Uketide” Tunes – Part VII

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From France we go to the United States and another Johnny Marks Christmas hit. A Holly Jolly Christmas was featured in the 1964 television show, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. It was sung by Sam the Snowman. That character was voiced by Burl Ives, who re-recorded the song a year later for his own Christmas album — the version we hear on the radio during the holiday season.

There are a lot of different chords that can be added to the melody line when playing this on the ukulele. It’s a really challenging song to learn, especially for a beginner:

I’ve commissioned the family for the grand finale of the 2018 Uketide Tunes concert. We’re going on vacation for this one!