Got it back...

I got my baritone ukulele back!  So far, no popping strings.  I asked Sonny to take out the pick-up mic, and he thought that was a good idea too.  So, we're hoping that whatever was putting the strain on the strings is at least somewhat addressed. 

This uke was a Christmas present last year, and I have really enjoyed playing it; I should spend more time with it, truthfully.  But I could say that about all my instruments! 

One of my ukulele students, a 10 year old boy, is quickly learning to pick/play  melodies in his lesson book, and he's getting pretty good.  He picks the melody, and I accompany him with chords.  We're working on preparing 3 or 4 pieces we can perform at Open Mic in January.  He's really excited about this prospect. 

Guitar strings

I have had the most unusual thing happening to the last two guitar strings on my baritone ukulele.  First one breaks, and then another.  Well, the guy that's been restringing them has tried everything: he's checked for sharp edges, smoothed out all surfaces, made an adjustment on the pickup-mic.  After about 6 strings were replaced, we thought we had the problem solved.  And yet another string broke, just a couple days ago.  I took it in, and the guy tried tying a different knot on the bottom to see if that might work.  So, at the end of the week, when I was giving a lesson on my home piano, the student and I heard a pop!  We checked to see that where the noise came from...and the other string on the uke broke.
Really????

I know my guy at the music store is going to be scratching his head again...after what will now be an eighth string replacement.  The solution may be to take out the pick-up mic, even though that doesn't' seem to be the problem.  However, we will have to try something, so I guess I'll suggest it. 

This little rabbit is one that has found a home in my wood pile, and I haven't seen him for several days because of the nasty weather.  But today he's out braving the wind and nibbling on new green grass.  It must be tasty.  I love how he's camouflaged so naturally.

I saw on a ukulele instructional DVD that putting a strap on the instrument is very helpful in getting one's fingers at the proper angle on the neck without having to also hold the weight of the instrument.  So, I decided to try it out on my soprano uke and see if I liked it.  I had the buttons put on (they had to drill into the wood, which made me nervous) and bought the best looking strap in the shop!  After I got it home, I tried it out...immediately.  And I love it!  Therefore, I am now willing to let them put buttons on my standard uke, which is my favorite because it has a full sized neck, translating into more room on the frets for my big fingers. 

In the past week, learned the strum pattern and chords for "Seven Bridges Road," by the Eagles.  It's a great piece; I love the sound.  It will be one I'll introduce to my students soon.  Can't wait.

Gettin' down on the ukulele

I have piano and voice student who wanted to play guitar too.  But she's still so little, I suggested she start on the ukulele.  So, now a year later, here we are, preparing for her first recital on the ukulele. 

To give her lessons, I had to dust off my old ukulele and relearn what I had stepped away from for years!  It's been really fun, and I've managed to learn a lot of new stuff too.  I decided I needed to graduate to a better (newer) instrument, so at Christmas I was gifted with this standard size ukulele.
 

Just a month ago, my student was introduced to... and bought a gitalele.  What?  Yeah.  I'd never heard of it either.  It's a 6 string ukulele that looks like a small guitar, but is tuned like a ukulele. It is a pretty nifty instrument!  Evidently there has been a big upsurge in sales and popularity of the ukulele in the last few years.  So, we're right on trend. 

Have you ever heard of the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain?  Check out this YouTube link:
whttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ga_EP7RObKw