Stories and interviews
128 posts
A Guest in the House: Piano
Tamás GállThis weekend I exchanged four strings for eighty-eight keys. At the beginning of the video you can see and hear a little warm-up over “free” chords, meaning that I did not follow the blues progression exactly. This is followed by a short boogie improvisation: Unfortunately, the same cannot be said a…
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A Shared Ukulele Performance — Let's Play Together!
Tamás GállEncouraged by the success of our shared Christmas ukulele project at the end of last year, I am inviting all of you to another big group strum — unfortunately once again only in virtual form. Just like the "Ó, Gyönyörű Szép" project, I am asking you to send me videos of yourselves playing. I will co…
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A visit to the Kamaka workshop
Tamás GállAfter a long time, here comes another guest post—and not just any guest post. A few months ago, in the Hungaria Ukulele Club Facebook group I saw a post by Gyuri, a fellow guitarist and ukulele player who was lucky enough to visit the workshop of Kamaka, one of the world's finest ukulele makers. I w…
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Autumn Courses
Tamás GállUPDATE: Dear Readers! Because of the pandemic situation, we are postponing the courses. I hope we will be able to organize them again as soon as possible. Until then, thank you for your patience. Not long ago I announced the dates of the autumn courses: on Saturday, October 17, 2020, we are planning…
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Autumn ukulele courses 2023
Tamás GállDear (Future) Ukulele Players! Summer has only been under way for a few weeks, but the dates of the autumn courses are already set: Ukulele Course III – 1 October 2023 (Sunday), 9:00–16:00 APPLY If you are interested in the courses and would like to apply, click the "Courses" menu item to read all t…
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Banjolele
Tamás GállAmong plucked string instruments, the banjo has always been one of my favourites. Its distinctive shape and sound make it almost impossible to confuse with anything else. It works beautifully as a solo instrument, but bluegrass, country and Dixieland bands are almost unimaginable without a banjo. It…
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Blues for Ukulele and Piano
Tamás GállToday my twin brother and I recorded the raw footage for two videos, which we are still cutting and editing. After the serious studio work came some free time, so we played a little blues. In this video the ukulele only provides the accompaniment: Sharp-eared listeners will immediately notice quite…
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Build Me Up Buttercup
Tamás GállI will soon be back with another tutorial video of my own, but in the meantime I would like to share one of my favourite YouTube videos. It features a charming and inventive arrangement of Build Me Up Buttercup. The song was made world-famous by The Foundations in 1968; since then it has been covere…
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Caro Emerald brought the house down in Budapest
Tamás GállI got home from the concert only a few minutes ago and I am still completely under its spell. I had a fantastic time. I discovered Caro Emeralda few years ago when YouTube was playing random songs and suddenly I thought: “What on earth is this unbelievably good music, and who is singing it?” She is…
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DIY Electric Mahalo
Tamás GállIn the [klub], a very interesting series of photographs caught my eye. It documented the "electrification" of a Mahalo soprano ukulele. I asked the author of the post, Béla Csongrádi, whether he would like to describe the installation process, because I would be happy to publish it on ukulele.hu . A…
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Early-autumn Ukulele Course II — report
Tamás GállAs a continuation of last week's late-summer Ukulele Course I, I held Course II yesterday. During the morning we learned new chords, and in the afternoon we moved on to the foundations of music theory and barre chords. We covered a dense and substantial amount of material. It looked as though I mana…
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End-of-Summer Ukulele Course — Report
Tamás GállOn the second-to-last day of August — yesterday — I met fifteen very enthusiastic beginner ukulele players at a lovely venue in central Budapest. I arrived together with a kind fellow ukulele player, who was a great help carrying things and setting up the room, so many thanks to her once again . Soo…
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